The 2012 Pro Bowl roster was announced last night on the NFL network. It should be no surprise that Maurice Jones Drew will represent the Jaguars in the 2012 Pro Bowl.

With only 136 yards left, MJD has the opportunity to surpass Fred Taylor’s single-season franchise record of 1,572 rushing yards set in the 2003 season.

After all the 5′ 7″, 208 lbs running back does account for 46.5% of the Jaguars total offense. If you’ve ever watched a Jaguars game you would know that he is the only consistent offensive player on the field.

With one game left in the 2011 regular season, MJD is the current NFL leading rusher. During his record breaking season he has accumulated 1,437 yards on 318 rushes.

Jones-Drew will be the first player in franchise history to finish in the top three in the NFL in rushing yards.

Even though the Jaguars have had a tough 2011 season & only accumulated 4 wins to date, fans were hoping at least a few other Jacksonville players would make the list.

Kicker Josh Scobee was hoping to make his first pro bowl appearance this year. However the position of place kicker was filled by Sebastian Janikowski (OAK) for the AFC team.

MLB Paul Posluszny had a phenominal season in Jacksonville, but Ravens star LB Ray Lewis was selected for the AFC. Another player that fans were hoping to see in the pro bowl was fullback Greg Jones.

Maurice Jones-Drew was voted into the Pro Bowl for his third appearance alongside AFC running backs Ray Rice (BAL) & Arian Foster (HOU) by fans, coaches & players. The 3 running backs representing the NFC are LeSean McCoy (PHI), Matt Forte (CHI) & Frank Gore (SF).

The 2012 Pro Bowl will be played on Sunday, January 29 and televised live on NBC at 7:00 p.m. ET from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Do you have another Jacksonville player in mind that you wanted to see make the pro bowl? Tweet me at @RoarBlackNTeal.

Aren't we all just hoping to win a game?

“Playoffs?! You kidding me? Playoffs?” No, I am not kidding you my Jim Mora enthused reader.

But that’s enough about me. I hope that your seasons have turned out well. Just not as well as mine (did I type that out loud?). So as we approach the meat of the NFL’s week 15 schedule, let’s take a quick look at a few players who should do well.

Rankings gathered from nfl.com. Asterisks denote the players/defenses that I’m keeping an eye on. 

 QB:

• D. Brees, NO
• A. Rodgers, GB
• T. Brady, NE
• E. Manning, NYG*

 RB:

• A. Foster, HOU
• R. Rice, BAL
• C. Johnson, TEN
• M. Bush, OAK*

 WR:

• W. Welker, NE
• C. Johnson, DET
• H. Nicks, NYG
• V. Cruz, NYG*

TE:

• R. Gronkowski, NE
• J. Graham, NO
• J. Witten, DAL
• O. Daniels, Hou*

 DEF:

• Green Bay Packers
• Chicago Bears
• Detroit Lions
• San Francisco 49ers*

Turkey Day Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars (3-7) vs. Houston Texans (7-3)

at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida on November 27, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving Jaguars fans! As you sneak food from out of the kitchen, let me help clear your conscience by taking your mind off of the stolen food that is in your stomach. Let’s talk some football.

The plan this offseason was for the Jaguars to win the division crown this season. That plan will officially end with a Texans victory this weekend. It definitely has not been a great season to be a Jaguars fan in terms of wins and losses, but since today is Thanksgiving, I won’t divulge too deeply into all of that negativity. So I’m going to quickly give my points for offensive/defensive advantages and then get back to sneaking this food out of the kitchen. Tell no one.

The Statistics (all statistics gathered from nfl.com):

Jacksonville Jaguars’ Offense vs. Houston Texans’ Defense

Jaguars’ Offensive Ranks (it’s hard to be thankful for these numbers):

-Points: 31^st

-Total offense: 32^nd

-Passing offense: 32^nd

-Rushing offense: 12^th

Texans’ Defensive Ranks:

-Points: 2^nd

-Total defense: 1^st

-Passing defense: 2^nd

-Rushing defense: 4^th

-Advantage: Houston Texans’ Defense (strong advantage)

Reasoning:

I don’t know what Wade Philips put into the chili over there in Houston, but his defense is playing lights out this year. Couple that with the offense that Houston has, and you’ll see that this defense was poised for success.

I give Houston’s defense the edge in this one for different reasons though. Sure there are the stats, but at this point in the season we have enough of a sample to make generalizations about teams. The Texans’ defense is good. The Jaguars’ offense is not. And let me be clear; the Jaguars’ offense STINKS! It’s a farce (of course that was in my best Bob Ryan voice). And that’s what it comes down to. If the Jaguars can’t find a way to spread out the Texans, make running lanes with blocking and spacing, and call/coach with minimal mistakes, they’ll continue to be inept.

Houston Texans’ Offense vs. Jacksonville Jaguars’ Defense

Texans’ Offensive Ranks:

-Points: 5^th

-Total offense: 7^th

-Passing offense: 15^th

-Rushing offense: 2^nd

Jaguars’ Defensive Ranks:

-Points: 5^th

-Total defense: 3^rd

-Passing defense: 4^th

-Rushing defense: 15^th

-Advantage: Push

Reasoning:

I’m not sure what to expect from these two units. This will be Houston’s first game without Matt Schaub, so I would generally believe that the Jaguars would put 7 and 8 men in the box and force Matt Leinart to throw constantly. But, the key injuries the Jaguars have sustained on the defensive side of the ball (Rashean Mathis, Terrance Knighton, Clint Session) might force them to play to not give up big plays.

Don’t forget that all indications are pointing towards the Texans getting Andre Johnson back. I’m sure we all know what he brings to the table. Arian Foster’s been running strong, and well, Gary Kubiak’s ball club has been good at moving the football.

I think that this will be a good matchup, but there are few unknowns that I would like to see play out once or twice before I garner too many expectations.

There you have it. Let me just say that I’m not feeling too good about this game, but I have you to choose a Jaguars’ opponent to beat them this season, and I’m not going to start now. I wouldn’t bet much on it though, probably on $1.43 or so (including tax). Like I mentioned before, if the Jaguars lose this game they will be mathematically unable to reach the playoffs, which has become an all-to-common theme. But this is Thanksgiving Day so I’ll leave all of that negativity for another post.

Thanks for reading, and I bid thee good eating for dinner…and dinner #2, aaaaand dinners #3,4,5, and 6. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Another week in the life of a Jaguar fan has come & it has gone with the end result being an all too familiar feeling. Falling to the Texans 24-14. If you happened to miss the game, don’t worry! As long as you’ve seen a Jags game this season, you’ll understand exactly how it played out. An optimistic beginning, followed by a disastrous performance, add in a comeback attempt & end it with some heartbreak. Let’s take a look a the key components to Sunday’s game.

The Good

As usual the best part of Sunday’s matchup was the reminder that Jacksonville’s defense did actually improve during the offseason. Each week the defense continues to prove they were worth every penny of the multi-millions the organization spent on them. The defense held the Texans lead rusher Arian Foster to 124 total yards. With a second quarter fumble from Matt Schaub forced by Clint Session, it set up the Jags for their first touchdown pass of the game.  Jason Hill caught a 5 yard pass from Gabbert. The Jags entered halftime with a tied game. 

The Bad

Jacksonville’s star running back Maurice Jones Drew entered Sunday’s game as the second leading rusher in the NFL. However, that was not apparent on Sunday since he only recorded 63 yards & one TD. He continued the trend he started on MNF, with a fumble versus the Texans as well.

The Ugly

There’s a reason that the Jags have the 32nd offense in the NFL. Sunday’s game continued to solidify that. Rookie QB Blaine Gabbert has not been as successful this season as fellow rookie QBs Andy Dalton & Cam Newton. Gabbert finished his first game versus an AFC South opponent with 10 completions of  his 30 passes for 97 yards with two interceptions. Leaving Gabbert with a less than desireable passer rating of 26.7 rating. 

  * * *

With a 2-6 record the Jags are still in the race for the AFC South title. However that will NOT happen less the Jags offense gets it together. The next week should be interesting, especially with so many fans routing for a coaching change. It is clear that the Jaguars have some serious work to do & things to figure out during the much needed bye week in week 9.