Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.
Ron from Jacksonville
Albert Haynesworth has six sacks in 10 games this year. I'd say that's a guy that stops the run and rushes the passer.
Vic: That’s why he’s going to get a real, real big contract this winter.
Dan from Orlando, FL
Everyone talks about the AFC title game loss to the Titans, but no one talks about the AFC title game loss to New England. Can you give some insights into that game?
Vic: The Jaguars were a 9-7 team that got into the playoffs on a fluke missed field goal attempt by Morten Andersen. They got hot in the playoffs, rode on the shoulders of their quarterback to the AFC title game, and were probably just happy to be there. Their arrow was clearly pointing up. It was a game they weren’t supposed to win and didn’t, but there would be other days. As it turned out, there would be one other day, in a game they were supposed to win but didn’t.
Richard from Irvine, CA
I love how Joe from Pittsburgh calls you a homer because in your “all-important” power rankings you rank the Steelers lower than he thinks they should be, yet, there are Jaguars fans who send you questions that seem to imply you are always biased in favor of the Steelers. Fans just flat out can't handle reading anything bad about their team, I guess. That's sad. I prefer realism. Keep up the great work.
Vic: If I said I was from Nashville, I’d be accused of being a homer for the Titans. We’ve just evolved into an angry culture and we express our anger freely when we don’t get what we want.
Mike from Jacksonville
I agree that Tom Brady is a good quarterback, but it seems you give no credit to his outstanding receivers. If Tom Brady didn't have Moss, Stallworth and Welker, do you still think he would be having as good a season is he is now?
Vic: He won three Super Bowls without them. Your question reminds me of Branch Rickey’s comment to Ralph Kiner when Kiner wanted a big contract. “I finished last with you, I can finish last without you.”
John from Jacksonville
About you being a homer because you have the Steelers at number nine, wouldn't that be the exact opposite of what you would do if you were in fact a homer? If you had them higher on your rankings, then a win against them would look that much more impressive and a loss would not look as bad. The Steelers haven't looked like a superior team in the past four weeks and just got dominated by the Patriots. I don't see what’s so hard to understand.
Vic: No, no, no; you’ve got it all wrong. That’s not why I dropped them to number nine. I dropped them to number nine because I really am a Steelers homer and I was hoping they’d read my power rankings and get fired up. That’s one theory. There’s also another train of thought that I was doing a cut-and-paste and somehow got the Steelers out of order. Also, some people think I was just kissin’ up to Wayne Weaver because he reads my all-important power rankings and gets really angry if the Jaguars are lower than he thinks they should be. The whole thing is a ruse. It’s a fraud. Nothing I do is honorable or genuine. Hey, I’m media.
Ric from Jacksonville
The list of MLB players believed to be using performance-enhancing drugs was released and it was huge. There were more than 80 players listed. What impact do you think this will have on baseball's fan base and do you think that culture is as embedded in the NFL as it is in MLB?
Vic: Did we really need an official report to tell us baseball had a problem? Guys have been hitting home runs in recent years with swings that wouldn’t have gotten the ball out of the infield 30 years ago. The guys who were taking HGH looked like their heads were going to explode, while the steroid boys had the classic egg-in-a-cup look. Every time I heard someone suggest the ball was being juiced, I laughed. It wasn’t the ball that was being juiced. Now we have reasonable proof of what should been considered reasonable suspicions. How will the sporting public react? In my opinion, there will be no decrease in attendance or interest. In fact, I expect that more people will watch baseball because we’re fascinated by the notorious. The important thing to me is that baseball keep these guys out of the Hall of Fame. They have no business sharing the same shrine with the truly great players of the game. As far as your question about the possibility of a drug culture existing in the NFL, I obviously can’t answer that, for the obvious reason that I don’t know what the answer is. I do, however, think there are two reasonable thoughts: 1.) Unlike baseball, the NFL has a drug policy that covers performance-enhancing drugs. It’s a policy the league and the players association embraces and supports, therefore, whatever culture exists is likely to be less significant than what the Mitchell Report says exists in baseball. 2.) The NFL does, from time to time, suspend players for violation of the performance-enhancing drugs policy, therefore, we know the culture exists to some degree.
Gavin from Vancouver, BC
I'm thinking ahead to the last game of the season. The Pats have beaten the Dolphins and the Jets. You're Tom Coughlin and have secured your place in the playoffs. Do you rest your players and let the Pats take it, in the hopes of getting ready for the Super Bowl, or do you try to be the one to end the undefeated streak, risking injury to your starters in a game that is ultimately meaningless to your playoff seeding?
Vic: You do what’s best for your team.
Bill from Hamden, CT
Does placing Marcus Stroud on the IR eliminate him from playing in the postseason?
Vic: Yes.
Greg from Fayetteville, AR
Do incoming players have to agree to the CBA and join the players union? Has anyone ever refused to do it?
Vic: You don’t have to join the union, but it is a violent game played by big, strong and, often, angry men, so you might consider joining. If you foolishly elect to not join the union, the contract you sign with your team will provide for an annual service fee to the league that is the equal of a player’s annual union dues. Get the point? Back in the ’70s, there were some older players who resisted joining the union. They refused to join because they were angry at all of the things the union didn’t do for them early in their careers. They didn’t like the way the union was being run or the way the money was being used. The ’70s were a time of free expression and rebelliousness. The players back then spoke their minds and they tended to be rogues.
John from Pittsburgh, PA
I have no question. I just want to commend you for your honesty.
Vic: I come from an honest place.
Don from Heathrow, FL
Do you have any clue why the Pro Bowl voting is completed with almost a quarter of the season left to play?
Vic: No, I don’t, but my guess is that it has something to do with money.
Roderick from Huachuca City, AZ
How smart is Houston looking now, having passed on the flashier players in taking Mario Williams?
Vic: After getting three sacks last night, Williams has 13 for the season. I think Reggie Bush was just what the doctor ordered in New Orleans, but Williams has developed into a premier, pass-rushing defensive end and they are hard to find. The pick worked out just fine for them. The Texans are clearly on the rise.
Donnie from St. Augustine, FL
Carson Palmer finished higher than David Garrard in the Pro-Bowl fan vote? What a joke this is turning out to be.
Vic: Hey, I’m media. We don’t have a vote. Selecting the Pro Bowl is a function of the fans, players and coaches. We just report the news about who was selected.
Jason from Mims, FL
You mentioned that the Carolina-Jacksonville game was 18th in the league in TV ratings. What you may not be taking into account, is Central Florida. There are a lot of us Jags fans down here who had to listen on the radio because the Dolphins were away and Jacksonville was at home.
Vic: The Panthers-Jaguars game got a 26.0 rating in Jacksonville, which was 18th in the league. That rating is for the Jacksonville DMA (Defined Market Area), which does not include Orlando. For local games in week 14, Pittsburgh was number one with a 45.2 and San Francisco was last with a 10.5. For one of the few times in the Jaguars’ existence, their TV rating disappointed me. The team is winning. It’s headed to the playoffs and scoring a lot of points. What’s not to like? By comparison, Buffalo got a 36.9. and losing teams such as Denver, Kansas City, Philadelphia and Cincinnati had higher ratings than Jacksonville. In total impressions (eyeballs watching TV), Jacksonville was dead last in week 14. That’s usually not a big deal because impressions is a big-market gauge, but dead last? Pittsburgh and Cleveland are small markets and they were in the top 10 in the impressions category. I really don’t know what to make of these ratings, but they worry me.