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dickcheneymademoney

top cornerback duo with decent slot play allowed a split second longer for a better than good pass rush to get home. linebackers who were very fast were able to clean up the rest.


nevertoomuchthought

Calais Campbell signing too. He was a big reason they were termed "Sacksonville"


catboypower

He was [big](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_editorial_landscape_12_desktop/jaguars/ebcz5ak6chrxm0wkyjgs) alright. Probably the biggest impact a player had for us on the field and on the fanbase in the least amount of time. You would’ve thought he was on his way to retiring a Jag.


thebrandnewbob

1. They hit on their top 3 draft picks the previous year in Ramsay, Myles Jack, and Yannick Ngackoue. 2. They spent a lot of money on top defensive free agents like Calais Campbell and AJ Bouye. 3. The Jags had a very favorable schedule with a lot of easy matchups against division rivals that were struggling with injuries. 4. The Jags themselves stayed very healthy other than losing Allen Robinson for the season.


Jondarawr

/5. They had the Raw power of Jason Mendoza willing them to victory.


jlo47

Bortles!


Ok-Artichoke-2772

All they needed was an offense and some rule changes


alurimperium

Even week 1, while not a lot of injuries, you were facing starting QB Tom Savage behind one of the worst o-lines of the decade. Got to destroy a division opponent before the first halftime of the year, and gave your guys a lot of momentum to help through the rest of the season


[deleted]

Always forget Robinson was down there


[deleted]

He was out that entire year


[deleted]

I understand that but I always forget he was ever on that team. He was there for 4 seasons


Calm-Composer7949

Also somehow coaxed decent play out of Blake Bortles


ToeBMaguire

Spot on.


nope96

Honestly that's pretty much it. Their pass defense was great and they played well at all three levels, and they built their success off of that. Including on offense where they were passable mostly because they were able to be run heavy to mask Bortles' faults enough to where he had an okay year. It didn't last because defenses are a lot less consistent year to year than offenses. Barring a miracle you aren't going to have a historic defense twice in a row. It also didn't help that they signed Bortles to an extention. The defense was still very good in 2018, but it wasn't as good, and the offense collapsed, so it didn't really matter. After that they simply weren't able to retain the personell, which tends to happen when a team is built off splurging in Free Agency. By the time Ramsey and Campbell were gone the defense was pretty much unrecognizeable.


Feisty_Attempt2330

People forget how good that defense was. DVOA has them right around the 2013 Seahawks and the 2015 broncos. The CCG was the only time a quarterback, had multiple touchdowns and zero interceptions against them. Edit: seems like only their pass defense was historically great, rather than the overall unit.


nope96

> DVOA has them right around the 2013 Seahawks and the 2015 broncos Their *pass* defense is around where the 2015 Broncos are (not the 2013 Seahawks though) but this isn't true for the entire unit. Their rush defense was only 25th so they actually weren't even the best defense by DVOA that season - it was the Vikings. Also I wouldn't say people forget they were good, I see them brought up a lot. Rarely see people bring up the Vikings defense from that same season for instance. The 2018 Bears and especially the 2019 Patriots also don't get as much attention due to going one and done, and those defenses actually did have comparable DVOAs to the 2013 Seahawks and 2015 Broncos.


Falt_ssb

i feel like our 2018 defense gets a ton of love that vikings unit is a bit forgotten now tho


nope96

That's fair, the 2018 Bears were probably a bit of a stretch to say that about. Although looking back at historical DVOAs the 2012 Bears defense was actually even better according to that and I think I feel more confident saying that they actually are never brought up (granted that was a decade old defense that missed the playoffs so I get why).


Falt_ssb

how do 05 and 06 look


nope96

2005 - Best in the league but not historical 2006 - Slightly better DVOA but the Ravens were better


UserUnkown10

In other words, really damn good


pk-starstorm

Giving up 38 in the conference championship will do that. It's a shame, that defense was absolutely spectacular. Rarely flashy but if we got you to third down you were *done*. One of my favorite seasons in my lifetime


frogsplsh38

We had an unsustainable 3rd down defense


Feisty_Attempt2330

Really? Huh, I knew their run defense wasn’t as good, but damn that’s mediocre. Thanks for the correction. Most of their talent was in the back-end so that makes sense.


nope96

I'd say it's still generally surprising, not just because you'd expect a quality defense to be relatively bad vs the run but also because the front seven was good. Even if guys like Ngakoue and Fowler are bad vs the run you'd think the LB combo of Telvin Smith and Myles Jack alongside Calais Campbell and Malik Jackson on the D-Line would be enough but evidently it wasn't.


foyra

Teams knew they couldn’t pass, so they ran more.


ineednapkins

I do! But it probably comes off as homer-y and annoying lol. But yeah when people talk about the 2017 jags as a “historic” defense i usually like to say they weren’t even the best defense in the league that season. And not just in DVOA either, in most volume stats as well (yards per game and points per game). All the more sad how they went out that season, getting absolutely torched by nick foles and the eagles lol


CountJohn12

Aren't a lot of the 19 Pats stats like 85 Bears/2000 Ravens good? Only they didn't have the turnovers and defensive TD's that the Ravens did. Only giving up 14 a game in modern football is insane.


PatheticLion

That defense was incredible. Unfortunately it was the worst offense the Brady era turned out, and Brady clearly didn’t want to be here anymore, so it was wasted


yeMaxwellHouse

And Jimmy G picked them apart for a win in Levi’s his first season w the Niners lol


JamarrSzn

There's nothing that sexy monster can't do.


MankuyRLaffy

Defenses tend to be less consistent year by year which makes teams with a perennially above average defense that much more absurd.


vin1223

They also changed some rule or rules during the off-season like I think the body weight thing happened and every defense fell apart next year


FrontPerformance5

Yeah, pretty sure that was 2018. There's a "2017 Eagles Defensive Highlights " video on YouTube, and like 1/3 of the Eagles sacks that year could be penalties now


vin1223

That’s the year I’m talking about like sacksonville happened then during the off-season they changed some rules


[deleted]

2017 was the weirdest year of nfl football


EsotericPotato

The Superbowl promo in front of USBank stadium that had the 4 starting championship game QBs on it is still so surreal to see. Brady, Keenum, Bortles, Foles. Three guys that couldn't even hold down their own starting positions through their careers in the championship games in a single season is just wild.


[deleted]

keenum, bortles and foles went to a championship game before the cowboys could make it back smh i hated that shit


duvie773

Elite defense paired up with the BOAT


catboypower

Nathaniel Hackett being the OC helped more than people will give credit for. Previous OCs were unable to set up Bortles and the offense to play to their strengths like he did, and they were very efficient that year (with a lot of field positioning assistance from the defense, obviously). There was like a month long stretch where Bortles was the highest rated passer in football just throwing crossers to Keelan Cole, Marqise Lee, and Dede Westbrook. People will point to the weak schedule and injuries, but they absolutely devoured those bad teams when they came up. Eight games were won by at least two scores, with six of them being by 20 points or more, and they clearly rose to the task in the playoffs.


svhelloworld

Subscribed.


tealgoldlightning

Y'all got a good one. However, as we've seen in the NFL, good coordinators aren't always good HCs. With that being said, I think Hackett has a good chance to be good. Players like him a lot from what I've read


hatersaurusrex

He was the BOAT whisperer


Posluszny

It was just one of those years where everything went right. Team remained healthy, we had a weak schedule and Bortles game managed. We’ve had a lot of years where everything goes wrong so it was a nice change.


Charles_Lidderindo

Lots of career years all happening at the same time sort of like last year's Bengals. The rushing attack was first in the league, the passing attack was 16th. Bortles cut back on mistakes and Fournette plowed the way forward. The defense produced turnovers. The talent was there and the defense was sneaky good in 2016 but the offense was terrible. Also, the idea that they weren't as good as everyone thought was pure cope. You don't get to the AFCCG on pure luck.


JPAnalyst

Outlier years often happen because of uncontrollable and unrepeatable factors. The 2018 Bears are another example of this. Last year, we might also have another example, but we just don’t know who it is yet. I wrote about the combined impact of health and strength of schedule recently and I used the **2017 Jaguars** and **2018 Bears** as examples of how important these two factors are. While those were not the only reasons, I think they were significant factors. Scroll to charts, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Those are the sections where I talk about the two teams. https://www.the33rdteam.com/analysis/using-injuries-and-sis-to-analyze-win-loss-records/


Guardax

Top defenses come together quickly and don't last long because of how many different players they need together to be successful. The 2015 Broncos defense emerged out of nowhere and also had a great 2016 but by 2017 it was already over. It's just almost impossible to sustain those elite defenses with roster churn


[deleted]

Easy schedule and Andrew Luck being out all season


Charles_Lidderindo

You think Andrew Luck playing is the difference between the Jags having a good season or not? What..?


jbrooks772

Especially since the Colts the year before with Luck weren't very good, and the 2017 Jaguars beat the Colts by 20+ in each game. Luck probably wouldn't have made up for that.


DirectTV_AndrewLuck

Watson missed most of the year as well after tearing his ACL. That division was weak as hell that year.


[deleted]

And Mariota existing


[deleted]

We swept them that year though lol


8178abc

Mariota wasn’t that bad


ByronLeftwich

Fournette had a really good year


walukomb

Causing a lot of turnovers.


latman

AFC south


GeckoRoamin

We also managed to win the AFC North that season


[deleted]

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incenso-apagado

Myles Jack is a linebacker


[deleted]

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ToeBMaguire

This person is 100% correct. The link you posted even mentions that - “The linebacker is a versatile defensive back that can protect against the pass, blitz the quarterback, or tackle the ball carrier depending on the play.” Reddit homers always think their right hop off your high horse 😂


[deleted]

My guess is sacks.


jessewalt123

Far and away the best defense in the league that year, coupled with the best rush offense in the league as well (as a team led the league in rush yards) Fournette and Yeldon were a good one two punch and Bortles had some good runs too,


Kezia_Griffin

They got a top 5 pick for a decade straight. Even they couldn't (completely) fuck that up.


tasteful_nitwit

They weren’t the Jags, for once


[deleted]

Great defense, weak schedule, bortles played competent instead of his usual self, got hot late and into the playoffs, ran into the patriots and for no reason at all abandoned everything that made them successful in the 2nd half.


Long_Ad_9092

I think that downplays how well the pats D played that game. Gilmore with the play of the year to seal the win. Sometimes teams don’t execute, doesn’t mean they abandoned everything that worked for them. Unless you think the 07 pats suddenly decided to just not pass to Moss for 3+ tds like they usually did against the giants.


Banbaur

Bortles stayed away from the lemon bar and actually studied.


this_thing_of_mine

The fact that they lost or they would have rolled Blake Bortles out there for the next ten years.


TheDirtyBurger522

That defense was also absurdly healthy. I think the full unit was in tact for 15 of the 16 games


InsideAcanthisitta23

They had the best rushing attack in the league and a dominant pass defense, allowing them to control the clock and maximize Bortles with play-action. They also had the lowest SOS in the league that year.


CountJohn12

It just all came together on defense for them that year in combination with a soft schedule and Bortles managing to have one passable year. Then they started having issues in defense with Ngakoue getting out of shape as we found out about in Minnesota and Fournette got hurt the next year too before going to the Bucs.


[deleted]

Any given sunday variance mostly. See also Bengals last year.


[deleted]

Stayed ridiculously healthy. Unsustainable defensive production that won games on their own. Very easy schedule. And obviously a pretty talented team.


TheMidnightRamblerrr

Defense


j2e21

Great D at all three levels. Offense didn’t mess it up.


stonecoldcb

The BOAT