Chapter 403 As expected

This season, the overall rise of the Jacksonville Jaguars is closely related to Caldwell. It is no exaggeration to say that the team manager single-handedly dominated this feast.

Although Cardwell looks arrogant and condescending, in fact, all the praise and glory are earned by himself.

Cardwell would say that the core of everything lies in head coach Doug Marjorie.

Marou himself started out as an offensive lineman. Although his career as a player was mediocre and not worth mentioning at all, he only spent two seasons in the NFL, then went to the British league to play for two seasons and then retired early; but after switching to coaching, he showed his talent.

All along, whether as an offensive line coach or a head coach, Marro has never been able to build a team 100% according to his own ideas; but after coming to the Jacksonville Jaguars from the Buffalo Bills, under the good old coach Bradley, he got the space to show his talents.

His interpretation of tactics, the defensive layout deduced based on the experience of the offensive front line, and the targeted tactical coordination of passing and running offense after switching perspectives have indeed brought a new look to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Cardwell saw Marro’s ability, and after firing Bradley, he promoted Marro and strengthened the team in the free market according to Marro’s requirements.

Among them, Campbell, Jackson and Darius, the main players on the defensive line, are all players who joined the team during the offseason this year. Caldwell’s careful calculation and accurate layout undoubtedly played a key role in perfectly creating a front line that suits the team according to Marco’s needs.

And, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Behind an excellent defensive front, there is also an excellent linebacker.

Myles-Jack, Telvin-Smith, Paul-Posluszny.

Three unknown players have performed at the top of the pyramid this season.

The two outside linebackers, Jack had 90 tackles and Telvin had 102 tackles; middle linebacker Boslusny did not have that many tackles due to his position, but he still contributed 61 tackles.

As the link between the front line and the second line, they complete the tasks in passing and running the ball. They have the intensity and teamwork required, and are undoubtedly the core of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ top defense.

More importantly, this is still not all.

As mentioned earlier, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ ground defense ranks second in the league, and their passing defense ranks first in the league, which is absolutely terrifying.

At cornerback, the combination of two young players, Ramsey and AJ-Bouye, is considered by many professional commentators to be the best cornerback pairing this season.

At safeties, Barry Church and Tashun Gipson are two relatively unknown veterans who are equally impressive.

Among these four players, only Gipson has been selected to the Pro Bowl once, and the others lack a resume to prove themselves. Ramsey has just entered the league, Boye and Church were undrafted rookies in 2013 and 2010, respectively; but this season they have shown top-notch cooperation, whether it is positional defense or tactical coordination, all of them have performed well.

Perhaps, the spectators who were just joining in the fun did not see any shining names, but they are among the top five in the league in terms of limiting the opponent’s passing yards, limiting the opponent’s passing touchdowns, limiting the quarterback passing rating, the number of interceptions, creating ball possession changes, etc. Their average performance and comprehensive strength are all leading in the whole line, which is definitely a dominant force.

Imagine that throughout the season, they only allowed their opponents to get 143 first-down passes and 17 passing touchdowns. These two data not only led the league, but also had a clear advantage over the second and third ranked teams.

Among them, Ramsey showed the posture of a powerful cornerback at the next superstar level. Even though he talked loudly, no player could fight back.

The cornerback duo of Ramsey and Boye combined for 21 interceptions, second only to the Baltimore Ravens’ 22 interceptions. These are the only two teams in the league with more than 20 interceptions in a season. They are undoubtedly a nightmare for quarterbacks and wide receivers. No wonder Ramsey dared to launch a group attack on the quarterback.

Sacks, interceptions, and stops.

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense has almost no weaknesses. In a single-elimination playoff arena, teams that rely on star power often face ups and downs, testing the competitive state of their stars, and there are too many variables in the risk of losing or winning.

Teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars that rely on team strength are more stable and solid. They can minimize the risk of ups and downs, and pre-game preparations are more complete and simple.

In football games, people always say that winning depends on offense and winning championships depends on defense. This is because as the game progresses into the second half, facing fluctuations in condition, physical fitness, and experience, the stability displayed by the iron-blooded defense becomes more reliable.

The same thing goes for football.

Even the Minnesota Vikings defense has a gap with the Jacksonville Jaguars, as the two teams have different models.

What’s more, they have the home advantage.

No wonder, not only within the league, but the entire public opinion overwhelmingly believes that the Jacksonville Jaguars can win and have a high probability of winning the Super Bowl championship.

Just before the game, the Minnesota Vikings, who were widely favored, were unexpectedly eliminated. There have been constant doubts about the Jacksonville Jaguars possibly losing their composure due to their lack of experience, and there are concerns that the current favorites may repeat the same mistake.

On the back foot, the Jacksonville Jaguars showed their determination and defensive stability, as the alarm bells sounded by the Minnesota Vikings made them focus and give their best performance from the opening stage.

“The first quarter is over.”

“The score remains at ‘0:0’, neither team has been able to score.”

“From the score, the two sides are evenly matched, but the actual situation is not the case. The game is more complicated than it seems, and the difficulty of the game is higher than expected.”

Located in the Evergreen Bank Center in the southeast port of Jacksonville, Nantz and Romo were still partners. They talked in the short break after the first quarter and gave a brief summary of the game.

Everything was as expected.

Dull and uninteresting.

The first quarter was full of fouls and punts, with the defense of both teams taking over the game and becoming the protagonists. This confrontation was obviously not exciting enough.

At this moment, social networks have been flooded with messages.

A group of netizens complained that this game should not be scheduled as a night game. At least in the first NFC Finals, the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense was at full strength and it was somewhat worth watching; but the current AFC Finals was really boring.

However, more netizens said with the attitude of experienced people that no matter what sport, football, basketball, tennis, rugby, etc., it is almost all the same. The exciting games are often in the group stage or the first half of the knockout stage. The more you go on, the more boring it becomes. The championship battle is often a drowsy climax. Anyway, it is not the first time.

“Not surprisingly.”

“There’s no need to make a fuss.”

“Both teams must have used up too much energy, especially the Kansas City Chiefs, who have come back from two consecutive setbacks to advance. They must be running out of energy now.”

(End of this chapter)