This has been coming for a long time

So our Jaguars have truly imploded. But why all the surprise? The Jaguars were in desperate trouble before the season even started. A few of us called it only to be skewered by other "more knowledegable fans." The Jaguars are a power running offense and the devastating losses to the offensive line has made it nearly impossible to compete on a weekly basis. David Garrard has been heavily criticized, but can you imagine an immobile quarterback with no help up front. Without an offensive line, he has played extremely well. A healthy offensive line would have covered up a lot of glaring weaknesses on this team.

But the Del Rio/Harris off season woes would have stopped us from going too deep into the post season anyway. I will never forget the day I was waiting for the Jags to take Terrell Suggs in the draft and then heard Byron Leftwich's name called. Most fans knew that Garrard was waiting in the wings for Mark Brunell's departure. And then Leftwich proceeded to hold out. But that was just the start: Reggie Williams, Matt Jones (although he is trying to turn it around), Jerry Porter, and of course, Derrick Harvey. When the Jaguars finally realized they needed a pass rush, they grabbed the wrong guy--who also quickly went to a hold out status. So even with a great offensive line, our defense would have been suspect once we ran up against the league's elite.

But all the locker room stuff is just drama that occurs when frustrated players that are accustomed to winning don't. Jack was always going to have to tighten up the locker room sooner or later. This is his first head coaching job, and he had to learn that today's players are far different than those of his era. But it's much easier to start off hard and ease up, than vice-versa. I hope he hasn't waited too long because I do think he's a good coach. Then again, winning takes care of a lot of issues.