The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bucs, Jags want to end long drought
Two Florida teams seek first playoff berth since 2007.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Jacksonville Jaguars are closing in on a decade of disappointment.
To many, it probably feels even longer.
The cross-state teams last made the playoffs in 2007, a drought that spans three owners, six general managers, nine head coaches and 15 starting quarterbacks.
The similarities in their struggles are staggering yet not all that surprising: They missed repeatedly in the early rounds of the NFL draft and stumbled almost annually in free agency. They also failed miserably to find coaching stability, franchise quarterbacks and all-important pass rushers.
The results are evident. The Bucs are 54-90 over the past nine years, including a 10-win season in 2010 and two ninewin campaigns. That’s a decent record when compared to Jacksonville, which is 42-102 during that span and has double-digit losses in each of the past six years.
“I feel like every organization has to go through turmoil,” retired Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew said.
Now, though, as the Jaguars prepare to host the Buccaneers in a preseason game tonight, there’s belief in both cities that the postseason dry spell could be ending soon.
Tampa Bay thinks Jameis Winston is a budding franchise quarterback and considers speedy DeSean Jackson and Pro Bowler Mike Evans among the top receiver tandems in the league. Gerald McCoy, Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander anchor a defense that was one of the NFL’s best down the stretch in 2016, and second-year pro Noah Spence seems poised to give the team its first double-digit sack guy since Simeon Rice in 2005.
“When was the last time we went to the playoffs, 2007?” Evans said. “All right, so 10 years. So hopefully we can break that. So, yeah, we have a lot to prove. We’re good on paper, but we’ve got to do it.
“I see why there’s a lot of excitement. We have a really good team and a really good roster. So hopefully we all stay healthy and put in the work, and we can reach our goal, which is the playoffs.”
The Jaguars expect to have one of the best defenses in the league thanks to the emergence of cornerback Jalen Ramsey and the addition of defensive end Calais Campbell, cornerback A.J. Bouye and safety Barry Church. If pass rushers Yannick Ngakoue and Dante Fowler Jr. make strides, it should be Jacksonville’s best defensive unit in a decade.
New coach Doug Marrone is counting on it. He also plans to rely on a ground game featuring rookie Leonard Fournette. The idea is that better defense and a more stout ground game will take pressure off turnover-prone quarterback Blake Bortles.
“We have a chance to do some really good things,” said veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis, the last link to Jacksonville’s 2007 playoff team.
“It’s hard for me to stand up here and make predictions — I really don’t like doing that — but I think coming that first game, we’re going to have our best product within the last decade on that field.
“I would like to be part of the team that gets us to where we should be. We haven’t won here in a long time.”