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Jacksonville Jaguars

When Will They Learn?

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Over the last few years, NFL players have cost their teams (and themselves) a lot by violating the league’s substance abuse policy. They lose their pay, the team loses that player and the other players on that team have to work harder to make up for the missing player.

jaguars-plushLast year, Justin Blackmon was suspended for the second time in as many years in the league and the Jacksonville Jaguars are learning to live without the standout receiver. But this year has not even started and we are seeing teams getting notices of upcoming suspensions.

Arizona CardinalsDaryl Washington of the Arizona Cardinals is looking at a full season suspension for 2014! How will that impact the Cardinals this year?

giants-decalThe New York Giants will have to do without Will Hill because he was just suspended 6 games!

In my personal opinion, these players are given an awful lot of money to play football. They only get that money when they are able to play. Getting suspended for violations of the league drug policy should be something that never happens – they should take it that seriously. Unfortunately, most of the ones who use drugs don’t think…

What do you think?

Breaking Goose Eggs–Which Winless Team Gets First Crack?

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EggWe already saw the New York Giants leave Chicago with the Goose Egg shell still intact. The winless Giants played a good game with Brandon Jacobs rushing for 106 yards and two touchdowns in their 27-21 loss to the Chicago Bears. If you could take away the 3 interceptions thrown by Giants QB Eli Manning, this game is a victory for New York.

I don’t see the Giants getting their confidence back until a home victory. But unless they take advantage of the next 10 days to get on the same page offensively, the home game on October 21st on Monday Night Football against the 1-3 Minnesota Vikings could be Josh Freeman’s first victory as a Viking.

EggHow surprising would it be for the 0-5 Jacksonville Jaguars to stun the 5-0 Denver Broncos in their home stadium? Let’s just say that if that were to happen, the Jaguars defensive coordinator would instantly be demanding a raise or trying to find a head coaching job.

Peyton Manning is on a tear right now. The Broncos scored as many points on Sunday against the Cowboys as the Jaguars scored all season. Manning’s preparation in every game lets him accurately predict what a defense will allow him to accomplish in any given situation.

EggTampa Bay is hosting the 2-3 Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday. The Tampa Bay defense has looked very strong in most of its outings, and the Philadelphia defense has struggled to get off the field. In fact, Philadelphia has allowed 159 points this season by opposing teams.

The Bucs have held their opponents to only 70 points for the season, but they will be without their pro bowl right guard, Carl Nicks because of a reoccurrence of the MRSA infection in his foot! While the defense is capable of keeping the score low on the opponent side of the scoreboard, the offense will have to step it up a few notches, and without Nicks to protect rookie QB Mike Glennon, the chances of a high score on the Bucs side of the scoreboard are pretty slim. Their greatest hope lies in putting the ball in the hands of Doug Martin and Jeff Demps with a running attack that has shown promise in the past. The defense and the fact that the game is sold out in Tampa Bay means the Bucanneers have a chance to crack the egg… but it remains to be seen.

The 0-4 Pittsburgh Steelers have struggled. Both on offense and on defense. Their offensive production resembles their defensive points against in years past. They go up against the 3-2 New York Jets, who have vastly improved on both sides of the ball since last year. The Jets started slowly on offense, but their defense has kept them in games throughout the season. Rookie QB Geno Smith has found a way to win in 3 of the last 5 games, and in the recent game against the Falcons, drove the ball like a veteran in the last minute to put his kicker in position to win the game.

Can Pittsburgh go into New York and expect to leave with a digit in the win column? It really depends on the execution of the Steelers offense. Since the loss of Maurkice Pouncey at center, the Steelers’ offensive line has allowed Ben Roethlisberger to be manhandled in the backfield. This has resulted in 5 interceptions to go with his 5 touchdowns. If he keeps giving the ball to opponents, the defense cannot get rested and sustain a strong presence on the field.

Coming off the bye week, expect to see a strong showing from the Steelers, but I don’t see them pulling out the victory in New York against the Jets defense.

My opinion is that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the best shot at cracking the goose egg this week.

Who do you think will do it?

Who Wins First – New York Giants or Jacksonville Jaguars?

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Goose Egg for Giants, Jags, Bucs and Steelers4 Teams are in the basement of the NFL. 2 of them have a bye week. Will the Giants win this week? They play a struggling Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) at home while the Jags are playing the Rams (1-3) in St Louis. Do the 1-3 teams go 2-3? Or will one of the 0-4 teams come out victiorious?

The Giants

The New York Giants (0-4) are off to a disastrous start. For a team whose fan base prides themselves on living in the best city in the world, with the best sports teams in the world — things are not looking good. The Giants have won a grand total of zero games, and are currently ranked fourth in their NFC division. The team’s awful start has been difficult to comprehend in the sports world because despite only a few key roster moves, they essentially have the same roster that they’ve had the last few seasons. The most popular critique has been that the team lacks cohesion. All of the talented players in the world aren’t enough if they can’t figure out a way to work together as a team.

Their most recent loss was at the hand of the Kansas City Chiefs (4-0). The game was not at home, which never helps. They ended up losing by a whopping twenty-four points with a final score of 7-31 in Kansas City.

With such a terrible record so early in the season, you can see that obviously a lot of things are going wrong for the Giants. One problem is that they currently have fifteen players listed on their injury list. That’s a lot of players injured for a team who needs all the help they can get.

Among those injured are David Baas, the starting center with a neck injury, and Chris Snee, the right guard with a hip injury. The Giants are seriously feeling the loss of these offensive line players.

So what else is going from? Don’t look to general manager Jerry Reese for an answer. The general manager has remained silent as his team digs itself a grave, claiming that the Giants don’t have the type of management that provides a running commentary throughout the season.

Giants safety Antrel Rolle hasn’t been so silent. He has gone public with this opinion that he doesn’t think everyone on the team believes that they can win. To their credit, they might be right. To Rolle’s credit, nothing helpful will come from a lack of confidence. We have seen teams with a worse start than the Giants turn their season around when the team came together and believed in themselves.

The Giants play next, this Sunday, October 6th where they will play their longtime rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles (1-3) at home at MetLife Stadium for a crowd that is going to be expecting a turn-around, and doesn’t want to be disappointed.

Jaguars Could Surprise Rams

This week is the first time Justin Blackmon will be on the field this season after a 4 week suspension for a substance abuse policy violation. Blackmon was Jacksonville’s number one receiver last season, and without him, the sound of crickets has accompanied the offense on the field. Expect Blackmon to be targeted a lot in this first game with him on the field. That should help open up the running game of Maurice Jones-Drew as quarterback Blaine Gabbert now has a viable target down the field.

Prediction: Jacksonville puts as many points on the board as they have all season (31).