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I don’t usually get caught up in too much hype. Being a reporter sometimes exposes the dark side of a lot of the events and people you cover, and sometimes allows me to judge a team or player or event on it’s merits rather than what every body says about it. But maybe I bought into the Jaguars hype a little early, and then again, maybe it was just a bump in the road. Young teams will have those and probably more often than anybody would like. The Jaguars loss to Houston this week was a “trap” game. A game they should win, a game that has every reward you can possible think of save a playoff berth riding on it, but it just doesn’t happen. Sometimes it’s inexplicable, but in this case, the evidence is right in front of our eyes.
Maybe the Jaguars bought into some of their own hype. Head Coach Jack Del Rio has instituted what he calls the “24-hour” rule allowing players one day to celebrate or mope, depending on the outcome of Sunday’s game. After that, it’s on to the next opponent. While the team has done a good job with that rule when it comes to losing, they’re not doing as well after wins. As soon as people start touting them as “for real” they fall off the table.
Maybe it’s just that they’re a young team. What does that have to do with it, you might ask? Young players sometimes get away from the things that made them successful, especially early in their careers. They’ve always had success, so not having success isn’t in their minds. They’re just thinking about winning, and not about how they became winners. They’re natural talent got them to the top of the mountain, and there’s no reason to expect it won’t keep them there. But as players mature, they see it’s the talent and the technique and hard work that make them winners. You can’t just show up and expect the other team to lie down.
The Jaguars didn’t have their cool against Houston, getting frustrated with on-field happenings and showing it. They even said Houston played dirty. Maybe so, but the Jaguars are going to have to deal with that if they’re getting a bunch of hype and are anointed as the next big thing in the NFL. Other teams aren’t going to like that and they’re going to let the Jaguars know about it.
Maybe it’s the fact that they just don’t run the ball. Who knows if they can or can’t run the ball? They only attempted 11 runs, and Fred Taylor left in the first half with a hip pointer. Twelve rushes don’t beat anybody, almost anywhere in football.
So while I recently wrote “the Jaguars are for real” they might still be for real. I just wish they’d let us know when the real Jaguars are going to show up.
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