I was watching at a bar... and I know nothing about playing defensive end other than just guessing at what kinds of things are and aren't effective. Like, I can see when somebody has an array of moves, or uses his speed to get around tackles, etc.

But, yeah. What do you think Frank Clark needs to do? Not challenging your assertion, just wondering where the correction is going to have to come from. Is it an effort thing?

No, Wylie sucked teh balls.

With the heat you can see where they may deserve a pass in that they were rotating guys so much.

Pass rushers need to get in a groove IMO as the game wears on.

No, I don't think motor will ever be a problem.

And I have to concede that coming from the 3-4 w/ wide sets and such, my eye for pass-rushers badly needs to be re-calibrated.

But to me it's a first step quickness issue. His ability immediately blow out of the box and convert speed to power seems lacking. He seems to have good lean but nothing I would call elite so he can't just bend the edge or anything; he has to use that as a setup to get guys going outside and then explode under them.

But it's like trying to say Neil Smith couldn't be any good because he wasn't as fast as Derrick Thomas off the line. Well no he wasn't, but there are more ways to skin a cat. Clark can be great without having exceptional first-step quickness. He can win with his hands and counter-moves as a 4-3 DE. I just haven't watched guys do that routinely for so long that I have to re-teach myself. I can't just shit on Clark without watching him more and getting a better feel for what he does and doesn't do well. I can say that when Jones was asked to do that stuff from the 5 tech last year he looked a hell of a lot better than Clark did yesterday, but again - not enough of a sample size.

Maybe it was just a bad day because of the heat (I mean, the backup to the backup OT played in the same heat and wasn't getting rotated in and out, but I digress) - there's plenty of time for him to prove me wrong. My point here isn't to say that he's a bust and can't get better. It's to say that in THIS GAME he wasn't very good at all and he must get better.

I just don't have the right feel for him or what Spags is doing yet to really offer much in the way of diagnosis. My first blush is to stand by where I was last week in saying that I think Veach overpaid for a good but not great player and got tunnel vision. But I can't say that yet - it's too early.

It's not too early to say that game 1 was not an acceptable performance from Frank Clark or the pass-rush writ large.

They also gave up 22/25 passes and 275 yards to a 6th rd rookie in his first NFL game. They were also getting killed on 3rd down, including giving up a 3rd/18 and 3rd/8.

But hey I’m told that you are apparently a pussy who hates his team if you show any sort of concern over this against the Pats who just got AB.

This type of play just doesn’t seem sustainable against that team. They’re too good

Minshew got the ball out so quick yesterday for the majority of the time, that's not really on the pass rush.

Secondary has to play better.

I’m going with a C+

With a brand new scheme and lots of new faces, you’re simply looking for improvement somewhere and we clearly got that from the run defense

That’s a great start and worth hanging your hat on

Letting a 6th round rookie come in and set a record for consecutive completed passes is, uh... not ideal, obviously

But anyone expecting a precision machine in week one needs to reevaluate their expectations

We saw marked improvement in one phase, be glad for that and give them some time to iron out the other wrinkles

Thornhill wasn’t bad. Did pretty well in run coverage.
Breeland wasn’t bad either.
Ward was hot diarrhea.
Clark had multiple persons blocking him so I’m not terribly surprised he wasn’t seen so much but I wonder where Jones was.

About 200 yards of Jags passing came on 6 plays, which were typically aimed at Ward. Further, Jags’ last 2 TDS were in garbage time.

It’s too early to say the sky is falling, but there are legitimate reasons for concern. I think safety play, run defense and tackling are much better than last year. I hope we get better in pass defense, particularly when Claiborne gets back.

But this game showed that CB and OL are top needs for next years draft.

I'm stunned. Shocked. Disturbed (moreso than usual).

How in the living hell was our pass rush negated by that joke of a Yaguar o-line? The front 7 should be embarrassed. As for the d-backs, they let a novice quarterback make them look like meandering idiots.

I haven't seen the all-22 yet, but based on what I saw, that was a pitiful and disappointing display. Giving up 26 (garbage points or not) against a tyro under center?

For now, I'm going to blame that disgrace on a new defensive scheme and problems with communication. If the damn faiders put up 26, it's safe to say the hype coming out of camp was just that.

FAX

I think the posts here covered the topic pretty well so I don't have much to add. Just say overall I thought they played pretty bad considering it was a backup QB but it's week 1. Lots of new faces and a new scheme so I know we have to give it time.

pretty much

A work in progress but I can't say it looks much better than last year at this point.

This defense is going to be a work in progress for awhile, when you change this much it will take some time.

You have a new defense, and we have a new offense. Granted, we pummeled Miami,and not the Patriots, but the Jags aren't Super Bowl material, either.

Will be interesting in 2 weeks.

Improved, still needs a lot of work. Tackling seemed better.
C-