DENVER, Colo. – Let's get to it …
Nick from Annapolis, MD
We saw this coming. They were supposed to be good. I believed they were going to be good. You told me they were going to be good. I think I just needed to see it happen Week 1 of a new season. Now, I almost feel like we have pushed past the fun part. Pushed past the phase where just getting to the playoffs and being the underdog is fun for a few years. Where it is not a guarantee that you are going make it to the playoffs. I feel like it is already Super Bowl or bust, where winning is expected. It is cool to support a team that is doing things the right way, has a head coach willing to communicate in press conferences and a regime giving opportunities to young people who deserve it ... but I am a bit upset we don't get another year or two of good but not great suspense. Am I off base here? Are we already at Super Bowl or bust stage, where regular season is … dare I say it ... boring?
Um, no. No, no, no. I have covered 16 playoff teams in 32 seasons covering the NFL. I covered a Jaguars team that made four consecutive playoff appearances from 1996-1999 and an Indianapolis Colts team that made nine consecutive playoff appearances from 2002-2010. I have covered a Super Bowl-winning team, a Super Bowl-runner-up team and six teams that have played in AFC Championship Games. One thing I learned in covering those teams is there is no such thing as "just getting to the playoffs," and there are darned sure no guarantees of winning anything – not a game, not two games, not a division title – in professional football. Remember last season? The Jaguars were good. Really good. And they needed to win their last eight regular-season games to win the AFC South title. If that for some reason seems eas in retrospect, it was not. Whatever the Jaguars accomplish this season – providing they accomplish anything at all – must be earned and there will be stress. And worry. This is the NFL, not the Southeastern Conference. Nothing is easy. Or boring.
Bradley from Death Valley, CA
The Broncos had a great 14-3 regular season last year. They won seven of those games by three or less points. I think they only played four playoff teams, splitting those games. They turned quarterback Josh Allen over five times to just edge the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs. They have an above average defense and can run the ball. They are severely overrated and it would not be surprising if they only win 6-8 games this year. The Jaguars are the superior team and I would give them an 85 percent chance of winning this game. Tell me how I am wrong.
The Jaguars (1-0) play the Denver Broncos (0-1) at Empower Field at Mile High Sunday at 4:05 p.m. I think the Jaguars will win the game. The Broncos from this view are a very good team with a very good pass rush that didn't play well in a 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. I don't think they're severely overrated. Good teams win close games in the NFL and I will be surprised if they don't contend for the postseason.
Greg from Section 122, SOTF, Jacksonville
Haven't written in a long time, John. This past weekend my sister passed away. I know this doesn't really have a lot to do with the Jaguars. I am writing this because we didn't have a lot of common interests, but the one thing we shared was a love of football. Her, the Tampa Bay Bucs and me of course always DUUUVAL ... up until a few years ago we made it a tradition to go to any games where they would face each other. Then, her health took a bad turn. Anyway, these games left me some of the best memories of my sister I will ever have and for that I love my team, but even more I love my sister and will miss her. RIP Sis and for this week only, Go Bucs. Thanks, O.
Indeed.
The real JT from Plano, TX
So, the (new-ish) dynamic kick-off rules are "funny," and actually would benefit us lately if we started to break out a 2-iron and boot a low-trajectory kick that bounced in the "landing zone" (between the 20 and goal line) and were then covered in the end zone or skipped out of the back. Those touchbacks come out only to the 20-yard line, not to the 35 for direct end zone fair catches or to the 40 for kicks going out on the sidelines. Lately, I think special teams would take opponents starting there at the 20 than where they have been … but hey, hard for Little & Co. to be near-perfect at everything, so maybe this week the coverage teams will look a little different?! Go Jags, #DTWD.
The Jaguars allowed 38 yards per kickoff return in a Week 1 victory over the Cleveland Browns. It will have been an area of focus this past week.
Gary from St. Augustine, FL
Even at 1-0, you still suck.
Go Jaguars.
Evan from Cocoa, FL
Does this team have the feel that the Colts had with quarterback Peyton Manning where they can score against anybody?
The Colts teams I covered often had the feel of being able to "score with anybody," and they routinely ranked among the NFL's best offenses from 2002 or so through about 2009 and 2010. They were stretches, such as the 2004 season when Manning set the then-NFL record for touchdown passes in a season with 49, when they indeed seemed unstoppable. There were also other times when defenses adapted to what the Colts were doing and the mark of those good Colts teams was adapting and finding ways to win. But yes … over the last nine regular-season games or so, the Jaguars at times have had a feel of being able to "score with anybody." What will determine if this team can contend consistently over a long period is whether that offense has that same feel against the NFL's best defenses and if the Jaguars can find a way to beat the best teams when those best teams take away strengths.
Fred from Naples, FL
I get the feeling that Jags fans are a bit overconfident in our upcoming game with the Broncos. The Broncos are a really good team and that place will be packed. Regardless of outcome I see both teams meeting again in the playoffs.
Fair.
Scott from Gilbert, AZ
Zone, do you think Sean Payton will call plays this week?
Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton gave up play-calling duties this season, with coordinator Davis Webb calling plays against the Chiefs Monday. I don't cover the Broncos and I don't know the inner workings of their team. I therefore haven't the foggiest idea whether Payton will call plays this week.
Nick from Palm Coast, FL
Why was there no Jags HQ this week?
There was.
David
How long has the NFHell had these ridiculous scheduling quagmires and rules (JAX@DEN in back-to-back seasons)? I don't recall such as occurring as little as a decade ago. Just how THICK is the league's scheduling "handbook," anyway?
I do not know what "quagmire" means in relation to this topic, and the NFL scheduling rules are about as fair and unbiased as is humanly possible. The league implemented its current scheduling formula in 2002 when it moved to eight, four-team divisions. Under this formula, teams play three teams from their own division home and away every season and all teams from another division in their conference every season. They also play all teams from a division in the other conference every season, with the intra- and interconference divisions rotating. That's 14 games, with the other three games scheduled against teams from other divisions based on corresponding finish from the previous season. The Jaguars will play in Denver this season because both teams won the division last season. They played in Denver last season because the AFC South and West were playing one another. The way the formula fell, the Jaguars happened to be playing in Denver. It could have just as easily been the other way. When I was covering the Colts in the 2000s, the formula fell in such a way that the Colts visited New England in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The Colts felt this was unfair at the time when in fact it was no more unfair than the Jaguars happening to go to Denver two consecutive seasons. The handbook actually is remarkably thin and is "formulad" to the point that you have a general idea who you're playing and where years in advance. Just because something doesn't go your way doesn't mean it sucks or that there's a conspiracy.
Aaron from White Hall, AR
This Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos is the most important game in franchise history.
Damn right.
