The season started off to a shall we say, unwanted start. Despite a well played game by Special Teams and Defense, injuries to the offensive line reared their ugly head time and time again.
Passing Offense: Garrard put up good numbers despite almost no real protection. He went 23/35 for 215 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTS. The two INTs are definetly a concern, however, how much of that was a result of constantly being hit and shoved around.
Grade: C-
Rushing Offense: Wait we had one, the stats straight from SI.com are as follow
Taylor 9 attempts 18 yards
Jones Drew 5 attempts 13 yards
THIS IS PATHETIC! I didn't see a run beyond a yard unless Fred or MJD had to break half a dozen tackles. Hopefully Shack Harris is on the phone with every free agent offensive lineman with a pulse.
Grade: F--
Passing Defense: Great effort today up until the idiotic call my Williams to blitz and led to the big play on the screen play. Young only threw for 110 yards and the defense got 2 picks.
Grade:B
Rushing Defense: The Titans spread the field to run and did it effectively. Chris Johnson used his speed effectively and Reggie Nelson made an outstanding open field tackle at one point that kept Johnson for going all the way.
Grade:C
Special Teams: Like the Passing defense, great all day until the very end. Witherspoon gives us a viable threat to go all the way. Podlesh did his job well today aswell. However, the miss/not missed kick by Scoobee and the failed onsides kick mar the effort.
Grade: B
Coaching: I actually thought the coaches did a good job with adjusting and doing what was needed. We needed to throw often and towards the second half we begun to slow Johnson down somewhat.
Grade: B-
Overall: It is desperately apparent we need offensive lineman. The unit has been decimated with injuries and the Titans D-Line shoved them around like it was nothing. Hopefully things are rectified by the time we go to Indianapolis.
Greetings! I am the Live Blog Thread, filling in for Chris, who's unable to find internet. So he invited me to run the Live Blog for the Jaguars/Titans game today. Have no fear, Chris wouldn't have put me in charge if he didn't trust my passionate Jaguars fanhood and an ability to offer quick-hit commentary with a sarcastic slant.
We're less than an hour away from Kickoff, which means we should have our inactives. Let's see who's not playing today.
Jaguars Inactives:
Brad Meester, Derek Landri, Jerry Porter, Scott Starks, Charles Spencer, Chauncey Washington, Isaiah Gardner and Mike Walker.
We knew Porter would be sitting, that's not surprising, but Mike Walker seems to be something to note. Derek Landri needs to get better soon.
Titans Inactives:
Reynaldo Hill, Quinton Ganther, Chris Henry, Stanford Keglar, Mike Otto, Dwayne Blakley, Lavelle Hawkins and William Hayes.
Damn, no Vince Young. Not that there was any doubt that he'd play, but I'm not above rooting for decent players to spend the game sitting on the sideline. Realistically, I'd rather have Albert Haynesworth sitting out than VY, but now we're talking fantasy nonsense.
Your Turn:
This is a live blog. But not like the "Cover it Live" live blogs of years past. No, this fancy SB Nation 2.0 has something called Ajax, which makes the comments act much like the CiL software. So make some comments, offer some commentary, and make fun of the people around you (like where I'm sitting) wearing rediculous jerseys.
(Note: I have had over the course of the last 12 hours atleast a dozen shots, 2 pitchers worth of beer, and other mixed drinks, blame all irrational thoughts and typos on that, good day)
First on the matter of BYU-Washington. While I think the call is mute as the kicked was blocked, the call itself was BS to its highest degree. If this is how anti-celebration rules are now going to be enforced, prepare for a season of drama in close games. I saw the play and thats a reaction anybody does from Pop Warner all the way to the NFL. In an environment when even you tackle somebody for only a 2 yard gain and a player throws up some kind of symbol, and a guy throws the ball into the air gets a 15 yard penalty for taunting is BS.
Second, support Sailor Jerry. Those who say he's Captain Morgan's cheaper, evil brother are simply idiots.
Third, I really believe following this year the league will make some rule where the 4 and 5 seeds can flip home field. While I understand it will undermine the division concept, isn't an automatic playoff birth regardless incentive enough?
Fourth, PS3 is better than Xbox 360. Gears 2 looks like a shiner version of 1 and Fable 2 will ultimately disappoint like any every other game made by that studio. Compare that to Little Big Planet's level creator or Resistance 2's 60 player online(Which I was part of the Beta).
Fifth, the Tallahassee station director is apparently an idiot or fanboy by putting the Dolphins game on as I understand it. Ohwell drinking pitchers of beer with friends and shameless flirting with the Hooters reject waitresses at BW3's isn;t a bad alternative.
Finally, support Queens of the Stone Age. If one band can epitomize sex, drugs, and Rock and Roll, its them.
Jack Del Rio versus Jeff Fisher: If these coaches could have their way, neither one would run a passing play for 60 minutes on Sunday. Both teams are built around running the ball and grinding away at their opponents until their will is broken. Unforutunatly for the Titans, Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew are a step or three above LenDale White and Chris Johnson at this point, though the Titans offensive line can certianly make some holes.
Tight End Marcades Lewis versus Linebacker Keith Bulluck: With Jerry Porter officially out of the game, Matt Jones and Reggie Williams return to their roles as the starting recieviers. This means that Marcades Lewis will have to have a big game as a primary target for the passing attack. Lewis versus just about any linebacker is a strong mismatch given his size and speed, but Bulluck is one of the better linebackers and should make for an interesting battle.
Left Tackle Khalif Barnes versus Defensive End Kyle Vanden Bosch: With Albert Haynesworth clogging the middle, Khalif Barnes will have to stop Vanden Bosch with largely one-on-one coverage. While Lewis, Taylor and Jones-Drew can offer a chip block, protecting David Garrard from the Titans best pass-rusher will be a largely lonely job for Barnes. Compounding this is the danger of injury, losing Barnes to any sort of injury would be devastating considering the positional depth.
Jacksonville Jaguars versus Themselves: It's been a very hard week for the Jaguars. Richard Collier's absence will be felt on the sideline as they focus on the game while worrying about their fallen comrade. Richard's health is improving, thankfully, but his tragic story will hopefully inspire the Jaguars on the field
Injury Report:
Jaguars
Injury
8/4/08
8/5/08
C Brad Meester
Biceps
Out
Out*
DT Derek Landri
Quadricep
DNP
Out*
WR Reggie Williams
Hamstring
Full
Probable
TE Greg Estandia
Knee
Full
Probable
WR Jerry Porter
Hamstring
Limited
Out*
CB Scott Starks
Pectoral
Full
Questionable
G/OT Maurice Williams
Knee
Full
Probable
Titans
Injury
8/4/08
8/5/08
DT Jason Jones
Elbow
DNP
Questionable
WR Justin McCareins
Illness
PK Rob Bironas
No injury
DNP
Questionable*
QB Vince Young
Hamstring
Probable
Final thoughts:
Winning this game is critical for the division race. The Jaguars cannot afford to start the race to win the AFC South with an 0-1 start. Not with Houston and Indianapolis on the horizon. The Jaguars will have determined if they're a division winning team or a Wild Card contender based on how they do in September, so this is about as "must-win" as you can get in week one.
It's easy though, the Jaguars have to turn on the running game, grind out the first downs, and put points on the board on every drive. As usual, first downs mean we're winning, punting means we're losing, and the best way to stop down any Vince Young theatrics is to keep him on the sideline. Long sustained drives are what it's all about for the Jaguars, so let's see some of that.
And let's remember to keep Richard in our hearts and minds as we watch our Jaguars on Sunday!
I'm terrible at picking games and even worse against the spread. Therefore you don't hear a lot of talk about me betting on games, not that I'd ever partake in illegal activity like that. But that won't stop me from joining with some of my favorite bloggers to see who is the master and champion of picks. The real reason why I'm so bad at picking is that I often introduce irrational bias into the selection, which is always bad when money is on the line.
These are my compatriots in the Blogger Deathmatch!
The point spreads are taken from Yahoo! on Wednesday afternoon, so everyone is basing their picks on the same thing. With that, here are my picks for the first week of the 2008 NFL regular season. Winners will be in bold. I'll also be editing this post so that I can include the rest of my picks before the weekend. By our rules, the only one that HAS to be up tonight is for the season opener.
Thursday, 4 September
Washington at New York Football Giants (-3.5)
Sunday, 7 September
Arizona (-2.5) at San Francisco
Seattle at Buffalo (-1)
Cincinnati (-1) at Baltimore
Dallas (-5.5) at Cleveland
Detroit (-3) at Atlanta
Chicago at Indianapolis (-9.5)
Jacksonville (-3) at Tennessee
Kansas City at New England (off the board - pick 'em)
Well, its time for real football to really start going. No more waiting until Camp, getting irate at paying $70 for a ticket to a game when the starters leave after 2 series. Thursday night marks the kickoff of the season. I'm going to give a last few thoughts and predictions.
Why I'm Right: Are the Pats old on defense? Yes. Could they still be suffering from a Super Bowl hangover? Probably. But guess what, they have Tom Brady at QB. All signs point to this being the year the Jags will overtake the Colts for the AFC South. The big question is the AFC North. I think getting Rashard Mendenhall for the Steelers was a big grab. I'm not convinced the Browns are ready to wrestle control of the division away, atleast not yet.
Why I'm an Idiot: The Pats are old in alot of places. While winning the AFC East should be a given, expecting another Elite season might be abit much. Was last years playoff victory the breakthrough the Jaguars needed? Face it, we have come tantalizingly close under Del Rio alot, but always fell short. The Steelers are going through a rebuilding phase in alot of areas, can their backfield bring them up? The Browns are talented and plus the league seemingly bet the house on them with 5 prime time games.
Why I'm Right: Dallas is by far the most talented team in the NFC. They should run roughshot over everyone. Seattle has always been an under the radar team, but they play in the weakest division in the NFL and should provide a good final season for Holmgren. New Orleans should return to the team we say in 2006 when they went to the NFC title game. Even with the inexperience of Aaron Rodgers, the Packers still have talent around him. If Ryan Grant can keep up what he did in the 2nd half of the season, it will make everything better. With the Vikings, the QB position is key. There was a reason everyone said if the Vikes landed Favre they would be immediate Super Bowl contenders. The Gmen round out the playoff race. Losses on the defensive line and my own wonderings about which Eli Manning we see this year bumped them down from a few weeks ago to where I would have had a coin flip between them and Dallas.
Why I'm an Idiot: Can TO keep his cool for another year? Will Tony Romo erase the Curse of Jessica? Eli Manning made last year's playoffs his coming out party and should continue that into this year. The Packers were reliant on Brett Favre to make the offense go and Aaron Rodgers is still untested. Reggie Bush is getting the "Bust" label thrown about more and more, and will Deuce McCalister be able to return to form?
VERSUS 
