Howdy all!
Vic Ketchman writes a great piece about the development of the Jaguars Offensive Line. Specificly lauding that they'll be the 5th team to have two 1,000 yard rushers. Interestingly, no matter how well the team runs this sunday, there is no way they can become number one in Rush Offense due to the unique nature of Atlanta's running attack. Vic Says
It's interesting that the Offensive Line would come around so quickly. Last year the majority of YOU wanted to blow up the whole project. Now they're setting team records and may well go into the NFL history book. I was unaware that other than LT Barnes, the line has been together, almost without injury for 4 years. This longetivy is becoming a strenght as they are protecting the quarterback better than ever.
I don't know if it's Tice, Del Rio, or just dumb luck, but the line has its act together this year and certainly deserves a lot of praise for what they've accomplished. There's nothing more lonely than being an O-lineman in a back market town, but they deserve some credit.
I've got a road trip as well this week. I'm taking an adventure a few hours north to experence my first "Away" game. Yup, Myself, Ms. River City, and River City's Mother are going to be the only three Jaguar fans at Arrowhead Stadium! I'm hoping the fine folks at Arrowhead Pride don't harras me too badly (also, if you want to meet up before the game, have a beer, etc, drop me an email)
Maurice Jones-Drew as I've been saying for weeks, is finally getting a little notice on the TV for his play. He's 105 yards away from being a thousand yard rusher (and by god the O-line is gonna give him those yards), and is 5th overall in touchdowns. A good game sunday would be great to seal the deal for rookie of the year, but it's unlikely given the attention (and yeah, accomplishment) of Vince Young.
On the subject of Vince Young, I think that the more appropriate honor for the Titans would be for Jeff Fisher to receive coach of the year. Now I know the (few) Jag fans that lurk here are calling for my head now, but hear me out. Jeff's got a bottom of the barrel team as close to the playoffs as we are. Nobody in their right mind saw that coming. We all saw the way they played in Jacksonville, that team looked years away. Yet he's got things together. It's not all VY, he diddn't do a damn thing against Jax, but his team still got the W. As much as I loathe just about everything about Jeff and the Titans, what they've done deserves respect. I don't know how excited I am that the Titans Turnaround is gaining momentum. 1999 is still pretty painful.
The Guys At Pro Football Talk are calling Del Rio a "Del Dumbass" for comments alluding to the Spearing of Tom Brady last week. I saw the play, the hit was legit, and I completely agree that quarterbacks that go head first should be penalized. I don't think that Jack meant that LB Clint Ingram should have "Speared" in the literal sense of the rule, I think he's referencing the way the hit looked on TV. But what do I know.
I've heard chatter about Tom Coughlin returning to Jacksonville as the next Offensive Cooridinator (Since obviously someone's gonna get fired). As much as I appreciate a bit of reverence to old coaches and previous history, I don't think Tom would be happy under the guy that replaced him, and I don't think Del Rio would want to do that to himself. Besides, Tom's offenses never looked anything like the running attack, and Coughlin would probably murder our entire wide receiveing corps and plead to trade for McCardel.
As we get to the end of the year and the end of the regular season, I'd just like to say Thanks to all the readers, all 4,861 of you who've stopped by this crazy place to listen to my random and infrequent ramblings. Special thanks goes, as always, to Big Blue Shoe/Stampede Blue and all of his readers who, for better or for worse, come over here and banter. Also, thanks to Nestor/Bruins Nation for helping spread the word about Maurice Jones-Drew.
Of course, none of this would have happened if it wernt for the fantastic folks running SBnation, and I look foward to another year of blogging.
Who knows, maybe people will start posting diaries and spreading the word about the maddness here!
Thanks, and Happy Reading!
-Chris