Jaguars Week 2 - Can Patchwork O-line Protect Against Bills?
September 12, 2008 by Mark Reichman
Filed under Jaguars, NFL Football
After losing both of their starting guards for the season, the Jaguars were active this week, signing Milford Brown and Chad Slaughter, experienced backups who will see action on Sunday for sure. Mercifully, the knee injury to Uche Nwaneri won’t keep him out of action, so Nwaneri steps up on the depth chart to the starting guard role along with veteran Tutan Reyes. Head Coach Jack Del Rio was confident that the team could take the new faces at guard and “get ‘em coached up” to the level where they can do an adequate job protecting the quarterback and opening holes for the running game. Its impossible to tell if this is an accurate assessment; logic says they will have their hands more than full as the Bills defense will attempt to capitalize on the lack of experience up front.
Leading the charge for the Bills frontline will be defensive tackle Marcus Stroud, a man with a definite chip on his shoulder. After seven mostly remarkable years with the Jags, the “heart and soul” of their defense was let go following a nagging ankle injury and a four-game suspension for a banned substance which washed out his 2007 season. Coming back to his former home, Stroud will have obvious extra motivation to prove the doubters wrong and will be coming hard at his former team from the first play.
It should be noted that the Jags also signed another guard, Todd Wade, who was a starter for Washington last year, but was released due to an ankle injury that will keep him out of action for at least one more week. Given the holes on the O-line, the Jags stepped ahead of other interested teams to lock Wade up now with an eye toward having him in the lineup as the season progresses.
The Jags are very pleased about the progress in practice for wide receiver Jerry Porter, who showed no ill signs in the recovery of his surgically repaired hamstring, and the team will allow the high-priced offseason acquisition to suit for the first time on Sunday. Lack of a deep threat at receiver allowed the Titans to stack the box against the run last Sunday, with disastrous consequences for the Jaguars. Dennis Northcutt and Troy Williamson were both banged up and missed practice Thursday, leaving Reggie Williams, Matt Jones and an untested Mike Walker as the only healthy bodies behind Porter on the WR depth chart. Porter’s effectiveness runnnig routes is key, even if he doesn’t catch a lot of balls, so that Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor can both have opportunities to do their thing.
The availability of Porter is even more key when you consider that Buffalo had the NFL’s worst pass defense in 2007, and given the question marks on the Jags offensive line, QB David Garrard could be called upon to open up the offense and throw the ball downfield more often. Jag fans can take some encouragement from the postgame demeanor of Garrard following a poor performance against Tennessee, where he was sacked seven times, turned the ball over three times and was generally inaccurate throwing the ball. Nattily attired in a beige suit and purple bow tie, Garrard was nonplussed following the loss, praised his offensive line for doing a “decent job”, credited the Titans secondary for taking away the looks the Jags wanted to be able to make big plays, and took responsibility for his own shortcomings, admitting he has to “do a better job protecting the ball.” There’s no reason to believe Garrard won’t bounce back with a significantly better showing on Sunday.
The Jaguars defense will also be called upon to do a better job, particularly against the run. After they were unable to contain Titans rookie Chris Johnson last week, the Jags D faces a bigger challenge this week against Marshawn Lynch. Whether or not they can make the adjustments and return to being the tough physical unit in the trenches that has previously characterized the Jaguars is a key factor in determining the outcome Sunday.
The sun could be a factor in the Jaguars favor, as the forecast of a 93 degree gametime temperature would make Sunday the hottest game in Jaguar history. Logic says that the team from Florida would be better equipped than the team from the frozen north, and history supports this notion as the Jags are undefeated in the handful of games they’ve played with the temperature above 88 degrees. Another intangible will be the vocal support of the crowd in the [finally] sold out home opener.
Prediction: While I believe the Jaguars emotions will put forth a better effort and allow them to prevail, it should be another tight, grind-it-out contest. Which is why, forced to make an objective pick on the STB weekly contest, I’ll take the Bills and the 5.5 points, as I see a low scoring 3-point victory in the cards for Jacksonville.
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September 12th, 2008 at 11:19 am
This should be a good game, but I would have to say that the weather will win this one. Although it does get hot in Buffalo, It has been cold and dreary as of late, and nowhere near 93.
The Jags are a lot better then their outing of last week, and even with a banged up o-line, should stay within the elite class of the AFC.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:39 am
For some reason I think the Bills win this one by a FG. Lets not forget, last year if not for Losman the Bills win the game against the Jags.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Thanks guys…Lee I agree the Jags will win but it won’t be easy. And Kevin, true enough on Losman, although another factor was the special teams play of the Bills including the TD by Parrish, which cost the Jags special teams coach Pete Rodriguez his job. You know the Jags will be keyed up not to let that happen again.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Nice piece Mark! I agree that it will be close.
You mentioned the run defense, and the issues they had a week ago. What do you think the issue was? Were they simply on the field too long, or are there some real issues with the front 4?
September 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Close game but Bills take it they were relentless against the Hawks O-line and they will be on Sunday, if given time Garrard is one of the best ball managment QB’s in the league in that he doesn’t turn the ball over. But his style of play is dependant on time and I don’t think he gets it. The Bills secondary woes last season are much publicsized and although the names remain the same they are very different. Against Seattle a corner was caught out of near perfect position maybe 3 times, the only real success was to John Carlson against the Linebackers, if it was me I’d throw underneath alot and challenge these cb’s to make tackles, both are slightly under sized to matchup against the biggest recievers and certainly against backs.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Thanks Tim, my feeling is that its not about exhaustion as the front 4 actually played better as the game wore on. Spicer, Hayward, Henderson and Meier are supposed to be the team’s strength. The optimist in me says you have to tip your hat to the Titans offensive line for getting a push. But Sunday will tell; if the Bills o-line pushes them around again then maybe there is a problem, and I, like the Jags staff, will be trying to isolate where exactly it is.
September 13th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I thought Garrard held onto the ball too long on several occasions last Sunday when the protection was good but receivers were covered downfield. I agree, especially without a proven downfield threat, that the Jags should be looking to dump off down low to the TE Marcedes Lewis, or throw a quick sideline jumpball to the 6′6″ Matt Jones. However, if the running game can get off maybe there will be single coverage downfield which Garrard can take advantage of.
September 13th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Interestingly enough, despite the fact that the Bills are 3rd in the league in terms of average weight on the O-line, they struggle mightily to get push for the run game. Their pass protection is good, but you watch how easily Jacksonville dominates the line of scrimmage on run plays. If they don’t, then the front 4 might really have a problem.