Chapter 403 - 402 As expected

This season, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ comprehensive rise is closely related to Caldwell, and it is no exaggeration to say that the team manager orchestrated this feast single-handedly.

Although Caldwell seems aloof and above it all, the fact is that all the praise and glory he has received, he has won for himself.

Caldwell would say that everything boils down to Head Coach Doug Marrone.

Marrone himself started out on the offensive line, and though his player career was unremarkable, not even worth mentioning—he only stayed in the NFL for two seasons, then went to the United Kingdom to play for another two, before retiring early—once he became a coach, he showed his true talent.

As an offensive line coach or head coach, Marrone had never been able to build a team entirely according to his own plans; however, after he came to the Jacksonville Jaguars from the Buffalo Bills, under the tutelage of Good Old Man Coach Bradley, he found the space to spread his wings. Continue your saga on novelbuddy

His interpretation of tactics, the defensive layouts inferred from his offensive line experience, and the targeted strategic coordination against passing and running offenses after changing perspectives, truly brought a fresh breath to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Caldwell saw Marrone’s capabilities, and after firing Bradley, he promoted Marrone and reinforced the team in the free market according to Marrone’s requests.

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Among them, the key defensive line players—Campbell, Jackson, and Dareus—were all recruits during this year’s offseason. Caldwell’s cost-effective and accurate planning played a crucial role, perfectly crafting a frontline that fit the team’s needs according to Marrone’s requirements.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Behind a superior defensive line, there is also a remarkable linebacker lineup.

Myles Jack, Telvin Smith, and Paul Posluszny.

Three previously unheralded players demonstrated top-of-the-pyramid performances this season.

With 90 tackles for Jack and 102 tackles for Smith as outside linebackers, and though Posluszny, as a middle linebacker, did not have as many due to his position, he still contributed 61 tackles.

As the connecting part between the primary line and the secondary unit, they undertook tasks in both passing and running defense with intensity and teamwork, undoubtedly forming the core of the Jaguars’ top-tier defensive group.

More importantly, this still wasn’t all.

As mentioned earlier, the Jaguars’ ground defense ranked second in the league, and their passing defense was even more dominant at number one, truly a force to be reckoned with.

At cornerback, the young duo of Ramsey and AJ Bouye are considered by many experts to be the top cornerback pair this season.

Safeties, Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson, are two veteran players who were also no less impressive.

Of these four players, only Gipson was once selected for the Pro Bowl. The others lacked resumes to prove themselves—Ramsey had just entered the league, while Bouye and Church were undrafted newcomers in 2013 and 2010, respectively. However, this season they showed top-notch coordination, excelling in both man coverage and tactical cooperation.

Perhaps the casual onlookers didn’t see any flashy names, but in limiting opponents’ passing yards, touchdown passes, quarterback pass ratings, interceptions, and inducing turnovers, they ranked in the top five in the league in various statistics. Their average performance and overall strength led the league, truly demonstrating dominance.

Imagine, throughout the season, they allowed opponents only 143 first downs by passing and 17 passing touchdowns. Not only did these stats lead the league, but they were also significantly ahead of the second and third-ranked teams.

Ramsey, even with his loud trash-talking, presented the stature of a future superstar cornerback, and no player could talk back.

The cornerback duo of Ramsey and Bouye together amassed 21 interceptions, second only to the Baltimore Ravens’ 22—these were the only two teams to exceed 20 interceptions for the season. They were unquestionably the nightmare of quarterbacks and wide receivers alike, no wonder Ramsey dared to mock quarterbacks en masse.

Tackles, interceptions, stops.

The Jacksonville Jaguars defensive group had hardly any weak spots.

In a single-elimination playoff scenario like this, teams that rely on star power often face fluctuations, which test the athletic state of the stars, with too many variables in both losing and winning risks.

However, teams that rely on collective strength, like the Jacksonville Jaguars, are more stable and solid. They can reduce the risks of fluctuation to a minimum, making pre-game preparation much more thorough and straightforward.

In football games, it’s often said that offense wins games, but defense wins championships, because as the postseason progresses, facing fluctuations in form and fitness, a solid defense proves to be more reliable.

The same is true for football.

Even the Minnesota Vikings defense, there’s a gap between them and the Jacksonville Jaguars, and their patterns are not the same.

Not to mention, they also have the home-field advantage—

No wonder, not just within the league, the entire public opinion heavily favored the Jacksonville Jaguars to win and highly likely to claim the Super Bowl Champions title.

Earlier, the widely favored Minnesota Vikings had a surprising fall and were knocked out cold. Concerns about the Jacksonville Jaguars potentially losing their footing due to experiential shortcomings persisted, fearing the current favorites might repeat the same mistakes.

Then, the Jaguars showed their determination and the stability of their defense, as the warning bells rung by the Vikings had them concentrate and bring their best game from the start.

"The first quarter of the game is over."

"Currently, the score remains at ’0:0’, with neither team able to score."

"Looking at the score, it looks like an even match, but the reality is not so, the game is more complex than it appears on the surface, and its difficulty is beyond what was expected."

Located at the perpetual Bank Center in the southeastern port of Jacksonville, Nantz and Romo were partners once again, talking during the brief intermission at the end of the first quarter, summarizing the game briefly—

Everything was as expected.

Dull, uninteresting.

The first quarter was filled with penalties and punts, with both team’s defensive groups taking over the game as the main characters. Such a contest wasn’t very exciting.

At this moment, social media was dominated by strong opinions.

A group of netizens complained that this game shouldn’t have been a night game, at least the first National Conference final with the Philadelphia Eagles’ full-on offensive firepower had some entertainment value; but the current American League final was truly dull.

However, more netizens, with the attitude of someone who has been there, said, no matter the sport—football, basketball, tennis, rugby, etc.—it’s almost always the same: the exciting games are usually in the group stage or early knockout rounds, the further you go the more boring it gets, and the championship fight is often the peak of drowsiness; it’s not the first time anyway.

"Not surprising."

"No need to make a big fuss."

"Both teams must have expended too much energy, especially the Kansas City Chiefs who’ve had back-to-back comeback advances; they must be running out of steam now."

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