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Leftwich (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter JohnnyCat
- Start date
Mr. Brownstone
Footballguy
He had problems stepping into his throws.
Mr. Brownstone
Footballguy
He dropped a couple of balls + Leftwich was way off = big fat 0.
On The Rocks
Footballguy
fixed
grouse
Footballguy
Totally a valid point. It was obvious from the opening snap that Leftwich was off his game. Del Rio is largely responsible for not making the decision to go with Garrard either before or during the game. To Del Rio's credit, he has openly shouldered much of this blame, and rightly so.
glumpy
breeze
Wasn't he listed as "Questionable" before the game, because of that ankle? I was surprised to see that he played....
grouse
Footballguy
He was questionable. But Lefty's a gamer and would play on one leg. The coach has to think for the player sometimes, and in this case, Del Rio let Byron's desire get in the way of what truly was best for the team. We can debate whether Del Rio should've given Leftwich the entire day off or not, but where Del Rio really erred was not making a QB change at halftime. The Texans were brimming with confidence after a 1st half in which they no doubt went into the locker room thinking 'we've got these guys'. Del Rio should've sent Garrard out there in the 2nd half, if nothing else, to disrupt the Texans confidence and momentum and to give a young, inexperienced team something new to think about. That was a mistake.
JohnnyCat
Footballguy
So, it would be safe to say his ankle was the reason he had such a bad day? Or was it just a bad day for the Jaguars, the ankle just being one contributing factor?
Is there any other news today? My interest lies in the severity of his injury and his recovery. (looking to start him in week 9 since McNabb is on bye)
Is there any other news today? My interest lies in the severity of his injury and his recovery. (looking to start him in week 9 since McNabb is on bye)
Leftwich was the sole reason the Jaguars lost. He looked absolutely terrible - one hopping balls, severely overthrowing wideouts, etal. The Jaguars should simply have started Garrard, and likely would have won the game.
grouse
Footballguy
Leftwich's ankly was a contributing factor. The defense did nothing to help themselves either, and Taylor's ill-timed fumble sealed their fate. It was just a runaway train wreck from the opening gun.My non-informed take on Lefty's ankle at this point is that it's not of the 'serious' variety, but in some ways that could be a bigger curse. Leftwich is the kind of QB that really needs to fully plant when he throws. A tentative Leftwich is less effective than most other QBs because of his elongated, very deliberate throwing motion. To contrast what I'm talking about, if Favre's ankle were sore, he'd be more effective because his mechanics allow for him to throw off his back foot, side-arm, whatever it takes. Bottom line is that unless Leftwich can get himself back to 100%, he's going to cause his coach and his team some serious anxiety. It's a massive fantasy buzzkill too in lieu of the Jaguars creampuff schedule. One has to hope that Del Rio wises up and either plays a healthy Leftwich, or plays a healthy Garrard, because a healthy Garrard is going to likely be far more effective than a 70% healthy Leftwich.
Mr. Brownstone
Footballguy
Was Leftwich to blame for Taylor fumbling near the red zone? Was he also to blame for Wilford fumbling deep in their own territory? Was he also to blame for the Texans finding room to run. Was he to blame for David Carr to Andre Johnson all day long as well? Was he...?Sure, he was way off and probably should have sat this one out, and was one of the reasons the Jags were beaten. But he he doesn't shoulder all the blame. To say he was the sole reason that they lost is just plain wrong.
JohnnyCat
Footballguy
shadow2k
Footballguy
Holy...I just caught a few plays of Leftwich on ESPN. You know, the really bad throws. It totally looked like he couldn't put his full weight on his lead foot, and that directly affected his passes.
Obviously I didn't watch the game, so I don't know if that's the entire story. But if I was the HC, and I saw him throwing the way I just did, he gets benched immediately. I'm really surprised they let him play. That was painful to watch.
Obviously I didn't watch the game, so I don't know if that's the entire story. But if I was the HC, and I saw him throwing the way I just did, he gets benched immediately. I'm really surprised they let him play. That was painful to watch.
Whether or not Leftwich should have played is somewhat of a moot point to me because it seemed as if Del Rio was using this game to make a larger statement - that Byron is the quarterback and David Garrard is the backup. If they come out to start the second half and he puts Garrard in at QB the already fickle and unimpressed media would begin to circle Byron like a rotting carcass. Sometimes there are moments in a season where driving a point home is more important than a win, and this may have been one of them; regardless of what you, I, or anyone else thinks, Byron Leftwich is the future of this franchise and will not be put in question. The importance of that message only grows when you look at the roster and realize how young and talented Jacksonville is all over the field. Del Rio's foremost responsibility - one that he and Shack Harris have done incredibly well in living up to - is in preserving the ascension of the team. Breaking stability at a relatively controversial position would only serve to reinforce the notion that Byron is somehow inadequate on the field - an assertion management obviously feels is wrong and also one that does nothing more than place [more] undue scrutiny on Leftwich's shoulders. At the end of the day what was conveyed by Del Rio speaks loudly enough on its own: Byron Leftwich is the quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He will be despite the hyper-critical yawnings of his detractors, and he will be for the foreseeable future. The growth and development of the offense, and even team itself now, is directly related to his successes and failures. Because of that, Del Rio decided to give him one more series coming out of the half to show that he could get it done. He promptly took the team down the field and scored, although the credit for that should go to Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew for finding daylight and the offensive line for making it. From then on his play improved enough to win the game and he was left in. He immediately had the offense in position to score again in the 3rd quarter before the Fred Taylor fumble, and any semblance of a drive after that was nullified by various mistakes that can be accredited to several different players.
So did he cost Jacksonville the game? No, because saying that Byron single-handedly lost the game is a slight to both he and the Texans. There is no doubt that he played poorly yesterday, but it was a combination of defensive injuries and a talented Texans offense that ultimately did in the Jaguars. The overwhelming strength of the Jacksonville defense was always its run defense and ability to create pressure up the middle, and through injury (Peterson, Hayward, Stroud, Spicer, Wiley, Meirer [some having only lingering problems]) has been reduced to what is now barely an asset. The Texans were able to attack that and exploit both the young linebackers on the field (Ingram and Iwuh) by using play-action and moving the pocket, which in turn preyed on the over-aggressive secondary. Normally those things are all kept from happening by having a good interior pass-rush and with Hayward rushing off the edge, along with simply having Mike Peterson on the field. Three of the five or six best players on that defense are gone though, and the frailties of the defense as a whole were exposed because of that. That isn't mentioning the hits taken on offense, with both Matt and Greg Jones rendered ineffective (Greg for the season, Matt for time being) The team is reeling now and honestly, expectations must be tempered. Going forward this is not a Super Bowl contender, nor is it a solid lock as a playoff team. As unfortunate as it is this season has been taken hostage by injury and it seems as though it will be yet another year before Jacksonville joins the NFL's elite teams.
Something that I also mentioned in passing is Houston. They definitively earned this win and by shifting the blame onto the shoulders of one player or one aspect of the Jaguars is discrediting what they did on the field. The Texans are a franchise that has always been on the cusp of winning and has talented pieces in place on offense, and maybe we're beginning to see the fruit of their labor. Gary Kubiak and the rest of their coaches also had a great gameplan heading into the game which targeted and singled out every single ***** in the Jacksonville armor, and there is nothing but credit to give that team. Houston was the better team for the entirety of the game and deserved to win.
So did he cost Jacksonville the game? No, because saying that Byron single-handedly lost the game is a slight to both he and the Texans. There is no doubt that he played poorly yesterday, but it was a combination of defensive injuries and a talented Texans offense that ultimately did in the Jaguars. The overwhelming strength of the Jacksonville defense was always its run defense and ability to create pressure up the middle, and through injury (Peterson, Hayward, Stroud, Spicer, Wiley, Meirer [some having only lingering problems]) has been reduced to what is now barely an asset. The Texans were able to attack that and exploit both the young linebackers on the field (Ingram and Iwuh) by using play-action and moving the pocket, which in turn preyed on the over-aggressive secondary. Normally those things are all kept from happening by having a good interior pass-rush and with Hayward rushing off the edge, along with simply having Mike Peterson on the field. Three of the five or six best players on that defense are gone though, and the frailties of the defense as a whole were exposed because of that. That isn't mentioning the hits taken on offense, with both Matt and Greg Jones rendered ineffective (Greg for the season, Matt for time being) The team is reeling now and honestly, expectations must be tempered. Going forward this is not a Super Bowl contender, nor is it a solid lock as a playoff team. As unfortunate as it is this season has been taken hostage by injury and it seems as though it will be yet another year before Jacksonville joins the NFL's elite teams.
Something that I also mentioned in passing is Houston. They definitively earned this win and by shifting the blame onto the shoulders of one player or one aspect of the Jaguars is discrediting what they did on the field. The Texans are a franchise that has always been on the cusp of winning and has talented pieces in place on offense, and maybe we're beginning to see the fruit of their labor. Gary Kubiak and the rest of their coaches also had a great gameplan heading into the game which targeted and singled out every single ***** in the Jacksonville armor, and there is nothing but credit to give that team. Houston was the better team for the entirety of the game and deserved to win.
Phlash
Footballguy
Dazz 
Anyways, I do have a few things to say about this post. A coach's best interest should NEVER be in the players, it should always be the W. If Garrard was going to give them a better chance to win, I do believe he should have played Garrard. A head coaches responsibility is a few things - developing weekly gameplans, motivating the team, and putting his best players on the field. Now I did not watch the game, but from the sound of things Leftwich did not give them the best chance to win on Sunday - Garrard is healthy and has proven his ability to make enough plays for his team to win. Even though the game was a blowout (and it was) when your defense is not doing good the offense must pick up the slack and try to keep score with the opposing offense. The Texans do NOT have a good defense by any stretch, and Garrard (or a healthy Leftwich) would have torn it up and put up several TDs. When the other team knows you're going to run because your QB is hurt, your running game is doing great if the leading rusher in the game (Fred Taylor) is having over 5 ypc. When the running game is doing good, the QB should at least be picking up the slack and completing passes, and 50% completions with 4.3 ypa are not going to cut it.Garrard should've been the QB on that day, Del Rio made a huge mistake by playing to the media and showing who his QB is instead of playing to win that game.
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