Coming into the season, the Jaguars were the sexy pick of 2008. They were coming off an 11-5 season in 2007 where they lost to the Patriots in the second round of the playoffs, 12-6. Experts believed in David Garrard's ability to avoid turnovers, as well as the running back duo of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor. Their defense was also seen as a strength.Well, things haven't quite worked out for the Jags this season, and Taylor knows it. That is why he is calling this year's Jacksonville team, which moved to 4-7 with the loss on Sunday to Minnesota, the worst team he has ever played for.
"In my eleven years this is probably the worst team, emphasize the word 'team,' that I've been on," Taylor said. "We have some outstanding players but the mix is bad. We can't really find that chemistry that we need. Usually, I think, if you have that chemistry good things just tend to happen to you just because. But we don't have that mix and it's just tough right now."Upon closer inspection, it turns out that Taylor might not be far off. Since 1998, the Jags have won as few as five games in only one season, 2003, when the team went 5-11. Even in that season, the stats were fairly similar. The '03 team was ranked 25th in offense and 18th in defense, pretty comparable to this season where they rank 24th on offense and 14th in defense.
The only argument for this season being better is that five of their loses have been pretty respectable. They've dropped two games to the Titans, and one each to the Bills, Steelers, and Vikings. The other two loses, coming at the hands of the Browns and the Bengals in consecutive weeks ... not so respectable.
Taylor did have a couple of great quotes concerning the team and their performance against the Vikings this past week, where the team had just 35 yards rushing and turned the ball over five times.
The sad part is that I spent some time trying to find a stat (or a funny player) to disprove that last sentence, and I couldn't. Even their punter is playing pretty terribly.In reference to Sunday's 30-12 loss to the Vikings, Taylor said that it "reminded me of the Bad News Bears."
"Every phase is kind of not good right now," Taylor said. "Every single phase."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-26-2008 @ 5:20PM
JAlexander said...
I am a Jaguar fan since the beginning. A season ticket holder for four years until I could no longer justify the expense (I am retired). I have to agree that this years team is pretty sorry but I also reaize that we have had many injuries that have hurt us, particularly on the offensive line which does not speak well for our running backs. Addtionally, Fred Taylor has passed his prime and should be considering retirement. I also believe that Shack Harris and his associates in the draft room have not done a good job over the past few years (with a couple of exceptions. Finally, I think our head coach needs to be less of a "players coach" and more like Tom Coughlin.
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11-28-2008 @ 4:01PM
Rudy Punzalan said...
When Tom Coughlin was the coach of the jaguars,he brought jacksonville to NFL world map but was the accomplishment of Jack del Rio,its zip I think retooling the Jaguars to searh for younger players including coach is about time.Now we can appreciate the style of Tom Coughlin for being a discipline coach that is worthy of respect and admiration. whos got the superbowl ring now? its Tom.
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11-27-2008 @ 5:10AM
knowledge said...
Yeah, thats funny. I am a Jags fan and I always will be. I remember very well the fans down here wanting Coughlin's head on a silver platter and now someone wants Jack to me more like Tom? Yeah that'll really turn the team around. The problem with this year's team, outside of the obvious injuries, starts with James "Shack" Harris. The player moves that he makes just confused the heck out of me sometimes. We spend $10 million on a WR who really only had 2 productive years (2004-2005) and yet we trade a guy who helped hold our defensive line together for the past 7 years (Stroud). I just do not get it.
Second, and this is realy my favorite, is play calling. Dirk Koetter couldn't make it at ASU so we grant him contol over an NFL offense? Really? We have a mobile QB and strong running game and yet we have little, if no play action nor bootleg plays in the playbook. Or if we got them, we only use them once the game is out of reach. I mean, how much more predictable could our offense be!
Last, but certainly not least, is execution. Receivers who can't catch (i.e. Williamson) are generally turned into DBs or cut from the team. Corners who can't run (i.e. Williams, B) are generally turned into free agents, not safeties. Coaches and GMs who do not make adjustments are generally given the pink slip. Jack is safe but "Shack" has to go!
I'm a loyal Jags fan and I'll always be loyal. Reward my loyalty by making those adjustments and fielding a team that is capable of competing!!
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