JACKSONVILLE – Some of us are having quite the holiday weekend, it seems. Ka-Boom. Pow.
A reminder that while it is important in the O-Zone to be nice, it is worth remembering that people ask questions and I answer. That's it. That's the column.
Let's get to it …
Charles from Riverside
Regarding "going for it" on fourth down, a few questions. Is someone in the booth cranking numbers based on multiple factors – i.e., ball inside the "x"-yard line, time remaining, yards to gain, particular play with the most previous success, etc. – then relayed to Coen? Or is it more of a range of scenarios based on fewer key factors with the decision all on the field? Also, people were asking about how much "gut" went into the decision? If it is a probable running play, doesn't Coen weigh in on how the running game has been performing today, game and season, the opposing defense, momentum in the game, 12th man or not, particular player to handle the ball, etc.? Thanks.
Yes, the Jaguars – like all NFL teams these days – have game-day, in-the-press-box analytics officials at each game. It is perhaps inaccurate to say they're actively "cranking" numbers because that implies they are scrambling and reacting to unforeseen scenarios "on the fly." Teams plan for in-game scenarios on a year-round basis, with specific modifications made for each game as the season continues. Myriad factors – down and distance, field position, time remaining, etc., etc., etc. – come into account for each situation and decision, with senior director of football strategy and game management Jon Dykema in the press box communicating and in Head Coach Liam Coen's "ear" throughout each game. Game-day decisions are ultimately Coen's call, with analytics and "game feel" contributing constantly.
John from Jax
Hi, KOAGF. I have a sneaky suspicion that if the Jags converted the fourth-and-2 play in the second quarter of the AFC Wild Card Playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills that it would have been a play discussed very little since then. Funny how much more we focus on the bear eating us than us eating the bear. Getting eaten by a bear takes so much longer.
The best calls are the ones that work and the bad ones are the ones that don't work. 'Tis always been so and always will be so.
John from Jacksonville
Okay, ok or OK?
Okey-doke.
Nicholas from Fort Hood, TX
KOAF: Happy 34th anniversary to you and Mrs. KOAF. Follow-up question on a pass being defensed asked from my brother in Riverview: If the ball ricochets from the offensive player first, then a defender(s) touches the ball in flight is that considered a dropped pass and multiple "pass defensed?" Is there a stat for "pass breakup" when a defender causes the receiver to drop the ball upon impact? For sports book I always have warm spot in my heart for the first one I read: "One Knee Equals Two" Feet by John Madden.
Two questions, two answers. One, a ricochet off an offensive player later touched by a defensive player is not a pass defensed. Whether it is a dropped pass is impossible to say in this forum because a drop is considered a pass that "should have been caught with ordinary effort" – with that vague definition the major reason drops are not an official statistic. Two, a defender who forces the receiver to drop a pass by impacting the receiver is credited for a pass defensed. As for John Madden's "One Knee Equals Two Feet" … it wasn't the first sports book I read, but I absolutely read it and learned from it. That's one thing to remember about Madden. While he later became known for having his name on a mega-popular video game, and while he was more known later in his broadcasting career for the "booms" and pows," for a long time he was an incredibly informative and entertaining ambassador for the game who taught a lot of fans and observers a lot about professional football. He was a legend, period.
Dave from Jacksonville via Miami
There is no limit to the characters in the O-Zone. That is probably due to the dead zone and fans being fans. I posit that characters are what make this blog Funky and it takes a KOAF to recognize characters as the input that keeps you, KOAF, funky. One for characters – the more, the better. Are there any characters you look forward to seeing questions from?
What's "look forward to?"
Bill from Jacksonville
John, you famously used to be a Washington Football Team/Commanders fan, but gave that up long ago. What do you make of so many sports writers/commentators today not only openly being fans of teams, but fans of teams in leagues they cover?
I'm indeed no longer a fan at all of the Washington Football team – infamously, famously or otherwise – and while I was a passionate follower of that organization until I started covering front-line college sports and the NFL, I didn't "give up" being a fan as much as I just sort of found myself no longer being a fan. Once I started covering and knowing a little more about athletes and coaches, I found myself unable to have emotional highs and lows based on their results. This isn't to say I'm disinterested. Not at all. I am still interested in the results. In the case of the Jaguars, I very much want them to win because I like a lot of the people with whom I work and like seeing people I like happy and successful. As for my thoughts on so many sports writers/commentators openly being fans … while it used to bother me a bit from an integrity standpoint, that's not as much the case anymore. I do find it curious that so many sportswriters and commentators can be fans of teams because I just can't relate to it. But the world of journalism has changed, and objectivity is no longer as much of a prerequisite. If "journalists" and commentators want to cheer and root, that's fine. Whatever gets you through the night. It's all right. It's all right.
Kevin from Jacksonville
I would just love to know what you're going to do with "X." Not so easy now, is it, big fella?
We have reached "X" in this exercise of examining best players in Jaguars history with specific final initials. I don't know if the exercise to this point has been easy or hard. I know this one is relatively easy because no Jaguars players ever has had "X" as the final initial. I guess it's a shame that former New York Giants edge Oshane Ximines never played for the Jaguars. As the only player in NFL history whose last name began with "X," it would have made this day a little easier. Big fella.
Chris from Tampa, FL
How could you forget former Jaguars wide receivers Reggie Williams? No one celebrated a three-yard completion on third-and-15 like him.
It is important in the O-Zone to be nice. It is even important when discussing players with specific initials. This was not nice.
Don from Marshall, NC
Tell Jacques that we don't judge a man by what kind of beer he drinks! How would he like it if a Jaguar fan said that sparkling wine is better than champagne? Or that escargot is just snails in gravy? Our senior writer gives everyone a voice every single day for enjoyment purposes and you have to ruin it by insulting him. That is not cool and you definitely need to get off our Jaguar lawn. Go ride your bike to the cafe and kiss everyone! Go Jaguars
When it comes to not being a fan of Jacques, and to being a little "down" on escargot, Don reassuringly remains all in.
Dwayne from Jacksonville
I would love to hear what Gary from St Augustine thinks of Jacques from Versailles.
Big fan.
William of Orange from Savannah, GA
There is irony here at play. For it is Jacques, whose father was a hamster and whose mother smelt of elderberry.
Yep.
Kenneth from Jacksonville
Who's the best player in Jaguars history to don No. 63?
Possibilities here include center Michael Cheever (1996-1997), center Brad Meester (2000-2013) and center/guard Frank Cornish (1995). Meester is the easy selection here, with a hat tip to Cheever. A second-round selection in the 1996 NFL Draft, Cheever had the look of a big-time player until sustaining a back injury in his second NFL season. The first four selections in that draft were linebacker Kevin Hardy (Round 1), defensive end Tony Brackens (Round 2), Cheever (Round 2) and cornerback Aaron Beasley (Round 3). A truly big-time draft class.
Joe from Jacksonville
Regarding a O-Zone meet, I believe the quote you dance around is "Tis distance lends enchantment to the view."
The Groucho Marx line that I don't want to belong to any club that would accept me as a member also applies.
