Bucs, Jags flip expectations in ‘Bizarro’ start to season
The NFL standings mirror the plot of a Seinfeld episode these days.
The homely Jacksonville Jaguars are tied for first place in the AFC South. The sexy Tampa Bay Bucs are last in the NFC South. Bizarro World indeed.
The NFL is often about parity that bleeds into parody. Unlike college football, cluttered with cupcakes, teams are fairly evenly matched. The winless Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers are the only cupcakes in the league.
But it’s hard to get a flavor of the competitive strength of the Jaguars and the Bucs moving forward. Lots of iffy variables. The Jags are run-dominant and are toast if rookie Leonard Fournette gets hurt. The Bucs are pass-dominant and toast if Jameis Winston’s gimpy throwing shoulder doesn’t heal properly.
At 3-3, the Jags aren’t exactly the new Monsters of the Southern Midway over in Jacksonville. They did botch a great chance to be all alone in first place by losing to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, a messy affair in which the special teams unit gave up two touchdowns.
Why yes, mediocrity is an acceptable goal for a team that has been so bad for so long. The Jags have not advanced to the playoffs since 2007. They have not had a winning record in any season since then, and have won no more than five games a sea-
son since 2011.
So by all means scream,“Yay Team,” at the 3-3 record, with the stumbling, Andrew Luck-less Indianapolis Colts next up, on the road on Sunday. The Jags can easily emerge as champs in the worst division in the NFL.
“It’s huge,” said Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, alluding to the matchup against the Colts.
Unfortunately, over in Tampa, the Bucs (2-3) haven’t been living large despite all the preseason hype that included plenty of face time in the HBO series “Hard Knocks.”
They have been woefully inconsistent on both sides of the ball. The defense has been throttled twice on the road, giving up 34 points at Minnesota and 38 in a loss to Arizona last week.
The offense has been spotty as well, scoring only 14 in a home loss to New England. The disconcerting pain now shifts to Winston and an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder, an injury that occurred early in the game against the Cardinals last Sunday.
Winston is expected to play against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but the issue of your most valuable player — and a quarterback — dealing with a shoulder problem should make for a lot of restless Sundays moving forward.
For right now, it’s Winston in the lineup, fingers crossed, hoping the shoulder doesn’t become a factor this Sunday, or any other.
The Bucs need Winston’s arm to be strong to be a viable playoff team. The Jags simply need Bortles to master the art of handing off to Fournette.
Their vision for a possible playoff run is simple. Give Fournette at least 20 touches a game and lean on a solid defense. Fournette — expected to play this week despite a gimpy ankle — is second in the NFL in rushing yards (596), with 73 touches in the last three games.
Bortles, he of the spotty mechanics for the last few seasons, is best as a nonfactor in the offense.
And since NFL defensive coordinators have a better feel for the game than newspaper columnists, they are onto this gig and are making adjustments. Expect the line of scrimmage to remain very crowded, with goal-line defenses far away from the red zone.
“We’re going to have to figure out and adjust to it on the fly,” Bortles said. “I wouldn’t be surprised at this point to see anything.”
That would include the Jags making the playoffs and the Bucs staying home to watch.
Bizarro World indeed.