Football's finally back and we're a week into the season, successfully at 1-0! Didn't play our A game and still came away with the win, which leaves plenty of room for improvement in this game. Current line: Miami by 6 (3rd highest week 2 spread). Not sure what that pro prediction site has listed, but it has to be lopsided again this week. Miami's defensive showing ended up very good in the end, holding the Skins to 10 points, even with giving up massive rushing yards. Will Coyle make adjustments earlier this week? Will he need to (I believe he will need to, since we seem to routinely get out-schemed/planned early)? Will the Jags run all over us again this year? If this unit can at least show some discipline and a little improvement over last week, they should do fine. Will Tannehill get back to at least his normal steady, efficient level of play? Its possible his game last week was influenced by week 1 jitters after signing the contract, but we've seen much better and have grown to expect a much better performance than last week's, even if it was enough to beat the Skins with some help from Juice and the secondary...barely. If I recall correctly, Jacksonville's DL is pretty decent, and generally thought of as better than the Skins'. Jacksonville is missing a key component to their offense, their star TE. Should the backup be much easier to contain for our LBs? I don't know how much can improve this week in that area, so I think they'll probably have a tough time limiting plays at the second level. They have some quality young receivers, and I think Grimes will be all good on whoever he's covering, but the Jags aren't against throwing it downfield and there could be some success to be had on the left side, I'd expect them to attack that side. I'm looking to see Walt establish himself a bit over there with some stops and/or a pick. McCain should be at least average in the 2CB spot, but he may be busy. I'm going with a 31-13 prediction for this game to go 2-0. I think we'll have a few scores from the offense on drives, and a score or two directly from, or at least set up by, the defense and STs. I wouldn't be surprised to see us go +4 in turnovers for the season, getting 3 in this game.
I'm sticking to another low scoring game. They should win....but it will probably be a squeaker again until they show me otherwise.
Jacksonville is on a slow and steady rise. They have a fast and overall solid defense. I think our offense will improve this week and we will be better against the run defensively. Though I think Bortles will make a few plays against our secondary, especially if Reshad Jones is out. I'll say something along the lines of a 24-16 victory.
This is a game we should win by at least 10. The Jaguars offense still has big time trouble. They have a solid D but it's not the shut you completely down type. As long as the Dolphins don't turn the ball over multiple times they'll be ok. It's a game the Dolphins must win if they're to be a playoff team.
Don't know much about the Jaguars, but I think their DL will be easier to run on than the Skins'. We will get some yards on the ground against them and that will open up the rest of our offense, IMO. I'm going with 24-13 Dolphins.
Wait...you're saying you think the Jags are going to win by a touchdown? You're REALLY saying that? If so, would you care to make a wager?
Jags LT hurt an ankle last week. If he's not ready to play that's a big problem, almost enough to offset Jones being out for the Dolphins.
Well based on last week (and the back end of last season) on defense we should be generally concerned about the run. The Jags have Denard Robinson who ran for 108 on the Dolphins last time. They might well try it again. On the other hand, Bortles was very generous in indicating to whom he would be throwing the ball which allowed for picks by Delmas and Grimes. If the past is any indication we should have another handy test of the Dolphins' run D along without having to get too scared about the secondary. Of course, the Jags have improved since last year but supposedly so have we, so this one should be a win for us and a more comfortable test for us. Video Highlights from last year BR's Thomas Galicia has a good run-down here For key match-ups he lists: DE Jared Odrick vs. LT Branden Albert During Jared Odrick's last two seasons with the Dolphins, he was an interior lineman who specialized in getting to the quarterback. In Jacksonville, Odrick has been kicked back outside, although it is a 4-3 defense (Odrick works better as a 3-4 lineman), he still inspires fear. Branden Albert will be in charge of Odrick on Sunday, as Odrick is on Jacksonville's right side. Albert, still not at 100 percent, will have to contain a player who did disappoint in his first game as a Jaguar by not getting to the quarterback and grading out at minus-4.1. Despite that, the Jaguars' pass rush is an aggressive one that should bombard quarterback Ryan Tannehill throughout the afternoon. LG Brandon Linder vs. DT Ndamukong Suh When asked how he played on Sunday, Ndamukong Suh had one word to describe it. "Poor," said the veteran defensive tackle, per Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Suh is partially right, as he was not the impactful player Miami signed on Sunday, but he also brought up that, "it’s over with. I’m moving forward to Jacksonville." Against Jacksonville his assignment is second-year player Brandon Linder out of The U. Linder played well on Sunday against Carolina,grading out at 1.3, per Pro Football Focus. His grade in run blocking was 2.2 as the Jaguars were able to run the ball for 96 yards on 21 attempts for an average of 4.6 yards per carry. Miami's defense allowed Washington to run for 161 yards, however it was for a lower average (4.4 yards per carry) and on more attempts. The Jaguars also run a different scheme than Washington, using a more straight-ahead power run blocking scheme compared to Washington's zone blocking scheme. This should mean better success against the run, which puts the ball into Blake Bortles' hands. That's where Miami's defense should really shine. Suh especially against Linder, who graded out at minus-0.6 in pass blocking situations while allowing three quarterback hurries. WR Allen Hurns vs. CB Brice McCain Jacksonville's passing game was anemic against Carolina, as Bortles only passed for 183 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while being sacked five times. His top receiver was former Hurricane Allen Hurns, who brought down five catches for 60 yards. Hurns will go up against each of Miami's corners, but will see Brice McCain the most. McCain came down with the play of the week in Week 1, but beyond that play he was solid. McCain graded out at 1.4 against the pass, per Pro Football Focus, and allowed a quarterback rating of 76.0 when the ball was thrown his way. Through one game he looks like the type of corner Miami has needed to play alongside Brent Grimes. For X-Factors he lists: Miami Dolpins X-Factor of The Week: Walt Aikens With Louis Delmas out for the season and Reshad Jones likely missing Sunday's game, Walt Aikens' role has become an important one. This week he'll be tasked with being the defensive player in charge of reading Jacksonville's offense and communicating assignments to the rest of the secondary. He'll be playing alongside a player with barely more experience than him in Michael Thomas. Aikens was the least-impactful player in the secondary for the Dolphins and at times looked lost. He graded out at minus-1.1, per Pro Football Focus. He will have to improve on that performance on Sunday, where he'll be tasked with covering either tight end Marcedes Lewis or Julius Thomas if Thomas returns from injury (he was listed as limited as of Wednesday by the Jaguars, per their injury report). Jacksonville Jaguars X-Factor of The Week: Denard Robinson Last spring, Denard Robinson told Ryan O'Halloran of The Florida Times-Union (h/t Kevin Patra of NFL.com) that he should be Jacksonville's No. 1 running back, saying: “I think I should be a No. 1 guy. That’s how I have to look at it. But I have to show them that. Words don’t mean anything. It’s all about showing them.” The Jaguars then drafted T.J. Yeldon out of Alabama, who would wind up as Jacksonville's leading rusher on Sunday with 51 yards and a touchdown. Robinson himself had only 19 yards rushing with 26 receiving yards on two catches. Last season, Robinson led the Jaguars in rushing with 582 yards on 135 attempts while also gaining 124 yards receiving on 23 catches in 13 games. One of those games was against the Dolphins, were he ran for 108 yards on 18 attempts while catching one pass for 10 yards. He was a massive headache for Miami's linebackers, and that shouldn't change on Sunday. Miami can stop a running back like Yeldon and can hold down Jacksonville's scheme overall, but if they don't stop Robinson at the line of scrimmage, it's not going to be a good day for them when he's on the field.
If last game was any lesson I need to bring double the booze this time because I was out by halftime Sent from my SM-G360T1 using Tapatalk
I'm going with Jags 17-15. Been a fan since 1971 and this coach has got to go. The team is solid, the coach has no clue. Tannehill hasn't proved he can throw the ball. It's basic, but if we learned anything from Tim Tebow, it's that you gotta be able to throw the pigskin.
I'm sick of grinders. I'm just going to go into every game where we're the superior team expecting a blowout in our favor. If it doesn't happen, I'll be disapointed. Beats apathy.
I agree...we have too much talent to be playing down to teams like Jax and Washington. These games should be stepping stones to prepare for the Bills and Jets, not grind-out slugfests where we squeak by in the 4th quarter. Miami 31-7
I was going to say how that puts them at a bigger disadvantage vs our mauler defensive front, but... meh.
Bortles doesn't scare me because he is a turnover machine. If we can stop the run and run the ball with success I think we will win comfortably. Hopefully Ryan will come out looking sharp and we can spread the field to give Miller space to run and get outside. But, I will take a win regardless of if it's ugly or not...
"We're the superior team so we better blow them out of it'll be a failure!!!!!" Why do people do this? Haven't you guys seen enough losses over the last decade to be disappointed by wins? I know I have. I said it last week and I'll say it this week. 31-3 or 6-3, just win the damn game. In the end, they all count the same anyway.
This is the NFL. The biggest doormat of a team can have a good game, and if the so-called superior team has a bad game, doesn't match up well and some of the breaks go wrong, you can have the "on any given Sunday" cliché. That having been said, what I saw escape Washington last week is not clearly superior to any other team.
Because I'm tired of not being like most other NFL franchises, Rocky. Most teams go through their ups and downs, but when they're up, they take care of business more often than not, and put away the weaker teams on their schedule. We, for a myriad of reasons, do not. Its been going on for a decade and a half, and I'm tired of it. We are absolutely in the minority of NFL franchises who's fans deal with this.
To be fair, we haven't exactly been a very good team for a decade and a half either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The Jags always play us tough..it is a rivalry kinda game for them in state....We STIll owe them for that 62-7 game where they just continually ran up the score. I also am tired of squeaking out wins, although the W counts, I want to start seeing us dominate teams like the Jags..We should be able to kill them with our weapons on offense and our Defense plays like it should...We have to win these games convincingly and give my heart a break..Lol..Dolphins 38-10
I feel the same way, but the Dolphins often do win by a comfortable margin, so I think this "win convincingly" has less to do with the final score than the play itself. Take last year: 6 out of our 8 wins were by 10+ points. I know it didn't feel that way though!
It's been going on for FAR longer than a decade and a half. Try every year since 1974 with the exception of 84-85 and 2008.
What does 2008 have to do with anything? That was a 6-10 calibre squad that caught every possible break on top of winning with smoke and mirrors? Since I became a diehard, live and die every week fan in 1990, I'd say that the 08 squad would easily qualify as our least talented winning team in that period. Looking back at the 90s teams under Shula and JJ, they of course had their share of struggles in the playoffs, but when they faced a sub par team during the regular season, they almost always put them away without a ton of trouble. My expectation is that the team needs to reach that level again before they can take the next step.
2008 team played up to their potential - performed generally week-in, week-out, to their competitive talent level. They weren't going to blow anyone out because they didn't out match anyone. Miami has LONG had a habit of playing down to its competition - just eeking by when player vs player, they ought to be putting the smack down on opposing squads. This typically happens when they get a lot of media accolades.
he is iffy to play, he just returned to practice on wednesday getting his first limited session since he tore his ACL last year and then didn't practice on thursday...the media in jacksonville expects him to play in week 3