Playing in the small city of Jacksonville, the Jaguars flew largely under the radar last season and continue to do so right now, despite having one of the top teams in the NFL.
Despite their impressive record while playing in one of the toughest divisions in the league, most predicted a "Boston Massacre" when the Jaguars went into Foxboro to face the Patriots in last year’s Divisional Playoff game.
At halftime of the Divisional Playoff game against the Patriots, the score was all-square at 14. Still, the Jaguars were far from earning anyone’s respect.
The big story at the half wasn’t the Jaguars’ smothering defense or the stellar play of quarterback David Garrard. It was about how the Patriots were allowing Jacksonville to stay in the football game.
The Patriots wound up winning the game 31-20, and the Jaguars were all but forgotten.
There was a lot of talk about Brady’s near perfect game. Brady went 26-28 for 262 yards. But there was little discussion on how the Patriots needed a near perfect game from Brady to barely squeak past the Jaguars.
The Jaguars are a very good football team. This past weekend they might have gotten themselves over the hump to becoming a Super Bowl caliber team.
Quarterback David Garrard had a breakout season last year in every sense of the word. He threw for 2,509 yards with 18 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
Garrard had a quarterback rating of 102.2, which ranked third in the league behind only Brady and Rothlisberger.
The Jaguars’ defense was smothering last season, particularly up front. If they had one flaw last year, it was the play of their defensive ends and linebackers in terms of rushing the quarterback and defending against the run.
Entering the 2008 NFL Draft, the Jaguars had only one goal in mind to make their team a Super Bowl caliber football team. They needed to get stronger on defense.
The Jaguars immediately addressed this need by trading with Baltimore for the eighth pick and selecting defensive end Derrick Harvey out of the University of Florida. The 6'5", 271 pound Harvey is strong, quick, and will without question be a factor on the Jaguars’ defense next season.
2 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Eddy DelSignore about 1 year ago
dude. no. the jaguars gave up so much to take a player they could have gotten in the late 1st round. they could have traded those picks to get jason taylor, one of the best pass rushers in the league
you're completely wrong about the patriots game. the pats weren't near perfect. they didn't get their usual big plays, and the jacksonville defense gave them underneith, they got no pressure on tom brady, and dropped everyone back into coverage. the pats didn't have to be perfect to win.
the jaguars do not have an explosive offense. they have 2 good running backs, and no good wide receivers. troy williamson is a draft bust, jerry porter has failed everywhere he's gone. fred taylor is getting no younger. how do they have a beast of a defense...they lost perhaps their best defensive player in marcus stroud, still have a 2nd year safety, and lost starter gerald sensabaugh. they have one good corner. the linebackers they draft will not make any impact right away. derrick harvey was a late first round talent, and is not the pass rusher that chris long or vernon gholston is.
let's not exaggerate everything, and let's have some stats to back your claims up, please.
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barry switzer about 1 year ago
Eddy, you, my friend, are an idiot.
Where to start?
A) Harvey would not have lasted many more picks, he was top 10 on nearly everyteams board, and with what the Jags gave up, they should have only been able to maneuver up to the middle of round one, not pick number 8, according to the point system, they fleeced the Ravens.
B)Jason Taylor has only a couple of years left and his mind is already elsewhere than football, he's dancing with the stars for crying out loud.
C) He never said the Patriots were nearly perfect, he said Tom Brady was nearly perfect, and he was. The amazing thing is Garrard matched him throw for throw, two drops, one by northcutt and one by matty jones, were the difference.
D) The Jaguars do have an explosive offense. They scored more points than any team in the NFL over the last ten games of the season. If that isn't explosive then there isn't an explosive offense in the whole league.
E) Jerry Porter has gone one place, Oakland, where players careers go to die. Randy Moss wasn't even good there. I don't see how you can say Porter has failed everywhere he's gone.
F) Fred Taylor just had possibly the best year of his career and Jones-Drew is there to take over when he does hang them up.
G) Marcus Stroud was nowhere near their best defensive player. He has missed more time than he has played the past couple of years an since his microfracture surgery, which many players are never the same after, Stroud has been just that, not the same. He has been outplayed by Rob Meier in recent years.
H) How did they lose Gerald Sensabaugh? He is going to be their starting SS this coming year... he was hurt last year, maybe that's what you meant, but I don't see how that is an argument for your point.
I) They have 3 good corners, Mathis, Williams and Drayton Florence. If they add Lito Sheppard like is rumored they would have, indisputably the best quartet of cornerbacks in the league.
J) The linebackers they have drafted already HAVE made an impact. I don't understand this statement at all. Daryl Smith is one of the best young linebackers in the game, mike peterson is solid and durant and ingram have been extremely productive when they have played, and they are both still under 25! K) I already said how Harvey was going to go no later than middle of round one so he is not a late first round talent. And he was regarded as the best pure pass rusher in the draft, the reason he was behind long and gholston was because he wasn't as complete a player, not because he wasn't as good a pass rusher.
So as you can see, basically nothing you said was correct and there was half an alphabet of fallacies in your one paragraph. Know at least a little bit before you spout off next time with a knee jerk reaction to an article
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