Chargers Vs. Jaguars Final: Defensive Injuries Take Their Toll
by Alfie Crow on Dec 6, 2011 11:01 AM EST
in Jacksonville Jaguars Post Game
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The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football 38-14. Early in the game the Jaguars fell behind 10-0 on a 13-yard Mike Tolbert touchdown run and a field goal. The Jaguars rallied back however, as rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert led back to back touchdown drives, the first time in the season he had done so. After that however, Philip Rivers and the Chargers offense went to work, picking at the Jaguars decimated secondary. Before halftime, the Chargers scored back to back touchdowns with just 1:26 left on the clock. Rivers hit wide receiver Vincent Brown on a 22-yard touchdown to take the 17-14 lead. On the ensuing Jaguars drive, Gabbert was picked off by safety Eric Weddle and then the bottom fell out.
Three plays later, Philip Rivers connected with Vincent Jackson for a 35-yard touchdown pass right before halftime, going up 24-14. The Chargers didn't take their foot off the pedal in the second half, with Rivers hitting Malcolm Floyd deep down the sideline for a 52-yard touchdown pass. All night long, Rivers picked on the Jaguars secondary that was missing Rashean Mathis, Derek Cox, and William Middleton. Replacements Kevin Rutland and Ashton Youboty were beat most of the game, so bad so that Youboty was benched in favor of Morgan Trent, who was signed last week.
With a league leading amount of players on injured reserve, it was just a matter of time for the defense to completely fall apart. It might get worse too, with defensive end John Chick going down with a reported patella injury. Chick's knee bent awkwardly and he laid on the ground pounding his fist and writhing in pain. It's just another in the long season of bad injuries on the Jaguars defensive front.
The defense wasn't helped out by the Jaguars offense last night, either. After the Gabbert interception, the offense couldn't seem to get out of it's own way. The offensive line struggled to contain a very mediocre Chargers pass rush. The rookie quarterback was antsy in the pocket and skittish. The wide receivers struggled to get any separation and when they did the rookie quarterback struggled to put a pass anywhere close.
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No let's not talk about injuries.
Or the lack of offensive talent on the line and skill positions. Let’s talk about how terrible Blaine Gabbert is. Let’s talk about how Blaine Gabbert is scared to take hits, even though he sat and stepped into the pocket several times waiting for someone to come open. Let’s talk about how we should draft Barkley and RGIII or how we should have taken Dalton. Let’s talk about how awful Mel Tucker was as interim head coach. To field a team knowing we have 20 guys on IR is just unthinkable. Let’s lose perspective. Let’s pull our hair follicles out and bang our balls with spike bats. Let’s lose it.
by Slvrgun on Dec 6, 2011 11:15 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
You make good points......
but I am going to say with all confidence, Blaine Gabbert has to get much better. Yes better receivers will help. More protection will help. Many things need to be improved, but his level of play is one of them. I will not pile it all on him, but he needs to man up and take some of the responsibility.
There was seperation last night
Gabbert just doesn’t see it. He doesn’t look past the checkdown, hardly ever. Defenses do themselves a disservice if they try to disguise a blitz against Gabbert, because he plays even worse when he knows the blitz is coming.
Jaws had to correct Gruden.
Gruden was saying he wanted to see some more passes beyond 10 yards, and Jaws was saying no one is getting open. Jaws had to say it more than once. With that said Blaine did throw some bad balls. So he isn’t without blame.
I saw Marcedes coming open in the middle
a few times last night. Gabbert checks it down instead. He plays scared, that’s the only way to put it.
you know how many times Lewis has flashed and dropped the pass this year?
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C'mon dude
Injuries was the biggest factor in the game. They scored 38 points… that hasn’t happened all year. But, Blaine Gabbert did suck. Whether you see it or believe it or not. He was terrible other than those two drives. FACT
His whole comment was sarcastic...
by Dwalk1217 on Dec 6, 2011 11:32 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
what's your point? Even if Blaine Gabbert "improves next year" where does that get us
he goes from 47% completion to 53% completion rate?
He goes from 58.9 QB Rating to 72.3 QB rating?
He goes from 8 passing TDs to 14 passing TDs.
Even if he has “decent” improvement, it still isn’t going to be good enough. He is the worst QB in the league. Even if he jumps 8-10 spots in the QB ratings, he is still going to suck. He isn’t going to “light it up next year”
how do you know this?
I’ll keep going back to Freeman and Bradford’s regression. He’s 22 years old and he split reps with 2 other guys in the offseason. I still believe the team was prepared to go with Garrard til his back flared up.
Give him a full offseason with OTAs, access to the facilities and a true quarterback coach who is not on a 1 year deal. The kid’s no dummy, in my view he has not been properly coached to adjust to the speed of the game.
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i don't have any confidence in him yet until he toughens up.
I don’t care if you make mistakes when you are being aggressive. I would rather be aggressive and make a mistake than this running scared and phantom pressure and sliding 5 yards before being hit and when he rolls out of the pocket try to get up field instead of a 4.2 40 straight to the sideline. I don’t know, i just want to see something which shows a little promise heading into teh offseason. I haven’t seen that yet. I guess my point was everyone is expecting this huge improvement in year 2, but he is so far at the bottom of the barrel, his improvement still isn’t going to be enough.
Very accurate write up
I agree the receivers suck, but I also believe that Gabbert’s performance has been subpar of subpar. In other words, effin terrible. Its just now getting embarrasing.
good to see you Blair
and I agree with all you said. we quit watching the game and watched fights in the stands. it was mildly entertaining.
Sean
Pax Armis Acquiritur
We had some heckling in our section, too...
and while I had my fellow Jaguar fans backs, I couldn’t help but think how ironic it was that many of them were screaming about how the Chargers are moving to LA.
Don’t we hate that kind of thing?
Fidelis Ad Mortem
Yes we do....
But if a fan is in Jacksonville to watch a MNF game, is it not more likely that said fan lives in the greater Jax area, and does not give a rats butt if the team moves from San Diego to LA? He ’s not going to home games anyway!
Sadly, I agree
Amazingly enough, I find myself wishing that Gabbert could play as “poorly” or as “average” as Garrard did the last two/three seasons – it would be a monumental improvement.
Maybe an off-season will help him, and he is very very young, but I’m concerned that his lack of composure under even slight pressure is not something that can be coached out of him.
I was amaized how the ran it right up the gut.......
Knighton must still be hurting, but I lost track of how much he was really playing last night! Loosing Chick hurts pretty bad too!
That was an issue for sure
I think it was because of the schemes we were playing. I’m not sure though. I think we were in coverage pretty often from what I saw.
For sure.
I can understand getting torched down the field, but the runs up the middle hurt my soul. I thought we were solid there.
remember, Tyson is basically playing on 1 leg
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I like Blaine and all
But I couldn’t quite understand his body language. He seemed un energetic, he seemed like he was mad and he didn’t even want to be there. Maybe I just read him wrong
by Jags85 on Dec 6, 2011 11:43 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Saw the same thing.......
And I have no tolerance for that. I with you am willing to give him a chance, but I expect him to play hard the whole game. I wondered if it was that attitude that got him benched last game.
Blaine is a beaten man right now.
Mentally playing scared. He is looking at the rush instead of the receivers most of the time. He does not trust the receivers or the offensive line. He is shell shocked back there. Being tossed into being the starter with this team this year was the worst thing that could happen. I am not sure he can recover. I think the Jags still have to give him a real off season and get him some workable people around him other than MJD. Resources are too tight and few to go and draft another QB this year. Find a backup in FA and then try to draft a unit around him. If the Jags just keep drafting QB’s, it will never get better.
Nope.
That is why I understand how he is acting. Not going to be fixed this year. Not sure Gabbert can be fixed but there is really no other choice than to give a new coach and Gabbert a shot next year. Draft a QB with the #1 pick this season and all you have done is retarded the recovery another draft.
In the first half at least
There was seperation in the middle of the field. In this case though, we were still gaining yards from the patented Gabbert checkdown and it was working. Even when things are going good, they were in the 2nd quarter, he still doesn’t get it down the field. You can’t survive on checkdowns, the defense gets wise to it and they play tight coverage.
I can't speak for the 2nd half
I fell asleep after the Whimper catch, which was hilarious. In the first half, there was seperation in the middle of the field, Gabbert just gets too antsy and checks it down. That camera on the wire in the middle of the field was showing Marcedes come open down the seam on a couple of Gabbert checkdowns.
How are you going to take advantage of separation
if you’re throwing bounce passes in the grass?
I like to watch.
by MoveThoseChains on Dec 6, 2011 12:30 PM EST up reply actions
NOW generation
We all improvement. Hate to break it to you guys. It’s not happening this year. And I’m not giving up on gabs yet. There are just to many pieces of this puzzle missing.
by thegoodz on Dec 6, 2011 11:50 AM EST via mobile reply actions
I'm gonna take a page out of Oehser's book
You can’t judge him or call him a bust until next year…..Give him a full off-season with OTA’s and presumedly new coaches, then judge him after 2012
Good game homie.....Please don't leave Dwight, and Otis don't trade JJ
by tiquanunderwear on Dec 6, 2011 12:51 PM EST up reply actions
I agree TU
By the way, you weren’t serious about Soulja Boy, were you? lol
by Jags85 on Dec 6, 2011 2:46 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Sad but true.
During the draft, I sorta tune out because hearing a bunch of elder meatheads trying to predict the future makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
But, I’m sad to say, I remember thinking the Gabbert QB was the worst of the bunch. Do you remember seeing any great throws from his collegiate career? Wasn’t he known for being skittish and abandoning plays early?
In our case, he is who we thought he was. A check-down, dink-and-dunker extraordinary. So give him an offseason if you want. Ask Trent Edwards how that worked out.
Picking Gabbert was a reach, similar in style to that Gators defensive end guy we picked a few years back. What was his name? Oh yeah, Derrick Harvey. Oh wait, wasn’t Matt Jones a reach? And RJ Soward? And Reggie Williams?
Ok wait. What’s going on here?
The Teal and Black are comin' back!
Well guys, this is the
Story of our season. Close but no cigar. I was at the game. Crowd was energized during the 2nd qtr run, then the rookie turned into a rookie. I noticed that Gabbert gave up after his first reads (notice the grounding play and the other botched screen). He had a quick trigger on plays when he got a little pressure. Our play calling is so predictable, etc…etc…etc… This year has been frustrating, but I have hope for the future.
by DeeMoe on Dec 6, 2011 1:10 PM EST via mobile reply actions
just a question
How do you guys think Ponder or Dalton would do with this group?
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Dalton better, Ponder same
Freakin Iddiots
by tiquanunderwear on Dec 6, 2011 2:14 PM EST up reply actions
I think both would do better
I agree the receivers are crap but there have been too many times that Blaine has thrown a shitball off his back foot instead of standing in there and delivering the ball.
Ponder would be better. Haven't watched Dalton enough.
Did you see the hits Ponder took on Sunday? He stood in there like a man. And Ponder is not a clutz like Gabbert. Gabbert is like a teenage boy who just grew 6" taller over a summer break. Maybe he will grow into his body one day, but I doubt it.
"The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is." Winston Churchill
Neither would have done any better as Gabbert has imo
Dalton has a solid O-line and a Stud WR to masks the mistakes he has made this year, also a OC who seems pretty competent. Ponder has played ok, been helped by Harvin a lot and also his coaches have used his athleticism a lot in letting him roll out, move the pocket, and even run ever now and then.
With this group, coaches included, they would have fared no better.
by Sylvester.The.Jaguar.fan on Dec 6, 2011 7:44 PM EST up reply actions
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