the press sets up JAGZ game … articles, vids, tweets, & telepathic messages

So, this is the Rams’ next opponent 👀 https://t.co/Y5QyJbnw3R

— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) October 9, 2017

Leonard Fournette wasn't afraid of the Steelers: https://t.co/ONxtptrhry pic.twitter.com/DRpbePNA4e

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) October 9, 2017

Jaguars threw an NFL season-low 14 passes on Sunday

Michael David Smith

Jaguars threw an NFL season-low 14 passes on Sunday

The Jaguars beat the Steelers with an old-school football offense on Sunday.

Throwing just 14 passes in yesterday’s 30-9 win, Jacksonville threw the least of any NFL team in any game this year or last year. Not since the Bills threw 12 passes in a game in 2015 has an NFL team thrown so seldom.

The Jaguars won primarily with their defense, which intercepted Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger five times while holding Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell to 47 yards on 15 carries. The Jaguars also got a huge game from running back Leonard Fournette, who had 28 carries for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles went 8-for-14 for 95 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. Not a good game, but his team won despite him.

During the offseason Jaguars coach Doug Marrone was quoted as saying the ideal number of throws per game for Bortles would be “zero.” He’s getting closer to his goal.

I’ve never seen this before: #Jaguars rank No. 1 in @fboutsiders total defense metrics and No. 31 in rush defense.

— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) October 11, 2017

from PFF: Ranking all 32 NFL offensive lines by average grade, Week 5

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-all-32-nfl-offensive-lines-by-average-grade-week-5?utm_content=buffer8b91e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=nfl%5B

18. Jacksonville Jaguars
Average offensive lineman grade: 59.2

Even though Jacksonville‘s offensive line has allowed just two sacks – tied for the fewest in the NFL – they have surrendered 39 total pressures, including 10 quarterback hits. In fact, the 10 hits are tied for the seventh-most in the NFL and the Jaguars have a pass-blocking efficiency rating of 80.3, which is the ninth-highest in the league. With the exception of injured center Brandon Linder, the Jaguars offensive linemen have not been playing well overall as they have struggled in pass protection and run-blocking. Although the Jaguars ran the most inside zone runs with 75 through the first five weeks, they average just 1.48 yards before contact on these runs, which is only 18th in the NFL.

Rams talk: Los Angeles Times NFL writer Sam Farmer

John Oehser
Senior writer
jaguars.com

Senior writer John Oehser talks with Los Angeles Times NFL writer Sam Farmer about the Rams as they enter Sunday’s game against the Jaguars at EverBank Field in Jacksonville

http://www.jaguars.com/news/article-JaguarsNews/Rams-talk-Los-Angeles-Times-NFL-writer-Sam-Farmer/bd3aca8f-abfc-47e4-b208-3d89309a4d43

Question: The Rams lost to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, 16-10. They are now 3-2 after a 3-1 start. How do the Rams see themselves? Where is this team entering Sunday?

Answer: Sunday was a step back. They had sort of a flashback. They wore their throwback uniforms and had sort of a throwback offense to last year in the second half. They were sort of grasping at straws. They couldn’t consistently move the ball. They couldn’t get [running back Todd] Gurley engaged the way they had in the first four games. Buy they’re one of the surprising stories to me in the NFL – Sunday notwithstanding. They’ve completely revamped their offense with a lot of the same personnel. They’ve added three good receivers in Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and rookie Cooper Kupp, who is surprisingly good. Gurley was consistently hit in the backfield last season. He seldom did anything beyond getting two or three yards on a carry. This year they have done a lot of wheel routes and middle screens. He has been way more effective. He’s rediscovered the game he had as a rookie.

Q: And of course second-year quarterback Jared Goff is a major story …

A: Jared Goff is a completely different quarterback [than he was as a rookie].He’s playing with confidence. He has a command of the offense. He’s really good when plays break down about finding the right receivers and getting yardage. He has a surprisingly strong arm, which you don’t really see when he’s practicing. It’s not like he has a whip when he’s practicing, but there were a few times Sunday when he hummed it. You can see some of the things the Rams saw when they made the biggest trade in history to get to No. 1 to select him [in the 2016 NFL Draft].

Q: Is the offense all new Head Coach Sean McVay? Is that too easy?

A: Not only have you seen how good McVay is, but it underscores just how bad they were last year – and how poorly coached they were last year, especially offensively. There was no rhyme or reason last year to their offense. The predictability was they would be in second and long, then run a slant pattern that was occasionally effective. It was like they stumbled upon the end zone last year. Now, it really feels like there’s a rhythm and cadence to the offense, and they’re using the weapons they have. The line has been really effective. On the flip side, the defense has been slow to get up to speed. That’s kind of surprising because that’s where a lot of their talent is – and they were pretty effective last season until they were just running on fumes as a team and the defense broke down. But defensively in the last few weeks they’ve stepped up when they needed to and they’ve slammed the door on teams. They did it on the 49ers and the Cowboys, but they have given up a lot of yards and had some breakdowns. They were better Sunday.

Q: There’s a feeling from afar that this 3-2 start could be the start of something long-term for the Rams. Does it feel that way from up close?

A: There are the seeds of a start. They’re starting to pour a foundation. They got out a little bit over their skis, I think, with this heady win at Dallas [in Week 4]. Sunday was sort of a reality check and you realized, ‘Hey, the Seahawks still control this division.’ The Seahawks came and won in a critical game in L.A. Really, Sunday was the first meaningful game in Los Angeles aside from the ceremonial games; this had something to do with the division and their place in the world. But it does feel like there’s a different buzz to this team … like, ‘Wow, maybe they can operate with this offensive line and maybe they can move the ball with these receivers and maybe Todd Gurley is more than a one-hit wonder from his rookie year.’ The biggest of them is maybe they have something in Goff we didn’t see last season.

Q: The Rams are 21 games into their return to Los Angeles. Is the franchise settling in there again?

A: L.A. is a very difficult market. We knew it was a difficult market before the teams [Rams and Chargers] came here. I think it has been surprising to the NFL and surprising to the teams just how difficult it is to capture the attention of the fans. You don’t see a lot of people walking around with Rams T-Shirts or Rams hats – and you certainly don’t see Chargers stuff. You’ll see grocery store promotions, but it’s hard to get noticed on the L.A. landscape – particularly when USC is doing well, when the Dodgers are in the [baseball] postseason and the Lakers are starting out with Lonzo Ball Mania. This is probably the only market in the nation where the NFL teams have to do a soft shoe to get the media’s attention – or win. But winning means going deep in the playoffs or winning a Super Bowl. The Rams were coming off a big win at Dallas, but there were a lot of Seahawks fans at the game Sunday.

Q: Is Sunday against the Jaguars big for the Rams?

A: It’s huge. If you look at last year, this is when it all fell apart. They got to 3-1 last year, lost at home to Buffalo, then they hit the road and during that stretch they lost 11 out of 12. The bottom dropped out. They need to avoid that and show they actually have made progress and that probably means finishing 8-8 or better.

Q: Does this feel like a team capable of that to you?

A: They’re absolutely more solid than last year; the offense has a pulse. Last year set such a low standard that it would be hard to be worse than last year. If there is a flicker of light from the offense, which there has been, then it’s by definition a better team. We’ll have to see. They had the big win on the road at Dallas and they won at San Francisco. They’ve got some confidence. That’s different than last year.

Jaguars’ pass defense among NFL’s best but Jalen Ramsey thinks they deserve more respect

http://jacksonville.com/sports/jaguars/2017-10-11/jaguars-pass-defense-among-nfl-s-best-jalen-ramsey-thinks-they-deserve

Like many cornerbacks, Jalen Ramsey has never lacked confidence.

But his play, along with cornerback A.J. Bouye’s and the rest of the secondary and linebackers, are starting to speak for itself.

No team in the NFL has intercepted more passes (10) or forced more takeaways (15) after the first five weeks of the season. Consider that that Jaguars had only seven interceptions all of last season.

Last Sunday, the Jags’ pass defense flustered Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who threw a career-high five interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, one by safety Barry Church (51 yards), the other by linebacker Telvin Smith (26 yards).

It was the first time the Jaguars (3-2), who are alone in first place in the AFC South, returned two interceptions for touchdowns in a game in their franchise history.

“For me, I’m just ready to start getting my respect,” Ramsey said. “I’m ready for A.J. to start getting his respect. I’m ready for the secondary to start getting the respect that we deserve. Four picks in the secondary. I mean we ball – that’s what it is. We are balling out there.”

And it’s not only been only the cornerbacks and safeties making plays on passes. The linebackers have played with the same purpose. They all want Pick-sixes, and more wins.

“With our linebacker corps, we feel like we can cover, we can hit you and stop the run game,” said second-year linebacker Myles Jack, the team’s leading tackler. “For all of us to come together like this, I’m very eager to see what we’re going to be like down the road. We’re kind of working with each other. Somebody can tip the ball to somebody else, but at the end of the day we all win.”

Against the Steelers, nose tackle Abry Jones reached up to a tip an errant Roethlisberger’s pass off his forearm that sailed into Smith’s hands for an interception. On Church’s pick-six, Ramsey reached up to knock away the ball from Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown’s hands.

The Jaguars have surrendered 889 total yards passing after five games, the third lowest in franchise history. They also have forced quarterbacks to have a 56.9 passer rating, the franchise’s second lowest after five games (55.0 in 1999).

Safety Tashaun Gipson leads the Jaguars with three interceptions; Ramsey, Bouye and Smith each have two.

“We have a point to prove,” Gipson said. “As a defensive back, we feel like we haven’t been given the love that we deserve. We’re consistently going out there to perform. Every guy got to the ball. There’s A.J., Jalen and Aaron (Colvin), who I think is the best slot in the game. He should be starting on somebody’s team.”

Colvin was tied for the team-lead against Pittsburgh with 10 tackles, including two for loss.

The secondary has a strong rapport with each other. They have group chats after some practices and they all occasionally go out to dinner together.

“A lot of football teams, they are best friends in the locker room but once they leave it’s like nobody knows each other,” Church said. “We keep in touch. We text each other throughout the day. It is just like a tight-knit group, I haven’t been around a secondary like that in a long time. Even in my Cowboys days. After first five games, I feel like we have each other’s back and it is a great feeling.”

Now another challenge is ahead on Sunday at EverBank Field against the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams are the fifth-best passing team in the NFL, averaging 271.2 yards a game with young quarterback Jared Goff. They have a speedster in wide receiver Sammy Watkins and running back Todd Gurley is a pass-catching threat out of the backfield.

Although Ramsey and Gipson think they are not getting the respect they deserve, Rams 31-year-old coach Sean McVay had good things to say about Jaguars’ pass defense in a conference call on Wednesday.

“I’m very concerned, I think they are playing as well as any secondary in the league,” McVay said. “When they get in just their base defense, they have two of the best corners in the league with A.J. and Jalen. Barry and Tashaun are an excellent combination at the safety spots.

“I think you look at the depth and the overall speed when guys get their hands on the ball, they catch it and I think that’s a big reason why they’ve been able to lead the league in (takeaways).”

from PFT’s Week Six picks

Mike Florio

PFT’s Week Six picks

…

Rams at Jaguars

MDS’s take: I don’t think many people thought before the season that Rams-Jaguars in Week Six would be one of the best games of the day, but it is. I like the Jaguars to slow down the game with their running offense and win a low-scoring one.

MDS’s pick: Jaguars 14, Rams 13.

Florio’s take: The win-one, lose-one Jags are due to lose one. And since the Rams have the defense to take away the running game and the Jaguars don’t have the passing game to take advantage of it, the trend holds again.

Florio’s pick: Rams 20, Jaguars 13.

Rams’ defense challenged to slow Jacksonville’s big cat, Leonard Fournette

RICH HAMMOND

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/10/12/rams-defense-challenged-to-slow-jacksonvilles-big-cat-leonard-fournette/

THOUSAND OAKS — The jaguar, native to parts of North America, is known for its combination of size and speed. So Jacksonville drafted appropriately in April when it made Leonard Fournette a Jaguar.

Fournette is listed at 6-foot and a bulky 228 pounds. During his 90-yard touchdown run last week, Fournette was clocked at a maximum of 22.05 miles per hour, the fastest speed by any NFL running back this season. Now it’s the Rams’ turn to chase him around when the teams meet Sunday in Jacksonville.

This isn’t complicated. The Rams’ run defense has struggled at times this season – although it improved last week against Seattle – and so confident are the Jaguars in Fournette that during the second half of last week’s victory over Pittsburgh, they attempted only one pass among their 21 offensive plays.

“That’s the way they play,” Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said after Thursday’s practice at Cal Lutheran. “They’re a power team, very physical. Fournette has scored in every game. A tremendous rookie running back. Their offensive line does a great job, and their receivers do a great job of blocking in the run game.”

After some early-season tweaking, the Rams seem to have found a better mix on defense up front. Aaron Donald, who missed training camp and the Rams’ first game because of a contract holdout, has been dominant in his last two games, and Michael Brockers has thrived after a recent switch from nose tackle to defensive end. Tanzel Smart, a rookie, has been fairly stout at nose tackle.

The issue for the Rams’ run defense has been the second level. Middle linebackers Alec Ogletree and Mark Barron are aggressive and speedy, but weigh 235 and 225 pounds, respectively. Shedding blocks has been an issue at times, and tackling a big-bodied back like Fournette could be a problem.

The Rams, increasingly, have been removing outside linebacker Robert Quinn from packages when running plays seem likely, in favor of a linebacker who is stronger against the run.

It’s difficult to determine how much progress the Rams are making against the run. Washington ran for 229 yards in week two and Dallas ran for 189 yards in week four, although the Rams improved in the second half of that game.

Then came Seattle last week. The Seahawks used a rotation of backup running backs behind a struggling offensive line, and the Rams held them to 62 yards and an average of 2.5 yards per attempt.

“I think our guys are solid,” Phillips said. “They work hard. They’re trying to do things the way we want them done. It comes down to individual players playing well within the system. They’re starting to do that better and better.”

A duplication of the Seattle game against Jacksonville would be monumental and seemingly would guarantee victory for the Rams, but no team has come close to stopping Jacksonville’s run game. The Jaguars lead the NFL in rushing yards (826) and are tied for third with an average of 4.7 yards per rush, and they have averaged at least 4 yards per rush in each of their five games this season.

Jacksonville, off to a surprising 3-2 start, has found a strong formula: use an opportunistic defense – the Jaguars lead the NFL in sacks and turnovers – to win the field-position battle, then grind out victories on the ground. Jacksonville has exceeded 30 points only once this season.

Fournette increasingly has become a workhorse, with 52 carries in his last two games. The Rams also can’t ignore Fournette out of the backfield. Two weeks ago against the Jets, he caught four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown.

“He’s a big, physical back,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “He’s got the ability, once he gets a seam, to break the long runs. He does a great job of playing behind his pads. A play might be blocked for three yards and he gets six or seven.”

Rams will take a trip back in time against the hard-running Jaguars

VINCENT BONSIGNORE

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/10/14/rams-will-take-a-trip-back-in-time-against-the-hard-running-jaguars/

The numbers jump so startlingly off the page you almost have to rub your eyes a couple of times to make sure you’re seeing them right.

And just to be sure, you ask around to make sure it’s night a typo or you misread something.

“Did you see how the Jacksonville Jaguars ran the ball 18 straight times Sunday to close out their win over the Pittsburgh Steelers?,” I asked Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers the other day.

“I did see that,” Brockers said, smiling.

Of course he did, seeing as the Rams just spent the last week preparing for the Jaguars. They’ll see them on Sunday in Jacksonville, and when they do they’ll get an up-close taste of the smashmouth, hat-on-hat, physically imposing run game formula they’ve come up with to win three of their first five games to perch themselves atop the AFC South standings.

The Jaguars, it seems, have turned back the football clock to a different time and a different style and a completely different mindset. They’ve run the ball 127 times for an NFL best 826 yards and five touchdowns. And while they haven’t completely junked the passing game, their 137 passing attempts and 798 yards are among the fewest in the league.

The Jaguars’ time travel back to a much more run-oriented time is partly out of necessity and partly the result of a coaching staff understanding it’s dominant strength is rookie running back Leonard Fournette, a bruising 6-foot, 228-pounder who ranks second in the NFL in rushing with 466 yards and five touchdowns.

The stagnated growth of fourth-year quarterback Blake Bortles, whose play is among the worst in the NFL, meant figuring out another way to win games besides chucking the ball all over the field. And in Fournette, a big, tough, physical runner capable of punishing opposing defenses, they have the perfect player to carry an offense on the ground.

Couple that with an opportunistic defense that has forced a league-high 10 interceptions, is tied atop the league lead in sacks with 22 while giving up just 16.6 points per game, and the Jaguars have created a successful formula.

“They’re taking the football away. They’re taking care of it, and that’s a recipe for winning football in this league,” said Rams head coach Sean McVay.

Albeit an outdated one.

It’s the 1970’s all over again in North Florida, where winning depends less on flinging the ball over the field and more on pounding the rock over and over and over to drain the will of their opponent.

“It’s a little bit like when I first started,” said Rams 70-year-old defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, whose witnessed the many metamorphoses of football over the years. “Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier and those guys that we played against. They had a great passing game too with (Terry) Bradshaw, but a lot of teams had really good running games. When I first started, everybody had leather helmets, so you really had to be tough then. But it’s interesting to see that in this day in time, you can run the football and win games and that’s what they’re doing. It’s an old, old formula, but they’re doing really well with it.”

Like rolling up their sleeves last Sunday against the Steelers — no shrinking violets mind you — and then repeatedly punching them in the nose to grind out a 30-9 upset win. Part of which included the 18 straight running plays they ran that, at one point, resulted in a 13-play, 67-yard drive that wiped eight minutes and seven seconds off the clock and ended with a field goal to go up 23-9.

It was an old-school thing of beauty in both execution and physicality.

“Everybody’s coming off the ball. They are getting some heavy box counts, but they’re doing a good job getting a hat on a hat and then when they get the corners and some of these cracker-play situations – they’ve got backs that can make guys miss and get it to the perimeter,” said McVay. “So, it’s a real credit to them.”

But also startling in its divergence from how things are presently done.

“Eighteen straight running plays,” I repeated to Brockers. “How’s that even possible?”

“Well, they did it,” Brockers said, laughing. “I’ve never been a part of something like that, from a consecutive standpoint, 18 straight times because when you’re in four-minute drill (it’s imperative) you stop the run. But It looks tiring, that’s for sure.”

And the Rams are bracing for nothing less Sunday at EverBank Field.

“You know where they’re gonna be. They know where you’re gonna be,” Brockers said. “So what are you gonna do about it? Kind of like man-on-man football.”

Brockers paused and smiled.

“I like that, actually.”

They key now is doing something about it.

The Rams are coming off a disappointing 16-10 loss to the Seahawks and are beginning a month-long odyssey during which they’ll play three straight games away from home.

They’ll remain all week in Jacksonville after the Jaguars game before heading to London to host the Arizona Cardinals. They’ll have a long break with their bye week immediately following, but then it’s back to the East Coast to play the Giants on Nov. 5th.

On paper, all three games are winnable. But coming off the loss to Seattle, it’s imperative they start their month away from home on the right foot.

To do so, they’ll have to put their big boy pants on and deal with the Fournette freight train and the Jaguars willingness to feed him over and over and over.

Brockers, who, like Fournette went to LSU, is a big fan of the impressive rookie.

“I’m biased. I’m a Tiger so I have to like him, and I do. I love his style,” Brockers said. “He’s big and physical. And last week he even called on a tackle. So you can see the physicality he has and brings to the running game.

“The key is to stop him before he gets started,” Brockers said. “Get to him before he gets to the second level. Because he can punish people at that point.”

The Rams are traveling 2,416 miles to play the Jaguars on Sunday.

But in some ways, they’re going back 40 years in time.