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Published: July 26, 2010
It was a bad 2009 regular season for the Jacksonville Jaguars as the club finished at 7-9 and failed to make the post season as the last place team from their division.
It was the second straight season for the Jaguars to miss the playoffs and the team suffered greatly at the gate with many empty seats.
The team began 2009 with two straight losses and closed the season ugly by losing four straight games while competing for a playoff berth.
The Jaguars struggled mightily in 2009 defending the pass as the club allowed 235.9 yards per game and ranking 27th in the league. The team gave up 23.8 points per game ranking them 24th in the NFL.
The defensive problems were brought about by a lack of pass rush that was very evident entering last season. The club had lost impact players to the defensive line and couldn’t recover in 2009.
Jacksonville had a measly 14 sacks all of last season ranking last in the NFL and exposing the secondary to big plays in the passing game.
To help a needy pass rush the team drafted Tyson Alualu defensive end from California with their first pick and in the third round and drafted defensive tackle D’Anthony Smith out of Louisiana Tech.
David Garrard had another rough season as he passed for only 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Maurice Jones-Drew sparked the clubs 10th ranked running attack as the back finished up with 1391 yards on 312 carries for a 4.5 yard per rush average.
The Odds:
Bodog sportsbook has set the 2010 regular season win total for the Jacksonville Jaguars at 7 wins with under favored at -125 odds and the over returning -105 odds.
Jacksonville has been posted by Bodog at 70-1 long shots to win the upcoming Super Bowl.
The Jaguars are 35-1 to win the AFC Championship at Bodog and +1000 long shots to win the AFC South division.
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2010 Jacksonville Jaguars Regular Season Schedule:
Jacksonville plays in the AFC South division so that means home and away games against the Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans.
The AFC South division in 2010 will compete against the AFC West and NFC East in 2010.
The AFC West opponents for the Jaguars will be home games against the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders with road games against the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers.
From the NFC East Jacksonville will host the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins with road trips to the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys.
With their last place finish in the AFC South in 2009 the club will do battle with the two other AFC last place teams so that brings a home game to the Cleveland Browns and on the road against the Buffalo Bills.
Jacksonville will play in only 1 prime time game in 2010 and that comes in week 6 in a Monday night game at home against the Tennessee Titans.
Offense:
Nine year veteran quarterback David Garrard returns under center as the Jaguars starting quarterback as their camp opened. After posting 18 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in 2007 Garrard has struggled the past two seasons resulting in losing records. The quarterback completed 60.9% of his passes in 2009 with 15 touchdowns, 9 interceptions with a miserable 9 fumbles. He has 26 interceptions and 15 fumbles the past two years. Head coach Jack Del Rio made a daring move by releasing former starter Byron Leftwich in the 2007 preseason so Garrard has no guarantee to get the nod this season.
Veteran Luke McCown is the option at backup and has played in just 13 games during his 7 year career and has a career 59.3% completion percentage with 9 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Division II product Trevor Harris is listed as the third string on the depth chart.
The Jaguars enjoyed the #10 ranked rushing offense in 2009 as they were led by Maurice Jones-Drew. The five year veteran gained 1391 yards and had 15 rushing touchdowns. He posted a solid 4.5 yards per carry on a very high 312 carries.
His backup is second year man Rashad Jennings who contributed with 39 carries for a pretty good 5.2 yards per carry average and 1 touchdown.
The Jaguars line up at wide out with Mike Sims-Walker and Mike Thomas as the #1 and #2 options with Kassim Osgood and Troy Williamson as the #3 and #4. Sims-Walker emerged in 2009 as a solid #1 last season with team high 63 catches for 869 yards 7 touchdowns and a 13.8 yards per receptions average.
Running back Jones-Drew is also a favorite target of Garrard in the passing game as the he contributed with 53 catches and 1 touchdown with a 7.1 yards per reception average.
Second year man Mike Thomas from Arizona is coming off a rookie campaign with 48 catches and 1 touchdown with a 9.4 yards per catch average. Former San Diego Charger Kassim Osgood comes over in free agency from San Diego. Osgood is a huge target at 6’5” and couldn’t break the logjam at San Diego. Osgood is very good on special teams.
Marcedes Lewis returns at tight end where he produced 32 catches with two touchdowns and an excellent 16.2 yards per catch for his position.
The Jaguars will need to protect Garrard a bit better this season as they gave up 44 sacks in 2009. The team lines up with Brad Meester at center with Vince Manuwai and Uche Nwaneri flanking him at guards. The tackles are Eben Britton and Eugene Monroe. Both Britton and Monroe were drafted by the team early in the 2009 draft and start for the second consecutive year.
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Defense:
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been purged by opposing teams in free agency on their defensive line in recent years and have not been able to replace their losses. The team had an atrocious pass rush in 2009 and sat last in the league in sacks with a mere 14 all season. For this reason the team drafted 3 of their 4 first picks in the 2010 draft on the defensive line.
The Jaguars will go up front in a 4-3 defense with Derrick Harvey and Aaron Kampman at the ends with Terrance Knighton and Tyson Alualu lining up at tackles. Kampman comes over from the Green Bay Packers in free agency. Alualu was the Jaguars 1st round draft pick out of Cal who will replace former 2001 first round pick John Henderson who was let go in the offseason. Drafted for depth on the defensive front is third round pick tackle D’Anthony Smith from Louisiana Tech and defensive end Austen Lane from Murray St. Lane is huge at 6’6” and 276 pounds.
The linebackers are Kirk Morrison in the middle with Daryl Smith and Justin Durant on the outside. Morrison comes over from the Raiders via trade. He posted 133 tackles and 2 sacks last season. Freddy Kelaho was acquired in free agency from the Colts and will vie for Durant’s starting job. Larry Hart was drafted in the 5th round out of Central Arkansas for added depth.
The Jaguars gave up tons of big plays in the passing game and finished 27th in the league in 2009. They will go with Derek Cox and Rashean Mathis at the corners with Gerald Alexander and Reggie Nelson at the safeties. The team has some depth with veterans Sean Considine, Tyron Brackenridge and Anthony Smith. It is hard to put all the blame on the Jaguars secondary in 2009 with such a pathetic pass rush.
And now to my Selection:
Jacksonville had just 2 picks in the first four rounds of the draft. The team has question marks on the defensive front and at the linebacker positions. Middle line backer Kirk Morrison is coming over from a Raiders line backing crew that was missing in action in 2009.
David Garrard has had two consecutive down seasons and he is blessed with a solid running back in Maurice Jones-Drew. Garrard does not sell play action very well and should be doing a better job with this run game behind him. There is not enough playmakers in the passing game for Jacksonville and coupled with the issues on the defensive side of the ball the Jaguars will not get to 8 wins in 2010.
Selection: Play Under 7 wins in 2010 Regular Season.
