All 32 NFL teams head into training camp with playoff and Super Bowl aspirations. Only a select few will actually turn such aspirations into reality. The Jags aren't one of them. Here's 3 Reasons Why The Jacksonville Jaguars Won't Make The Playoffs Next Season.
3. No Dante Fowler Jr.
The Jags made impressively-sized waves in free agency and the NFL Draft to improve a defense that finished 27th against the run in 2014 and tied for last in the NFL in interceptions (6). However, the key to the defense's transformation on both fronts was to be the chaos created by first-round draft pick Dante Fowler Jr. Fowler is lost for the season with a left ACL tear, taking away the team's prime pass-rushing threat and forcing other less versatile members of the front seven to both protect against the run on the edges and try to bring the heat from the outside.
2. AFC South
The Indianapolis Colts are the class of the division once again, reloaded with veteran talent and sporting one of the game's truly elite quarterbacks in Andrew Luck. The Houston Texans may have questions on offense, but they have arguably the most complete and vicious defense in the AFC. If both of those teams play to form, that leaves one Wild Card spot for which the Jags would need to outdistance three other divisions' also-rans to secure. That's a steep hill to climb for a team in flux.
1. The Blake Bortles Question
There's no dancing around it -- Blake Bortles was awful for the lion's share of his 2014 rookie season. The good news is that there's nowhere to go but up. The bad news is that the learning curve remains steep and his soon-to-be top target (TE Julius Thomas) will miss the rest of training camp and the preseason with a finger injury -- taking away valuable opportunities for Thomas and Bortles to mesh prior to the regular season.
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