Who Fed It And Who Ate It: 2019 Week 14
Another big week in the books of the season, and there were results of consequence. The Baltimore Ravens punched their ticket to the playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers retook the top spot in the NFC by virtue of winning a shootout over the Saints in New Orleans and the Seattle Seahawks losing to the LA Rams, and the Green Bay Packers jumped into the NFC's 2 seed by handling their business against the Washington Redskins. Today, we'll be examining the future of one team, contemplate the fate of a playoff bound club, and cover the team no one wants to face right now.
The Ass Kicking of The Week was taken by the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose 45-10 drubbing by the LA Chargers are raising questions about the future of the organization When former Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin was hired to be a top executive for the franchise, there was a thought that his successful pedigree would trickle down through the coaching ranks & the player roster to instill a winning culture that the Jags once had in the late 1990's. With head coach Doug Marrone in 2017, the maiden campaign of the Coughlin era looked promising. 10-6, won the AFC South, and came one quarter short in playing in the Super Bowl. There looked to be brighter days in North Florida. That has not been the case. In fact, 2017 is looking more and more like an outlier than a reasonable expectation. Since losing that AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots, the Jaguars have gone 9-20 in the last year and change. The offense in 2017 that was fifth in the league in scoring retrograded to among the league's worst in 2018 and 2019. When it came to assessing the issues of last season, there were plenty of culprits. Free agency took away much of their receiving corps, running back Leonard Fournette struggled through a sophomore year where defenses were more focused on stopping him, and QB Blake Bortels proved that he was not the long term answer at that crucial position. To address the third problem, Nick Foles received a 4 year, $88 million contract to settle the question as the man under center. Instead, Foles was injured for 8 weeks, making way for Gardner Minshew to hold the fort down. Minshew would play well given his inexperienced at the pro level, putting up a 4-4 record when Foles returned to the lineup. Foles would lose three straight, but to be fair, his defense did him no favors, as in two of those games, opposing offenses cranked out over 200 yards rushing as a team. After an absentee performance against Tampa Bay, Minshew was promoted back to the starting lineup. It wouldn't matter, as the Chargers would rack up 525 yards total offense (195 yards rushing) in this recent beating. Alarm bells have to be going off after being embarrassed on their home field. Marrone's job security must be in question at this point. But it would not be a shock if general manager Dave Caldwell is on the hot seat as well, as his fingerprints are all over the roster. It seems highly unlikely that owner Shad Khan would clean house at this juncture, but one would presume that he must deem this result unacceptable. If the Jaguars finish the season looking as feckless as they did against the Bolts, watch out for a wholesale purge.
The New England Patriots lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 23-16 in Foxboro, snapping a 21 game home winning streak It seems that over the last few years fans, writers, and analysts see some frailty, some chink in the armor, some tangible sign that the Patriots' dynasty may finally be on the horizon. Many fans claim to hate the Pats, but your humble scribe is under the impression that fans of all stripes are simply tired of seeing New England deep in the playoffs, just from the standpoint of entertainment in that the Patriots' act is stale. Now, did the loss to the Chiefs in The Razor (the nickname for Gillette Stadium) where questionable calls went against New England a number of times the beginning of the end for this dynasty franchise? No. Now, do the Pats look vulnerable to not make their fourth consecutive Super Bowl? Absolutely. The offense, even with the great Tom Brady, has found difficulty in moving the ball. Outside of WR Julian Edelman, finding consistent productivity has been a problem. The defense, once being measured in terms of the league's greatest, have been beaten by signal callers of the other 3 AFC division leaders; Lamar Jackson (Baltimore), Deshaun Watson (Houston), and Patrick Mahomes. Don't get it twisted. The Patriots will not be considered eliminated until someone does it on the field of play and will have a strong say in who represents the AFC in Miami Gardens in February. But they will not be a prohibitive favorite.
The hottest team in the league (behind the Baltimore Ravens) are the Tennessee Titans, who have won four games in a row and six of their last seven to put themselves on the cusp of a postseason berth There is often one team that gets hot late in the season, so much so that facing them could jeopardize a particular team's playoff trajectory. This year, it's the Titans. Left for dead after starting 2-4 and getting shut out by the Denver Broncos, head coach Mike Vrabel benched QB Marcus Mariota for veteran Ryan Tannehill. The Titans have not looked back, as Tannehill has played very well (149 of 203 for 1993 yards, 15 TD's & 5 INT's for a 118.5 passer rating), RB Derrick Henry has been a stud (1243 yards, 13 TD's, averaging better than 95 rushing yards a game), and the defense has improved, namely in defending the run (surrendering 99.1 yards per game). This has put Tennessee at 8-5, just outside the wild card and tied with AFC South leader Houston. And the Titans last three games? The home-in-home divisional series with the Texans and a New Orleans Saints team who despite already clinching the NFC South still need to compete to earn a first round bye. The Volunteer State looks to be the epicenter of at least one barnburner of a finish to close out the regular season.
