Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.
Dennis from Indianapolis, IN:
I was not so upset at the last interference penalty as much as I was about Mathis undressing Marvin to get the pick that he returned for a TD. He almost took Marvin's jersey off his shoulder pads and kept doing it the rest of the game.
Vic: How do you think Patriots fans felt after the Ellis Hobbs call, and that one was for the Super Bowl?
Brandon from Jacksonville:
What is your take on the Jags hardly ever throwing the ball in the red zone against the Colts? Is that showing a lack of faith in Garrard?
Vic: Jack Del Rio said after the game: "Part of our approach was to run the ball and not emphasize the throw as much." Translation: He wanted to get back to basics. Del Rio wanted his team to get to running the ball and not turning it over and the Colts offered that opportunity. I detected a lot of confidence in the coach last week. I've come to look for that kind of stuff because these guys know how to look at tape and get a feel for what's going to happen. Del Rio knew the Colts couldn't stop his team's running game. He also knows it's the run that makes his team feel good about itself. Lack of faith in Garrard? I think it was more a case of fear of turnover. I think there was no doubt in Del Rio's mind that if his team didn't turn it over, it would win. All right, so they dominated the physical aspect of the game, won the game and now have that good feeling about themselves again. Now Del Rio has the perfect stage to start building the pass back into the game plan. You can't win every week with just the run. You must be able to throw the ball and, in my opinion, you must be able to make big plays in the passing game. That's something that's still missing among the wide receivers.
Harry from Jacksonville:
I read your article about Garrard and thought we won despite his performance. He threw a terrible pick and missed several open receivers. I know he got us in field goal range but that was mostly because of pass interference and dump-offs. With a passer rating below 70 for the first three games, how can you justify his performance as something special?
Vic: I never said it was special. I said his performance on Sunday was the first indication that the David Garrard of 2007 may be returning. I will tell you this, however: His short-passing accuracy was fantastic. He got baited by the defender on the interception and he should've thrown the ball away, but on those third-and-seven and third-and-eight plays that he repeatedly converted with throws to Matt Jones, Garrard was right on the money. In my opinion, that's the most positive aspect of the win: Garrard's accuracy returned.
DaMillion from Compton, CA:
How was the piped-in crowd noise at Lucas Oil Stadium?
Vic: It's a wonderful stadium. Bill Polian did a fantastic job overseeing and directing the design and construction of that stadium. It's the only dome I've ever been in that gives you a sense of what's happening outside, because of the glass wall in the one end zone. I was able to cover the game without interference from the noise. Though the press box is awfully high and makes it difficult to pick out numbers on players' jerseys, it's a very relaxed and comfortable working environment. Lucas Oil Stadium sounds the way a stadium should sound. It's loud when the action dictates that kind of energy, and its noise levels decline when the action levels. The guy who's going to miss the RCA Dome is Dwight Freeney. Left tackles have a chance now. They don't have to beat Freeney and the noise, too.
Rich from Indianapolis, IN:
Congrats on the win, guys, but when I finished watching the game, I couldn't help thinking that both of these teams have huge problems and neither one is going anywhere playing like this. With the way the rest of the AFC is looking right now, we're looking at only one team making it out of this division this year and it doesn't look like it's going to be the Colts, Jags or Texans. Thoughts?
Vic: I think you got a little bit of misery loves company going on there. I understand your pessimism about the Colts because it's clear to see they're going through a transition period, but the Jags have a return match with Tennessee and it'll be played in Jacksonville. I'll make a real simple prediction: If the Jaguars win the remainder of their AFC South games, they will win the division. I think that's what it'll take for the Jaguars to win the division. They have to sweep their remaining four division games.
Andy from Jacksonville:
I read that Bill Polian was upset by the interference call on fourth and one. How can he be upset? That's the exact call he has worked so hard to get since he's been with the Colts. He should be thrilled that his work on the competition committee has paid off.
Vic: You should've been a sportswriter.
Steve from Stevensville, MD:
The Colts have yet to win in their new stadium. Is it because they don't have their piped-in crowd noise or are they really in decline?
Vic: In the pregame radio show, I was asked to comment about my long-time stance that the salary cap would eventually catch up to and collapse the Colts. I was asked if I still felt that way and here's how I answered: I don't think the salary cap will collapse the Colts because I think the cap is going to go away in a few years, but the outer bands of Hurricane Sal, if you know what I mean, are starting to reach Indianapolis. Yeah, the cap is hurting them now. It's limiting what they can do and it's weakening their roster. As I said a year ago, forget about that youngest roster in the league stuff because I don't judge a team on the cheap, young players at the bottom of a team's roster. The core players are showing signs of age.
Tom from West Falls, NY:
Did Khalif Barnes solidify himself yesterday after muting Dwight Freeney for the whole game?
Vic: Barnes had help from backs who "chipped" Freeney and from the tight end, too, but Barnes has faced two of the division's best pass-rushers already this season and he has only the one bad play against Kyle Vanden Bosch to mar his record. Barnes is in a contract year and he's playing like it.
Darrick from Jacksonville:
How big were all those first downs that Matt Jones picked up to sustain drives?
Vic: They were huge. As I said a few years ago, this is the role that I believe fits Jones. A few years ago I started to see that he had a penchant for the possession catches. I think he's been forced to be something he isn't. It all goes back to that freakish speed talk, which I really don't think he has. He's not an alley-oop or fade-route guy and he's not a run-after-the-catch guy, either, but he's good at the outs and curls and he makes the catch in those routes with two hands and right at the first-down marker. That's a big thing. He doesn't cut the route short. He gets right to the marker and makes the catch cleanly. Jones is a receiver who is most comfortable when he's facing up. I don't see him as a catch-and-don't-break-stride guy. His size gives him a natural advantage in the possession-type routes. I'm comfortable with that role. I don't know why he has to be anything more.
Johnathan from Cincinnati, OH:
Do you think the Jags won Sunday partly because they played with a sense of urgency?
Vic: I think they won Sunday because they were physically dominant. Forget about the intangibles. This one was all about tangibles. The guy with the bigger hammer won.
Dane from Gainesville, FL:
When do you think David Garrard will stop throwing interceptions?
Vic: When he's comfortable in the pocket. All quarterbacks get fidgety when they lack confidence in their pass-protection. Right from the start on Sunday, Garrard was nearly sacked and nearly fumbled. This isn't a video game. These guys aren't blips on a screen. They are real people with memories and emotions and it's difficult to block out worries about what's happening around you that you can't see.
Nick from Washington, DC:
Next week, if Jack Del Rio is faced with a similar goal-to-go in the final couple of minutes, up by three points, does he settle for the field goal again? I think it would be foolish. I thought it was foolish on Sunday.
Vic: What I think he was expressing was the confidence he had in his defense; that given a six-point lead, the defense would stop the Colts and secure the win. They didn't do that, though, and that makes two weeks in a row that the defense failed to protect a six-point lead. If that trend continues, Del Rio's confidence will wane and he'll likely encourage more aggressive play-calling on offense.
Joe from Jacksonville:
I love the in-game blog and understand the responsibility of a reporter to be objective, but "Good. Bye." Come on, man! What a game, and the final comment with the franchise on the line is "Good. Bye." I'm sure you were dancing like John Travolta in the press box, especially after breathing such thin air for four hours.
Vic: It was seven hours and, sir, I never celebrate the outcome of a game. The press box is a working environment. If you go to jaguars.com's home page, you will see that in addition to the in-game blog, I also wrote a postgame editorial and, of course, a game story. You can't make those happens by closing your eyes and squeezing real hard. You have to talk to coaches and players and retrieve the final stats pack. Making my way down from the highest level of that stadium is a chore in itself. The elevators are packed and they have a penchant for not working adequately in postgame. I wrote "Good. Bye," grabbed my laptop and power cord and ran for the elevator without even turning the laptop off. It's a break-neck time. Everybody wants downstairs now and it seems that press elevators are being used more and more for everybody but the press, which bothers me because we're the ones who have work to do. The other ones are just heading downstairs so they can join in the cheers. The kick was good. What more was there to say? It was high enough. It was long enough. I'll leave the celebrating to you because I have work to do. Within 45 minutes of the conclusion of the game, I was on a bus headed for the airport and I wrote on my laptop the whole way. Forty-five minutes later, after the arduous routine of going through security, I was in my plane seat, laptop open and writing. By the time the plane touched down, at about midnight, my writing was finished and it was time to post the material on jaguars.com. It's called deadline writing. Try it some time. You might get a new appreciation for my profession.
Rob from Deltona, FL:
I loved your excitement in your blog when Scobee made the game-winning kick. You suck!
Vic: Why so angry? I just don't get it.
Wade from Winston-Salem, NC:
Great blog, Vic. What a game. Let me ask you a professional question. Before the era of the blog, would you have been in the press box for the final kick or would you have gone down earlier?
Vic: I always went downstairs just before the two-minute warning, unless it appeared the game was heading into overtime. There's nothing left for me to do in the press box. All the hot dogs have been either eaten or put away.
Chris from Indianapolis, IN:
I am glad you think Colts fans can't be loud on their own. They do not pipe in the sound. The NFL investigated and they found nothing. Colts fans support their team and that is that.
Vic: That's not what I hear. What about that security guard at the RCA Dome who told a reporter that they did, in fact, pipe in crowd noise? My best friend covers the Steelers and he told me they piped in the crowd noise in the RCA Dome, and he's the best beat writer in the league. That was in the old place, though. Those days are done. We don't have to talk about this any more.
Thomas from Jacksonville:
Were you cheering in the press box? You ended with a "Good. Bye" without telling us how it ended. It sounded like someone was cheering to me.
Vic: I never cheer in the press box. I like to watch.
Al from Haddam, CT:
Do you think Sanders was the difference?
Vic: I think it's been well-documented that Bob Sanders is a difference-maker for the Colts defense. Did it hurt the Colts not having him? Absolutely.
Doug from Jacksonville:
I know it's early for this kind of talk but, I have to say, I think the game had the feel of a turning point in the season.
Vic: Imagine that; from pushing the panic button to a turning point all in one week.
Cory from Jacksonville:
Considering how the game ended and what was at stake, I think this was one of the most thrilling wins in team history.
Vic: Yes. Bye.
