Baltimore comes a-knockin’ in Jacksonville
JT: After two straight losses to back-ups, who wouldn’t want to welcome Lamar to town?
The Jaguars have a habit of being a team’s “get-right” game (see San Francisco’s trip to the Bold City after three straight losses). They evidently also have a habit of being a back-up quarterback’s pro bowl coming out party. I’m not going to dwell on this, because, well, I have already taken a ten day hiatus from writing on this fine publication and I know for a fact that I’ve been missed. I know this because I’ve been told by literally, roughly, nobody, but also figuratively, approximately, everybody in the greater Jacksoinville area, plus southern Georgia. I need more commas in that sentence. Is it grammatically correct? Do you come here for the punctuation? Of course you don’t, you are here for the wonderful crap I’m going to spew about your Jacksonville Jaguars. Let us start at the beginning. It’s seems like as good a place as any.
Once upon a time there was a professional football team out of Jacksonville, FL. They were horrible for the longest time. Longer than that…Longer, yeah that’s about right. Then they got Trevor Lawrence and they were still horrible (see Urban trying his luck in the pros). Then their coach decided bar stool grinding with randoms was more fun than leading young men on the gridiron, and thus we enter the age of Doug Pederson. Dougie P. and his cohort in crime, Trent Baalke, made some moves emptying Shad Khan’s wallet to bring in a noteworthy supporting cast to compliment Mr. #1 on the call sheet, #1 in the draft, and #1 in our collective heart. Then they won the AFC South in spectacular fashion. After that they beat the San Diego Chargers (I am well aware I said San Diego, nobody in LA even knows they exist) in the first round of the playoffs. A home playoff game, in JAX, with one of the greatest comeback victories in the history of the the NFL playoffs. I know how exciting this game was because Al Michaels told me. Then they went to KC where they would have beaten the Chiefs if not for a dropped pass. Everyone who follows this team knew that had Agnew not fumbled, Trevor was leading the teal and black to victory in Tay Tay Land. Alas, as we all watched Lord Farquaad low five every one of his teammates as they entered the tunnel after that game, we knew. We knew that this years Jaguars were going to be something special. Well they were, until they weren’t, making now the time to be again.
Starting the 2023 season off at 6-2 was amazing. Then we had our bye week (during the rut, thank you scheduling gods). This is when San Fran who had lost three in a row, came to town for their “get right” game. And they did just that. Then dubs against the Titans and Texans, two very important AFC South wins. Hey folks, remember when your Jaguars were 8-3? Well, everyone who gets paid to prognosticate (I actually pay money to do this) projects our Jaguars to be 8-6 after this Sunday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. So I ask you all this, can Lamar Jackson and his purple and black cohorts be the Jacksonville Jaguars “get right” game? I want to believe they can. I want to believe that Dougie P. has Trevor and the boys in the right head space after losing two extremely winnable games. But, I just don’t know. This is a tough one. Up against the run away AFC leaders, on a wet field, in cold weather (for FL) with 15 mph winds, I’m having a difficult time seeing a predominantly pass happy team running away with this one. So here are the Jaguars key to victory.
1) They must have a run game. ETN and Johnson (absolutely NOT Tank) are essential to a Jaguars victory in these game conditions. Dewey was interviewed this week and talked about being “gritty not pretty” and having a “blue collar” mentality. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is #42. No better time than the present (yes, I’m well aware Dewey is on defense, just go with it). Speaking of the present, hey Fitz, have you stopped and watched “Swingers” yet? Get on it, will ya? It’s so money, you don’t even know it.
2) The defense needs to contain LJ. Now, by contain, I mean hold him to under 50 yards rushing. That’s a tall order, I know. A venti, some might say. Not this guy though, I don’t wear skinny jeans and lumber jack shirts while sipping $8 mochafrapachinos. #33, I’m looking at you to shadow Lamar like one of the three “Hs” cause you just can’t shake Hep, Herp, or Hiv.
3) Win in the trenches. I have often said and will continue to say (no, not that the middle 8 minutes are the most important part of the game. Score going into the half and coming out of it and the game is yours to lose. But I do often say that as well) is that you can win with an average running back and QB if you have a phenomenal O-Line. JAX has not got a phenomenal O-line. But the good news is that they are returning some heavy hitters. Rumor has it Walker little and Baalke’s boy from Minnesota are back in teal this Sunday. That should help solidify what was a left side held together by scotch tape.
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen. Am I asking for the world from Jacksonville with these three keys to victory? Yep. Absolutely. Let’s see if our boys in teal can pull this one out of their ass and make it two years in a row we send the Ravens back to Baltimore with a big “L” on their record. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.