Fbkid: Ravens-Jaguars preview

Brought to you by my friend, Fbkid, a high school student and aspiring sports writer who lives in Florida. He is a good kid, smart and he knows football. For example, he was telling me about East Carolina's Chris Johnson months before he was a household name, of course well before "Stupid Fast" got drafted by the Titans. I'm talking back in January.

For what it's worth, the Jaguars were my preseason pick to win the Super Bowl. What's my pick now? The Joe Flacco Show!

KOW!

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Heading into the season the Jaguars were predicted to contend for a Super Bowl title and rightly so: the previous year they went into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers twice and played tough against the Patriots on the road. Now the Jaguars are destined for a top ten pick as they head into the game against the Ravens with a 5-10 record.

The team has already chosen a fall guy in Shack Harris for the year’s problems, but he isn’t the complete reason why the Jaguars have struggled this year. Harris also has a connection with the Ravens. Before taking the job with the Jaguars, Harris was the head of player personnel. Head coach Jack Del Rio also has a Baltimore connection as he won a Super Bowl as the linebackers coach with the Ravens in 2000.

Last year Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew were arguably the best running back tandem in the league. Now they might not even be in the top ten. That isn’t because they can’t play; it’s because of the offensive line. Vince Manuwai who is the anchor of the line went down in week one with a torn ACL. Maurice Williams also was placed on injured reserve after week one when he suffered a torn bicep.

Another problem on the offense has been the play of quarterback David Garrard. After a season where he only threw three interceptions, the Jaguars gave him a deal that would usually go to a franchise quarterback. Garrard hasn’t done a very good job stating his case as he has thrown 11 interceptions and hasn’t made many difficult throws as most of his completions are slants to the now suspended Matt Jones or screen passes to Jones-Drew. To Garrard’s credit, he’s also taken lots of hits this year as he has been sacked 41 times and from all the times he runs the number is even higher. Defenses this year have now caught on to Garrard’s slow decision making and lack of throwing down field. Does this really sound like a quarterback you want starting against the Ravens who happen to have a safety that will go down as one of the all time greats in Ed Reed?

The defense as a whole has also been a huge problem. Over the years the team has gotten a reputation for being one of the best in the league. Now they can’t stop the run or get pressure on the quarterback. Paul Spicer and Reggie Hayward lead the team with four sacks each. The Ravens have four players with four or more sacks. The team expected earlier contributions out of Quentin Groves and Baltimore native Derrick Harvey who were both picked on the first day of last April’s draft. The Jaguars traded with the Ravens to get up to the number eight pick to get Harvey and the Ravens used some of those picks to move up into the middle of the first round to draft Joe Flacco (Well done Ozzie Newsome).

The linebackers have played well at times this year but they should have lots of changes this offseason. Mike Peterson has been a very good player during his time in Jacksonville and was actually one of the only players who lived up to the money he got in free agency. Considering the Peterson- Del Rio feud and it’s the last year of his contract, this should be Peterson’s last game as a Jaguar. Justin Durant will likely replace him in the middle as he has excellent speed and showed that he can play the middle in the playoff win against the Steelers where he had 12 tackles.

The secondary has looked really bad at times and the kind of game that Peyton Manning had last week is a regular occurrence. With Rashean Mathis on injured reserve, the corners are Brian Williams and the overpaid Drayton Florence. Williams hasn’t been that bad this season but Florence has been a major disappointment. Florence was the nickel back for the Chargers last year and the Jaguars brought him in and gave him All Pro money. First off, when the NFL is in a passing craze that it is and corners are at a premium and your team thinks your replaceable that’s a bad sign. Then you give the guy $12 million in guaranteed money? Not a good move. Gerald Sensabaugh has been a bright spot at safety as he has good range and instincts and is tied for the team lead with 4 interceptions (no surprise he’s in a contract year). Reggie Nelson on the other hand, has struggled. The team compares Nelson to Ed Reed but that is far from the truth. There’s a reason why Peyton Manning always threw it to his side. Nelson just gets by on instincts and seems to have no clue what’s going on during plays. Nelson also has the knack to celebrate even after giving up big plays. Not many fans seem to notice though as the city is already thinking about the possibilities of Tim Tebow in a Jaguars uniform. In a Florida dominated city, as long as Nelson keeps doing the Gator Chomp, everything will be just fine.

Overall, the team has some talent but overpaying average players in free agency (Florence, Cleo Lemon and Jerry Porter) and lack of productivity out of first round picks the team can’t build around any player in particular. The team has also appeared to age overnight as guys like John Henderson don’t seem to play at the level they did even a year ago. Another problem is the Jaguars enjoy playing the “respect” card and they don’t think anyone recognizes them. After a year where they finished 12-4 and won a playoff game, the Jaguars became the team that everyone circled on their schedule the day they came out. So in short the hunter became the hunted. With that being said, it should be a very interesting offseason for the Jaguars as there are plenty of changes to come.