Seahawks Soar Over Jaguars

The signs were there all along, but many fans refused to see them. The Jacksonville Jaguars, a young team making a trip from north Florida all the way to the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle Seahawks, a team whose talent is much better than its record, getting their veteran quarterback back on the field. One of the loudest, most hostile venues in the NFL. All the signs were there for a Jaguars loss, but I am certain that no one expected this - a 41-0 shellacking at the hands of the Seahawks. The Jaguars suffered just the third shutout in franchise history on a day where nothing seemed to go right from the very beginning. Before the game, we learned that head coach Jack Del Rio had made top wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker inactive due to a violation of team rules. While Del Rio had better have a really good reason for sitting Sims-Walker down, the truth is, it wouldn't have mattered. Not today. The offense had two decent drives all game. One early on that resulted in a turnover on downs at the Seahawks' 2-yard line. The other in the second half, when the game was clearly out of reach, that ended in a long fumble return touchdown for the Seattle. Nothing went right for the Jaguars offense this day. The running game was bottled up, and atrocious offensive line play prevented the passing game from accomplishing little more than getting quarterback David Garrard hit repeatedly. As bad as the Jaguars were on offense, the defense was not to be outdone. Seahawks' quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, broken ribs and all, had all day to sit in the pocket and combine with wide receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Nate Burleson to torch the Jaguars' secondary all day. The Jaguars came into the game with a passing defense that was tied for 31st in the league, so it was not surprising that the Seahawks beat them through the air. What was surprising was how they went about it. Nevermind rookie cornerback Derek Cox, Seattle came out and did what no other team has attempted to do this season and went right at Pro Bowl cornerback Rashean Mathis. Mathis, who up until this game was playing lights out corner, was beaten for three touchdowns today. I have watched every game Mathis has played in since he entered the league seven years ago and have never seen him abused like he was today. One can only hope that he has the short memory that all cornerbacks need and returns to form next week against the St. Louis Rams. While today's loss was disheartening, it was not to be unexpected. This is what young, rebuilding teams do. They look like world beaters one week, as the Jaguars did in dismantling the Tennessee Titans last week, and the next week they look like they might never win another game, as they did today against the Seahawks. Perhaps this game will serve to bring the fans expectations back down to a more reasonable level. Some fans will be bloodthirsty this week. I have already seen it on Jaguars-related message boards. These fans need to get a grip on their emotions. They were largely the same group of people who thought the Jaguars had arrived after last weeks win. I guess it is in the nature of some fans to be bipolar like this. It is important to remember one thing - a team is never as good as you think it is, nor is it ever as bad as you think it is. So if you're one of those fans, come down off the bridge, step away from the knife drawer, put the gun down, untie the noose. It will be okay. The Jaguars are heading in the right direction, but there will bumps in the road along the way. Although if the Rams beat the Jaguars 41-0 next week, scoot over and make room for me on that bridge.