I saw things today I haven't seen this year, in fact I saw things I have never seen before. For me, it was a beautiful memorable day.
I saw the B2 Stealth Bomber perform the fly-over. You can see it on the horizon and you can watch it grow in size but you can't hear it. If it was night, the only way you would know it was coming was because the stars were vanishing. It is a jaw dropping experience to see it.
I saw a family stand in the endzone in the shadow of the goal post as their husband and father spoke from Iraq on the scoreboard. Then I saw him walk out on the field and a 10 year old boy run to his dad in tears and hugs. Wow
After the jump, I'll tell you what else I saw. I'll keep it short, Chris covered it nicely.
I saw really good punting. Dustin Colquitt from Kansas City put on a clinic today. One time he nailed a 70 yard punt. Mike Thomas never assumed the ball would travel that far and everytime backed up and backed up. When Podlesh had the same punt, same wind at his back, he hit a 40 yard punt. I sit in a section with long time season ticket holders and we agree, Podlesh is a high school kid. Dustin Colquitt is the son of Steeler punter Chris Colquitt. I never saw punting that good.
I saw Baby Holt catch a fantastic 40 yard third down pass. Jarrett Dillard (aka Baby Holt), doesn't get in the game very much, but you can tell David loves him. After the 70 yard punt, the Jaguars were buried deep. David went back and threw a rope, Dillard went high and grabbed it. I haven't seen that type of catch from a Jaguar since.... well, I never saw one before. This is only my fifth season with the team and I am used to the stooges era. It is clear David loves his receivers. He loves MSW and Holt and Dillard and Mike Thomas and MJD when he is out there.
I saw the Jaguars sack the quarterback. That is a rare event. In fact, I saw two in one game. That hasn't happened before that I remember. Daryl Smith took over one series and had the Chiefs facing 3rd and 17 all by himself. He then got the third down tackle and took them off the field.
I saw Rashad Jennings run for a touchdown. I saw the shotgun formation and Jennings in the backfield and said "Jennings the ball carrier, no gain on the play", then he ran it in. Everyone turned to me and laughed. I was wrong. It was a nice stiff arm he threw.
I saw Torry Holt pull that vanishing move again and go over the middle. What an incredible reciever he must have been in his prime. It is still a pleasure to watch him.
OK, game ball. It is hard to ignore Mike Simms Walker but the truth is, he wasn't covered on his touchdown and other long gain. The Kansas City secondary is really confused a lot of the time and MSW didn't do anything special for those scores. It has to be Maurice Jones Drew. His touchdown was the critical score and it was another unbelievable play. He vanishes in the pile and majically appears in the end zone. He is simply the money player and never disappoints.
Another notable performance came from Gerald Alexander. He was awake in the team meeting when they said to tackle. He hit people hard and even rang his own bell on one hit. Mike Thomas was impressive when he figured out where the punts were coming down. His reverse run was excellent. Rahean Mathis was amazing in the first half, hitting hard and enjoying himself.
David ran for his life and played escape artist today. The offensive line has moments of good playing and moments of disaster. That is the character of this team. If the Jaguars draft last year and this year had fixed the defensive and offensive line issues, this team would be a solid playoff contender. The people are not living up to their draft position. Eugene played better than Eben today, but both let David down a number of times. The problem is the guards seem to be getting old too. I am afraid we are only as good as out offensive line will let us be. Winning seven games is a good sign with Gene having another crack at rebuilding. David did pull off some serious escape moves but I wish he would throw it away. This is Kansas City we are playing, throw it away and come back on the next play. Credit to MSW for sensing when his QB is in trouble. He gets in Davids vision to make a play. This is something Marcedes never learned to do. I think the point is, no playoff run for this team until the offensive line solidifies.
The team never left me in doubt today they would win. They were the clearly better team. Sandra and I left with four minutes to go, so we didn't see the meltdown at the end. It was only a scare.
The schedule gets very interesting from here on out. I don't know what to expect, but give this team a chance to grow and fight. Remember, first a team learns to fight to the end before it learns to win. This team fought hard for 56 minutes. I enjoyed the day.
- Terry O'Brien