the aftermath
OK, let's start with...the Patriots are better than the Jaguars and that's why they won.
Having said that, the J'ville defense did itself no favors. They played not to lose. They played scared. They played a freakin' prevent defense all night, dropping everyone into pass coverage, trying to make sure they didn't get burned by the big play...and that pretty much worked. They didn't get burned by the big play. They got burned by the intermediate routes and the running game, because they pretty much left that open. Ask most teams who play that stupid prevent defense at the end of the game to preserve a win. It doesn't work. It stops the big play, but it doesn't win games. Not only that. When this philosophy didn't work at all in the first half, there was no adjustment. They came out in the second half and stubbornly tried to keep doing it, because at halftime the offense managed to keep up with Mr. Brady and company in a track meet. Who thought they'd be able to sustain that? I know I didn't. I'm not saying they would have won if they would have blitzed more and hit Tom Brady in the mouth a few times. Maybe not. When what you're doing isn't working though, maybe you ought to try something different, just to give yourself a chance. Rushing 3 or 4 and never touching the guy, and giving him all day until someone managed to get open...that's not going to stop Tom Brady on any given Sunday...or Saturday. Going in I felt we had a chance. Not a big chance, but we had a chance. Now, I feel like we kinda squandered it.
So it ended, and the falling drizzle on Sunday morning was the perfect weather ending to the season. Because of the rain, the youngster and I hit the gym Sunday instead of biking 30 miles. There was a communal whine session going on amongst the 3 or 4 people in attendance on a rainy Sunday morning. It was a little bit of catharsis and/or venting..but that was it. San Diego did what we couldn't..pull off the big upset. I wouldn't mind seeing them do it again next week, but i don't expect it, and my passion has been reduced to a shrug. I'm now good to go in other directions. It's funny how the playoffs and the Super Bowl and all that loses a lot of my interest when my team bows out. Before we had the Jaguars, I'd watch every game even though I had no clear favorite. We watched bits and pieces of Sunday's games, but we didn't sit glued to all of them like the weekend before. We'll watch the Super Bowl...for the commercials, and hopefully for a decent game, though the Super Bowl rarely delivers on that front. Time to bike ride, play golf, trim the hedges and do other stuff around the house I've been putting off. For me, football season ended Saturday night.
Having said that, the J'ville defense did itself no favors. They played not to lose. They played scared. They played a freakin' prevent defense all night, dropping everyone into pass coverage, trying to make sure they didn't get burned by the big play...and that pretty much worked. They didn't get burned by the big play. They got burned by the intermediate routes and the running game, because they pretty much left that open. Ask most teams who play that stupid prevent defense at the end of the game to preserve a win. It doesn't work. It stops the big play, but it doesn't win games. Not only that. When this philosophy didn't work at all in the first half, there was no adjustment. They came out in the second half and stubbornly tried to keep doing it, because at halftime the offense managed to keep up with Mr. Brady and company in a track meet. Who thought they'd be able to sustain that? I know I didn't. I'm not saying they would have won if they would have blitzed more and hit Tom Brady in the mouth a few times. Maybe not. When what you're doing isn't working though, maybe you ought to try something different, just to give yourself a chance. Rushing 3 or 4 and never touching the guy, and giving him all day until someone managed to get open...that's not going to stop Tom Brady on any given Sunday...or Saturday. Going in I felt we had a chance. Not a big chance, but we had a chance. Now, I feel like we kinda squandered it.
So it ended, and the falling drizzle on Sunday morning was the perfect weather ending to the season. Because of the rain, the youngster and I hit the gym Sunday instead of biking 30 miles. There was a communal whine session going on amongst the 3 or 4 people in attendance on a rainy Sunday morning. It was a little bit of catharsis and/or venting..but that was it. San Diego did what we couldn't..pull off the big upset. I wouldn't mind seeing them do it again next week, but i don't expect it, and my passion has been reduced to a shrug. I'm now good to go in other directions. It's funny how the playoffs and the Super Bowl and all that loses a lot of my interest when my team bows out. Before we had the Jaguars, I'd watch every game even though I had no clear favorite. We watched bits and pieces of Sunday's games, but we didn't sit glued to all of them like the weekend before. We'll watch the Super Bowl...for the commercials, and hopefully for a decent game, though the Super Bowl rarely delivers on that front. Time to bike ride, play golf, trim the hedges and do other stuff around the house I've been putting off. For me, football season ended Saturday night.
Labels: Sports
John put this out here at 7:56 AM
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