Shock or Disbelief: The hours after the game spent wondering if I saw what I just witnessed. Did Matt Jones really drop two passes into Texans arms? Did we really only hold the ball for 22:27? I simply cannot believe the Jaguars could play so badly after so soundly trouncing the Eagles.
Denial: There's no way the loss(es) against the Texans really say anything about the team. David Garrard is still a better option than Byron with a bum ankle, our Wide Receivers are OK, it must be something with the way they're thrown. We're still built to challenge the Colts, we just can't beat the Texans...
Bargaining: Ok, we have seven games left. If we win 5 of them, including beating Indy and Tennessee we still have a shot in the AFC, provided that the Colts lose two more divisional games, as well as losing all but one of their next seven games, also, Jacksonville needs to beat Indy at home in December by 40 points. Then we'll win the AFC South and be right back where we thought we'd be by this point. No problem...
Guilt: I can't believe I've had my expectations so high. This team is too young for the pressures that I and our fans have placed on their shoulders. I feel so terrible for even caring...
Anger: I'm gonna beat the snot out of the next person who drop's Jacksonville in their power rankings to anything lower than 12. Also, People from Houston, the Indianapolis media, and Wide Receivers better watch out...
Depression: We're not going to the Playoffs; We're not going to the playoffs...
Acceptance and Hope: Ok, let's get serious here. Jacksonville is in a tough spot right now. Our passing game is dead in the water. Obviously something changed when David took over. I know Byron throws a much harder ball than David, but you'd think that the WR Corps would have an easier time pulling in the passes after getting used to Byron's bullets. But let's look at where we are. Our defense is still top ten despite all their losses. They did enough to win the game. Our running game is strong. Fred and MJD diddn't get a whole lot of touches, but that's got more to do with the sheer absence of plays for them to run at all. Houston ran 80 plays, Jacksonville only ran 50.
What's the Cure?
Bring Back Byron. David's had his chance, he can only lead us to victory when he hands off to the left, hands off to the right, or scrambles a bit. Mind you, I've said this all along, but David cannot make his reads or progressions. He locks onto one receiver, in this case Cortez Hankton, and never let's go. He did the same thing with Jimmy Smith last year. Let's see what Byron can do, we've got nowhere to go but up at this point.
I've made reference to Jacksonville not making the playoffs, I'm being a bit...dramatic...but for good reason. This team is on the cusp of being something amazing, yet still makes the same stupid mistakes. I think that expectations are pretty damn high for this team (for all the right reasons) and attention is going to start looking a our coaching staff for answers why this team is regressing.
That said, we've gotta beat the Giants on Monday.