Preview of the Jacksonville Jaguars

Our Houston Texans will host the Jacksonville Jaguars in our Reliant Stadium this Sunday. I look for this to be a physical and hard-fought game by both teams.

This will be a big game for our Texans as will attempt to come back with a solid performance after a harsh loss at the hands of the rival Dallas Cowboys. It is also Battle Red Day.

The following is a preview I have put together of the Jacksonville Jaguars...

Starting on offense, Jaguars QB Byron Leftwich has been critized some for his in-ability to stay healthy and his lack of consistency. However, Leftwhich continues to grow and has show positive flashes this year also, tossing 7 touchdowns. He has also thrown 5 interceptions as well. Look for Leftwich to throw more deep balls this year as compared to in the past.

At running backs for the Jacksonville Jaguars, they're starter Fred Taylor is one heck of a good back. He has size (6'0, 233), recieving abilities, blocking skills and can certainly accelerate also. He has managed to say healthy this year as well and has 2 TD's with nearly 400 yards. He can certainly play, and has proven to be a solid back in the NFL.

In terms of Jacksonville WR's, they are young and talented. Ernest Wilford, Matt Jones and Reggie Williams are the starters. All of which have size as a key attribute, so they may be difficult to bring down. Reggie Williams has 4 Touchdowns for Jacksonville already. All 3 of these WR's combine have 641 recieving yards already this season as well. This looks to be a strength in this Jacksonville offense.

Jacksonville also has a solid trio at the Tight End position with names of Kyle Brady, rookie Mercedes Lewis and George Wrighster. All 3 of these TE's contribute positively to Jacksonville's offense, particularly their passing game.

The Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line has looked to be very good so far this season, allowing alot of running yards for their backs and protecting Leftwhich pretty well, only allowing opposing defenders to sack him 8 times. This line is highlited with youth from LT Khalif Barnes, and good leadership with C Brad Meester, a veteran in this leauge. This is where football games are won and lost in this leauge, and Jacksonville's o-line has been a big part of their success.

Now let's talk defense for this Jacksonville Jaguars squad, which has seemed to be the focal point of this team ever since HC Jack Del Rio's arrival. However, there leading pass rusher in Reggie Heyward tore his ACl early this season and is out for the remainder of the season. They also lost their star MLB Mike Peterson to a torn pectoral.

Jacksonville's defense is primarily cover 2. It will be intresting to see really, how this defensive unit steps up to loosing some key players.

Two key players who remaind healthy on this Jaguars D include tackels Marcus Stroud and John Henderson. Both are very solid players, and look for them both to do a little more in stopping the other team's passing game with the loss of Reggie Hayward.

At the Cornerback position for Jacksonville, Rasheed Mathis is the leader of this group, he always seems to be making huge plays. He already has 4 INT's snagged this year, and I bet he will credit that to that rare combination of size and speed that highlight his strengths. We will have to watch out for him Sunday. Other Jaguars CB's include Brian Williams who plays opposit of Mathis and Brain Williams is often covers the slot WR when the opposing offense brings out 3 WR's. This is a very good grou at cornerbsck for the Jags.

Behind these corners, Jacksonville has two solid Free Safeties, in Deion Grant and Donovan Darius. Both are a key element two this Jacksonville D, Deion Grant has 18 tackles or so, a sack and also an interception this seaon. Donovan Darius has racked up 26 tackles so far, 2nd most on this team. Is that a good think however, that your FS has that many tackles?

In terms of Special Team's for this Jacksonville Jaguars sqaud, their Kicker Josh Scoobe is young and has improved this season. His best game so far this season was converting on all 3 FG's when they played Pittsburgh. He is 9 for 12 overall this season in FG attempts.

Jacksonville Punter Chris Hanson has been in this leauge for 6 years now, and is a pretty solid punter, he is averaging 44 yards per punt this season. His career average is also right around that number, so he gets the job done.

I'm looking foward to taking on this tough Jacksonville Jaguars team for the first time this year, they are coming off of a bye week upon playing us, which can be a good or bad thing, and again I anticipate another physical, hard fought game.

My ''Keys to beating the Jacksonville Jaguars'' will be posted, as usal, Thursday (tomorrow).

GO TEXANS!

the best way to beat the Jags is attack them they way the skins did...............they exposed their underbelly......................and the Texans have the personal at WR to do just that

Bongo59 said:

the best way to beat the Jags is attack them they way the skins did...............they exposed their underbelly......................and the Texans have the personal at WR to do just that

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I actually don't think our defense was really "exposed" that night. Just a bad day. Several errors by our secondary won the game for Washington. Look what our defense did to NY the following week (who should have beat Indy a week prior if it weren't for a certain play call late in the game). This team is one of the best pass-D's in the NFL.

But, like I've said before, the Texans always seem to rise to the occasion come Jag-week, so who knows?

i think the Jags have a big weakness opposite Rashean and i think DD has always been a liability in pass coverage..............now that Mpeterson is out the Jags are very vunerable in the seams and on corner routes....................the only thing the Texans have to do is block well on the DE.................and the Jags DE are not close to elite.............they are avg. The Texans have such a poor running game that I still think they lose but if Kubiak throws the ball alot they could do a ton of damage..................if RBush were a texan this is a game they could win in my view................his talent is made to beat a team liek the Jags

Bongo59 said:

i think the Jags have a big weakness opposite Rashean and i think DD has always been a liability in pass coverage..............

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speaking of this...The Cowboys Roy Williams is weak in space/in coverage and I don't think we challenged him deep one single time last week. It was a stupefying gameplan since we just threw underneath coverage all game.

vinny.................i agree with that but the boys have elite edge rushers...............the Jags dont.............and the skins went rigth after their RCB SS and FS and they had a big day...................I think this is a game Carr has to throw 40-45 times to win.............and I would spread the Jags early in a no huddle to give Carr early rhythm...................i think the Jags are going to try to run it down your throat to keep TOP...................if the Jags sustain another major injury to that D they are in deep trouble

You're probably right about the quality of the edge rushers...but Carr had time and choose to go underneath over and over it seemed...very frustrating. One way to keep Roy W out of the box is to get the ball upfield...anyway..we didn't so its a moot point. I'd like to see us come out and spread the Jags out too. I think that is our only shot as well.

Bongo59 said:

i think the Jags have a big weakness opposite Rashean and i think DD has always been a liability in pass coverage..............now that Mpeterson is out the Jags are very vunerable in the seams and on corner routes....................the only thing the Texans have to do is block well on the DE.................and the Jags DE are not close to elite.............they are avg. The Texans have such a poor running game that I still think they lose but if Kubiak throws the ball alot they could do a ton of damage..................if RBush were a texan this is a game they could win in my view................his talent is made to beat a team liek the Jags

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I'd still have to disagree with you when it comes to us having a "big" weakness opposite Rashean. Brian Williams may not ba an All-Pro, but he's held his own, minus the Washington game. He basically shut down Heinz Ward, and held his own against T.O.

No, the Jags DE's aren't close to elite right now...but they don't need to be when playing the Texans. The Texans O-Line is still one of the leagues worst. Don't forget that.

You might as well drop the Reggie Bush "shoulda, woulda, coulda's." You all passed on him for Mario Williams. I don't see much sense of bringing him into the equation.

If you all throw the ball alot, you may beat us. But, I'm not very convinced when it comes to the Texan's recievers as a whole, and I'd give the edge to our secondary in that matchup. But like I said, we shall see.

Still best of luck to all Texan fans come Sunday.

I like our chances if we chuck the ball more than usual.

Bongo59 said:

vinny.................i agree with that but the boys have elite edge rushers...............the Jags dont.............and the skins went rigth after their RCB SS and FS and they had a big day...................I think this is a game Carr has to throw 40-45 times to win.............and I would spread the Jags early in a no huddle to give Carr early rhythm...................i think the Jags are going to try to run it down your throat to keep TOP...................if the Jags sustain another major injury to that D they are in deep trouble

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Fldvldog said:

I'd still have to disagree with you when it comes to us having a "big" weakness opposite Rashean. Brian Williams may not ba an All-Pro, but he's held his own, minus the Washington game. He basically shut down Heinz Ward, and held his own against T.O.

No, the Jags DE's aren't close to elite right now...but they don't need to be when playing the Texans. The Texans O-Line is still one of the leagues worst. Don't forget that.

You might as well drop the Reggie Bush "shoulda, woulda, coulda's." You all passed on him for Mario Williams. I don't see much sense of bringing him into the equation.

If you all throw the ball alot, you may beat us. But, I'm not very convinced when it comes to the Texan's recievers as a whole, and I'd give the edge to our secondary in that matchup. But like I said, we shall see.

Still best of luck to all Texan fans come Sunday.

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Bongo is a Titan homer not Texans.

Vinny said:

You're probably right about the quality of the edge rushers...but Carr had time and choose to go underneath over and over it seemed...very frustrating. One way to keep Roy W out of the box is to get the ball upfield...anyway..we didn't so its a moot point. I'd like to see us come out and spread the Jags out too. I think that is our only shot as well.

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I think the conditions were so slick that AJ seemed to be having a hard time catching short balls, much less deep ones.

Texans threw deep against the Dolphins. Not a ton, but enough to get folks attention (and to make a play).

I think they would have liked to challenge deep in the second half, but it was 3 turnovers in a row, and little TOP in the second half.

you didnt even mention maurice drew. few teams can keep a back of taylor's level frew with an equally talented back. it's like when the cheifs had johnson and holmes. i'm really jealous.

TexansAllTheWayBaby,

Pretty good analysis. I would like to point a few things out that maybe you weren't quite aware of. First off, Marcus Stroud is still nursing an ankle injury, and Matt Jones is still nursing a hamstring. Both are key players. As it looks right now, Stroud will probably be on the field Sunday, just not at 100%.

You also failed to mention Maurice Drew in the running game. He is an explosive runner and a great compliment to Fred Taylor.

As for the cover 2 comment, that may change after the loss of Mike Peterson. Look for the Jaguars Defense to play a lot more nickle. The key will be to keep Houston's running game in check, and force Carr to throw. The other thing to keep in mind is Houston's O line isn't the greatest, and the Jaguars defense can still get pressure on the quarterback, even without Hayward.

jagibelieve said:

The key will be to keep Houston's running game in check, and force Carr to throw.

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Ah, perfect. Just how we like it. No running game, all passing.

jagibelieve said:

The key will be to keep Houston's running game in check.

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We seem to do that all by our selves with no help needed.

Decent preview but a bunch of little things are off.

Jones and Stroud are both doubtful for this game, it's Rashean Mathis, not Rasheed, Kyle Brady is not a factor in the passing game, you didn't mention Maurice Jones-Drew who's probably our best offensive player this year, and Terry Cousin is our nickelback (you said Brian Williams twice).

Fldvldog said:

I'd still have to disagree with you when it comes to us having a "big" weakness opposite Rashean. Brian Williams may not ba an All-Pro, but he's held his own, minus the Washington game. He basically shut down Heinz Ward, and held his own against T.O.

No, the Jags DE's aren't close to elite right now...but they don't need to be when playing the Texans. The Texans O-Line is still one of the leagues worst. Don't forget that.

You might as well drop the Reggie Bush "shoulda, woulda, coulda's." You all passed on him for Mario Williams. I don't see much sense of bringing him into the equation.

If you all throw the ball alot, you may beat us. But, I'm not very convinced when it comes to the Texan's recievers as a whole, and I'd give the edge to our secondary in that matchup. But like I said, we shall see.

Still best of luck to all Texan fans come Sunday.

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You talking about that Brian Williams?

Brian Williams has played very well for us this year, minus the Washington game (but no one on D really had a good game that week).

Bongo59 said:

vinny.................i agree with that but the boys have elite edge rushers...............the Jags dont.............and the skins went rigth after their RCB SS and FS and they had a big day...................I think this is a game Carr has to throw 40-45 times to win.............and I would spread the Jags early in a no huddle to give Carr early rhythm...................i think the Jags are going to try to run it down your throat to keep TOP...................if the Jags sustain another major injury to that D they are in deep trouble

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How are we going to be in deep trouble, when we are one of the deepest teams in the league. I have a news flash for ya Bongo, Granted we have a couple of elite players on the defensive line, but our defense does not rely on elite players, we are a team that relies on highly athletic playmakers and great coaching on defense. We pride ourselves on our depth. Jaguars are deep, when one player goes down we have another in the barrel ready to fire. Jaguars have an excellent FO and scouting team. We have been built through the draft, this is a young team that has a lot of young players who are ready to emerge on the scene as probowl caliber players.

Imagine that our DE's, RCB's, SS's, FS's, and LB's are not elite. How many teams have elite players across the board? Sense when is elite a criteria for winning, especially against a team that lacks any elite players whatsoever on offense. Carr and AJ are good, but I am not ready to crown them as being elite, so I think it is fair to say that we can get over the whole elite bit.

Oh do tell Bongo how will Carr's offensive line allow him the luxury of getting comfortable Sunday? No Huddle? LMAO the way the texans fold at the end of games the last thing they want to do is go no huddle against a deep team like the Jags. Texans better pace themselves if they plan on hanging for all 4 quarters. Look our defense is no Joke if you think we have been exposed at RCB, FS, and SS, you better go and ask Chad who had 3 INTs 71 passing yards. Peyton had a 79.9 passer rating. Drew 3 Int's Ben 2 Ints 38.7 QB rating. Our FS has dropped so many Int's this season that it is not even funny. Our secondary is not to be taken lightly know and understand that.

elite teams dont give up massive chuncks of yardage to the skins and Brunell..............and they ate your secondary alive...............Carr is about as good as Brunell..............but AJ is a stud and Moulds while old is very crafty and sneaky good...................The Texans may not win but they can throw up 25 on the Jags..........maybe even 30..................they put 24 on Colts and you guys only put a 14 on them..................The Jags are no longer " deep" with all the injuries they have taken on...................they are very avg 3-2 team..................if you run between the tackles youre playing to their strength.................with Peterson out the way to beat them is throw it to TE and slot Wr.................The Jags will get exposed over the next few weeks.................the Skins showed the league how to attack you.....................and one more defensive injury will make your D very ordinary................I like your midget rookie RB............he is a nice complement to Fragile and I think he will get a ton of touches this week.

elite teams dont give up massive chuncks of yardage to the skins and Brunell..............and they ate your secondary alive...............Carr is about as good as Brunell..............but AJ is a stud and Moulds while old is very crafty and sneaky good...................The Texans may not win but they can throw up 25 on the Jags..........maybe even 30..................they put 24 on Colts and you guys only put a 14 on them..................The Jags are no longer " deep" with all the injuries they have taken on...................they are very avg 3-2 team..................if you run between the tackles youre playing to their strength.................with Peterson out the way to beat them is throw it to TE and slot Wr.................The Jags will get exposed over the next few weeks.................the Skins showed the league how to attack you.....................and one more defensive injury will make your D very ordinary................I like your midget rookie RB............he is a nice complement to Fragile and I think he will get a ton of touches this week

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.

First of all I never said we were an elite team. JDR is still learning. Be patient...

Furthermore only 1 team has thrown for 25+ points against us all season, and FYI Texans have not scored 25 popints on anyone so far this season. You can't compare the Colts defense with ours, they are one of the worst at pressuring the QB in the league.

Jaguars shut out the Jets and Steelers this season. Instead of talking about how we got exposed, you need to be talking about how we exposed teams. Get a clue. The skins didn't show anybody squat. If we were exposed then why was Chad shut out to 71 yards passing, 3 ints and 0 points the last game we played? Get a clue you have no idea what you are talking about.

Midget rookie RB?

MJD 5.4 yards per rush, 10.1 per catch and 25.5 per kick return, 4 TD

Bush 3.0 yards per rush, 7.5 per catch and 10.7 a punt return, 1 TD

With about a 1/3 of the carries MJD has managed nearly half the yards and twice as many TD's as Taylor.

Houstons 29th ranked rushing defense; add to that Jaguars coming off a bye....

Last time MJD had 10 or more carries in a game MJD managed 244 yards and a TD

Bongo, I have to say I am thoroughly disapointed that you are acting so irrational. I gave you more credit, but this is rediculous. How stupid can you get?

jags always keep houston in it..............and they have the WR to drive you all nuts...............

First of all we have a shut down CB who can drive AJ nuts, rashean is a beast. And pulease stop acting like AJ is the best thing since sliced bread. FYI Reggie Williams has more TD's than AJ, Moulds, Putzier, Walter, and Cook combined.

Let me get this straight Carr was sacked 4 times against the Colts, who are one of the worst pass rush teams in the league? 5 times against Miami? 5 times against Philly?DE Bobby McCray leads the team with 4 sacks not bad for a guy who just earned his starting stripes. Jaguars defense are ranked 2nd in the league in Ints.

Bongo I knew I could count on you to actually bring it. I have to admit that you hit the nail on the head this time. But Houston is not the only one JDR keeps in it.

We lost 2 games this season as a result of keeping teams in it. This is my biggest beef with JDR, and is the only reason we are not considered an Elite team IMO. JDR has proven time and time again to have a tendency of shifting down his offense from their explosive state when he manages to get a lead rather than shift up to another gear and put them away.

Jaguars are 0-3 when we throw for 300 yards or more. JDR seems to ignore the fact that our deep passing game is one of our strengths until he is forced into a position of actually utilizing it when we are behind, and most of the times it is at the point where we are forced to abandon the run and defenses know this and take full advantage of it. I am sick of seeing JDR play to the hand of the opponent, by allowing his no back bone game plan be dictated by the opponent like a ship sailing away with the wind without a rudder.

JDR is lost when it comes to actually having a clue what the identity of this offense is, and when we face a worthy opponent it shows time and time again as he is forced to abandon the run in the end. If you want to take a shot at our team that is where aim. Just kick field goals at the beginning of games, while wearing out the defense by keeping them on the field, JDR will not unleash his offense until he is forced to. Then in the 4th quarter go all out and if you do score, you will find yourself facing a one dimensional passing offense that you can put a 2 deep formation on and wait for Byron to slip.

That is how you beat the Jaguars. Force JDR into a position he can't resist, and that is playing a bland as you can get offense. Key in the first half is the wear out the defense while keeping JDR's offense at bay. Indy has this game plan down to a science. JDR's problem is that he forces himself into situations where he is force3d to take huge risks at the end of games because he refuses to take the necessary risks to put teams away early. He refuses to approach the offense with a methodically sophisticated scheme that employs the risks that make good teams great.

JDR offensive philosophy revolves around a yellow belly passing attack that is mixed up with an in your face smash mouth running game. It's as if he hates QB's to the point of allowing them to have the glory on the field only if his life depended on it. Talk about going back to the basics, JDR's offensive game plan reverts back to the stone ages. The offense is carrying the scheme.

JDR has got to be having nightmares about passing the torch to the offense so it can take the Glory off the Field, now that injuries to his beloved defense has sustained a blow to what some call the heart and soul of the defense, Mike Peterson is an elite player. He, like Hayward will be missed, but having said that, make no mistake about it, we have defenders that are ready to step it up, not only Petersons replacement mind you, but young players across the board.

Until JDR gets a hold of this offenses true identity and allows our offense to approach the deep passing game as an integral part of the initial game plan instead of just allowing it to be a fall back plan, we will be doomed to watch opponent after opponent stay in games when in fact they could have been put away, as JDR insists on not utilizing one of the strengths of this offense until it is too late to allow the run game to benefit from it's ability to stretch defenses. When JDR figures this out we will be an elite team IMO.

Until then I will just keep talking to the wall about the unfortunate position Byron is in.:brickwall It is as if he is being held back intentionally, I started thinking that it could be because JDR hates QB's not only because he was haunted by them as a LB, but because he had to share the rose Bowl MVP with one. Now I am starting to wonder if this has something to do with Byron coming into a contract. If he has a great year they will be forced to pay, so go figure... I am just trying to make of the dinking and dunking WCO antics with a QB like Byron at the helm. It is no wonder this team is such an enigma. Now how's that for a preview.

I saw this coming a mile away. JDR has a rigamortis grip on the torchof glory, he will not pass it to the QB if his life depended on it. We went the entire game without a pass for 20 yards or more. Unbelievable. Congratulations again on an outstanding victory.

There is no hope for us making the play-off's until JDR passes the torch to Byron. Right now he has this town hating Byron again, because he has Byrons cannons at bay. This is insane...

I am looking forward to your contest against the Titans, it ought to be a good game, but I don't think Young will be able to withstand your pass rush. Now that your running game is back on track you all have a great shot at winning this one. See you guys in a couple of weeks. Enjoy the win.

BTW where is my new avatar?