Jacksonville’s “Offense” vs Redskins Defense
Last year, the Jaguars ran the ball 52% of the time, good enough for 2nd highest in the NFL, and new offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter’s (former head coach at Arizona State) air-it-out style has not seemed to have been able to reverse the archaic offensive style of Jacksonvile so far this pre-season. This shouldn’t be shocking to us as we saw what happens when you take a offense based on the run (Marty) and try to infuse it with pass happy schemes (Spurrier.) Jacksonville currently ranks 20th in the league this pre-season, with 94 pass attempts and 15th overall in rushing yards per game. Basically, this offense stinks and will be lucky to score over 6 points against our 1st team defense. Landry could play a huge role in all of this, as any 2 TE formations (which Jacksonville ran the most of last year) will certainly prompt Williams’ to send LaRon in the box, where he plays aggressive against the run. Last year, Jacksonville ran the ball most efficiently up the middle and to the left (4.7 and 4.8 yards per carry respectively.) I trust Montgomery, Golston and Griffin will put a stop to anything up the middle, but Andre Carter on the right side of our defense is a different story. It will be interesting to watch how he handles the dominant run blocking left side of the Jags offensive line (although in our defense, everyone just swarms to the ball anyway.) This game will be the best gauge yet to test out how ready our run D is for the regular season. Of note: Jacksonville improved the right side of their O-line by replacing RT Maurice Williams with free agent Tony Pashos from the Ravens.
Jacksonville Defense vs Redskins Offense
Last year Jacksonville ranked 10th in the NFL in rushing the passer with 7 or more guys…granted, they still struggled to get any sacks, but I’d like to see Portis back there on blitz pickup because, as the offensive breakdown charts have shown, Ladell is highly….questionable, to say the least, at blitz pickup and the last thing we need is Jason Campbell getting hurt again (if he starts that is…now when Brunell gets in the game, I think Betts should be in there too, to let them build some chemistry together. Yeah, that’s it.) Running game wise, I’d be shocked if we averaged anything over 3.0 yards per carry. Our main concern has to be to get Portis and Betts out of this game healthy….which may mean Blaylock will be shouldering a bigger load than normal in the 1st half.
I’d like to see Portis get in the game for a drive or two. You cant go into the season completely COLD.
I would like to see Portis in the game too but what about LT. He hasn’t had a carried the ball all preseason and he’s got a new coach in Norv Turner. Portis getting carries in the preseason is overrated. Another injury to Portis could hurt the Skins. Having a healthy Portis and Betts for the season is more important than getting them carries.