Not a whole lot of Jaguars excitement going on this week. The players have been enjoying some extra time off as the won't return to practice until tomorrow. Must be nice.
It's funny how the team's perception changes after one win. It's like the Jaguars rediscovered who they are. The physicality that is our trademark returned and we won the physical battles. Let's take a quick look at what I though we'd do and how we did.
"Dominate at the point of attack": Yeah, I think the 11 minute 80 yard drive showed that our offensive line can carry the day when expected. The only way to win in the AFC South with Manning in the division is to have an offense that can keep him off the field as long as possible. If we can put together one or two drives like our first one on Sunday, we can keep the advantage. We're only a game behind Indy, so keeping the pressure is key. We'll win this thing in the trenches or we won't win at all.
"Use the Tight Ends": While it wasn't as profound as I would have hoped, Marcades and Estandia both made very important catches when needed. They kept drives alive and exploited Denver's tendency to focus on the run. Estandia needs a little bit of work however, there were two costly goal line penalties that might have put us in the end zone. But that's OK, the kid was out of practice all week from an illness, so we'll see if he improves next week against the Chiefs!
"Don't let Denver be Dever": Yeah, Travis Henry had 34 yards. The run was stuffed and were it not for some freak plays by their Marshall guy, they'd of had zero offense.
"Frustrate Cutler": Not so much, while we got pressure, he was often able to get away and check down. Jay Cutler is going to be a very good quarterback in the league though, worth watching.
David Garrard is now 12-9 as a starter. He was 14 for 20 for 154 yards and a TD. 109.2 Passer rating.
Jacksonville has only allowed 34 points in three games. We'll win a lot of games if we only allow 11.4 points per game.
Marcus Stroud is 2nd in the league for Sacks by a Defensive Tackle. If you think that's impressive, imagine what he'll do when we get him next to a healthy Henderson?
I'll be back later with some more depth.
-Chris