Here's your chance to vent about the debacle that we all just witnessed. If you'd like my opinion, leave a comment, and I'll pop in later for my reaction. Topics possibilities:
Your rants and ravings below.
I've protected this coaching staff the entire season, and I still stand by the Jaguars' defensive coaches, as well as Jack Del Rio.Dirk Koetter, however, is about to receive the wrath of myself, along with thousands of other Jaguars fans.
The situation is simple. There's :08 left in the game, you have not times out, and the ball is on the 1 yard line. Obviously, the first play is going to be a pass to the end zone. No doubt about that, and he got that part right.
Now, there was :03 left from the same spot. Your team has Maurice Jones-Drew. Now his my simple call. I'm putting in my biggest players. I'm going into the biggest set I have. The Browns would likely call a time out to make sure they had the right personnel. Then, I would line up again in that same set. I'd hand the ball to Maurice Jones-Drew and let my offensive linemen go straight up against theirs. Best group on that one play win the game.
But no. That's not the route that Koetter took, and it would have worked had Gabbert thrown the dump off to Jones-Drew out of the backfield. Instead, Gabbert threw over the middle for an incompletion and a tough loss.
The loss should be placed 100% on Dirk Koetter. I'm not saying he's a god-awful coach, but he screwed up the biggest play call of the game in an unimaginable manner. That's inexcusable. You have the best player on the field, and you're not giving him the ball? That's not ignorance or lack of foresight or anything else that this coaching staff has/can be accused of. That's stupidity.
Sorry for the rant, but that was a play sent by the football gods for the enjoyment of everyone, and Koetter passed on a golden opportunity to let Maurice Jones-Drew win the game for the Jaguars.
The easiest way to get a good handle on what may unfold on Sunday is to take a look at a quick overview of the Jaguars and the Browns statistics to this point in the season (best stat per category highlighted in team color):
As you see above, both teams are very comparable in nearly every category. Even their net points are identical. The Browns claim most advantages in the offensive category as well as the claim to being the NFL's number one pass defense. The Jaguars are one of the best all-around defenses in the league.
My prediction is that the Jaguars win this game 17-7. The Browns' one weak spot on defense is their rush defense, which is one of the worst in the league. While the Jaguars' offense as a whole is pretty poor, they do run the ball very well. That's the mismatch that the Jaguars need to exploit, and I think that's the difference in the game.
We were told when the Jaguars drafted Gabbert back in April that he had great potential, but he was extremely raw. We were told to be patient. Of course, back then we believed Gabbert would be able to wait as he had two veterans in front of him on the depth chart. That sure as hell went out the window faster than grandma's infamous mincemeat pie, but we've learned a lot about Blaine Gabbert none-the-less.
First off, it's pretty apparent that Gabbert is indeed a talented player, but it's also equally apparent that he needs time to develop. He's the type of quarterback that is normally drafted by a great team. He would then be groomed for 2 or 3 years before being handed the keys to the Ferrari. This is Jacksonville, where the team resembles a 1995 Ford F350 with 350,000 miles under its belt. This isn't a joy ride for anyone involved.
My central question about Blaine Gabbert is, when do we start judging him? We were told he was raw talent. That's fair enough. You can't judge him for what he's done this year. After all, his offensive line is inconsistent at best, his receivers are crappy at best, and he's faced 4 of the top 5 defenses in the league. The only top 5 defense he hasn't faced in a game is the Jacksonville Jaguars' defense. And oh-by-the-way, the Browns have the number 6 defense in the NFL, with their pass defense ranking numero uno. Yeah, it's fair to say that no judgement should/will be passed this season, at least not from me.
With judgement suspended until the middle of next season at the earliest, I think it's prudent to go over what Gabbert does well and what he needs to work on. So here we go, Blaine Gabbert style:
Blaine Gabbert is an accurate passer when he is able to set his feat and step into a pass. That's a given with almost any quarterback except Curtis Painter, Mark Sanchez, and that guy that once ran out the back of the endzone while he was with the Lions before the Colts picked him up. I'm sorry, I digress. Blaine Gabbert's accuracy in ideal circumstances has never been questioned. He throws a pretty ball, and a tight spiral can be the difference between fitting it into a tight window or throwing an interception. In that way, I'm comfortable with Gabbert.
Speaking of mechanics, have you seen this guys release? Blaine Gabbert is to Tim Tebow as spaghetti is to a piece of macaroni. That is, Tebow's release takes foooorrreeevvvveeeerrr. Gabbert has one of the shortest throwing motions I've ever seen, especially with short to mid-ranged passes. My only concern is that the ball comes out somewhat lower than many quarterbacks, but in a league where pass rush is everything, I'm willing to sacrifice height for a little extra speed on the release.
Finally, Blaine Gabbert understands the concept that you can't win games if you're not even competitive. Gabbert may be a little gun shy, but he doesn't turn the ball over very often. In fact, he has thrown just 5 interceptions this season, just 2 more than Alex Smith who may be the best QB in the league in 2011 at not giving the ball away.
For everything that Gabbert does well, there's something that he doesn't do well, and you probably saw this one coming miles away. Gabbert's foot work is borderline laughable. Frankly, it sucks. When Gabbert isn't needlessly moving in the pocket, he's often busy throwing the ball at Maurice Jones-Drew's feat for no particular reason. It all goes back to his foot work. On longer passes, it's not as apparent when a quarterback throws while off balance. If the ball hits at a receiver's feat 30 yards down field, we think it's just a poor pass. When it happens 5 yards from the quarterback, all we can do is shake our heads in disgust/guilty amusement. The silver lining is that it's indeed fixable given good coaching (something the Jaguars have) and time (something most of the Jaguars' coaches don't have).
The other point I want to touch on with Blaine Gabbert is his 2 minute drills. His only successful attempts to manufacture points late in a half have come on long Maurice Jones-Drew runs. Normally those happen when the Jaguars are actually trying to run out the clock. The Colts game from last Sunday is an example (although Josh Scobee shanked the field goal), and so is the Panthers game from earlier this season. His failed attempts often include fumbles or failed last second lateral plays which, although entertaining, don't exactly bode well for the team.
This tweet from Colts' owner Jim Irsay made me bust up laughing instantly:
[embedly]http://twitter.com/#!/JimIrsay/status/137035763509506049[/embedly]
I just got done re-watching the Jaguars, Colts game from this past Sunday, and there was actually a Jaguars receiver that caught my eye. That guy was Chastin West. West, who was on the Packers practice squad, was signed by the Jaguars back in September, and he flashed a little bit of something on Sunday.
West's numbers were modest at best, only catching 3 passes for 13 yards, but Gabbert missed him on a couple more throws. The impressive part of his performance was how crisp his routes appeared, especially his quick slants.
I know, I know. The quick slant is one of the easiest routes to run at any level of football, but it's a big facet of this offense that has seemingly been completely absent this year. Hopefully, that's about to change. The Jaguars haven't had any dominate receivers or tight ends this season, and any help is wanted in Jacksonville. It was interesting to see that Gabbert was going to West as often as he did. I guess we'll see if West and Gabbert can continue to develop together as this season begins to wind down.
In case you missed it, the Jaguars aren't dead in the water just yet, even at 3-6. The Texans suffered a major blow today when Gary Kubiak announced that Matt Schaub wouldn't be playing against the Jaguars with a foot injury. This from Jason La Canfora of NFL.com sums up that bombshell:
"Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub suffered what coach Gary Kubiak described Monday as a "significant" right foot injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and has already been ruled out for the team's next game.
Backup quarterback Matt Leinart will start when the Texans return from their bye week to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 12."
Then, ESPN took it a step further, breaking the news that Schaub is done for the year:
"Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub will miss the rest of the season with a Lisfranc injury, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter."
With this news, the Jaguars aren't quite out of the divisional race just yet. At this point, the division will likely be decided by the level of Matt Leinart's play. I have to wonder how confident the Texans are at this point.
