Episode 142: 2026/2027 Schedule Release!

May 18, 2026

Episode Transcript

Hosts Phil Barrera and James Johnson are joined this week by special guest Josh Sampson, Jay’s co-host from the Back Shoulder Fade podcast, to break down one of the most exciting parts of the NFL offseason, the schedule release. From viral moments to key matchups, we go week-by-week through the upcoming season for the Jacksonville Jaguars and discuss what stands out most heading into the year.

The Jaguars’ viral schedule release video featuring Trevor Lawrence seemingly cutting his famous hair, and the reaction it sparked across the NFL community and social media
A full breakdown of all 18 weeks of the Jaguars’ upcoming schedule, including our early thoughts on wins, losses, and potential turning points throughout the season
Key matchups that could define the year, including divisional battles, playoff-caliber opponents, and games that could have major postseason implications
Interesting schedule trends, stretches of tough opponents, and how the timing of certain games could impact the team over the course of the season
The Jaguars landing three primetime games this year, including another home appearance on Monday Night Football, and what that says about the growing national attention around the franchise

Tune in as we dive into the full Jaguars schedule and start looking ahead to what could be a huge season in Jacksonville.

Touchdown Jaguars Linktree

James Johnson and Phil Barrera bring you the best and most up to date Jacksonville Jaguars news. "Touchdown Jaguars!" is a tribute to the prospective ownership group "Touchdown Jacksonville!" In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams and "Touchdown Jacksonville!" announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists. In November 1993, the NFL owners voted 26–2 in favor of awarding the 30th franchise to Jacksonville. James and Phil have been fans of the franchise ever since and have had the honor (and sometimes dishonor) of covering the team professionally since 2017. The rest as they say, is history.

See full episode transcriptTranscript is autogenerated by AI

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Welcome to the Touchdown Jaguars Podcast. Here are your hosts, James Johnson and Phil Smith. Hey everyone, welcome back to the Touchdown Jaguars Podcast. I'm your co-host, Phil Barrera, and of course, joining us as always, or I I mean I'm more so joining him because he's the one that holds it down most of the time. But uh obviously here as well is your other co-host, James Johnson. Uh Jay, good to be back in here uh this weekend as we are going to discuss the schedule release, not only the games on the schedule, um, but also, of course, the uh the viral um schedule release video uh that hit uh took the internet by storm and Jaguar Twitter by storm um a couple of days ago. So yeah, good to see you, man. And happy birthday. We are recording on the uh the day of Jay's birthday, and we have a special guest as well that we'll introduce here in just a moment. But Jay, how are you doing here tonight, man? Excited to talk about uh what we have looked forward, uh, what we have to look forward to uh with this schedule.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Yeah, man, appreciate the birthday wish wishes. Um, I'm getting up there in age, man. As we say in this podcast, we won't disclose the age, but they can they can put two and two together with all the stories we told about the early 90s and the games we've been to of about where we are. Um, but yeah, no, man, I'm just thankful to see another trip around the globe, man. Um, I kind of wanted to go to Vegas, which I mentioned to y'all earlier. But that one in the cards, man, we'll get to we'll we'll make that trip one day later. Me, you, and our guests who we'll introduce here, man. Uh, but no, man, just glad to be here doing what I love on my birthday, man. And um, yeah, excited to talk about the Jags here as we got another important season coming up here and um another schedule which um should provide some hurdles, but some good times at the same time as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

Yeah, the Jags will be featured multiple times on primetime this year. Uh, so very excited to talk about all of that. Um, but yeah, as we alluded to, we do have a guest here, not necessarily a Jaguar fan, but football fan nonetheless. And also, Jay, your co-host of the Back Shoulder Fade Podcast. When is that coming back? Maybe we'll talk about that a little bit later. You guys need to get back in the lab for that. But our buddy Joshua Samson. Josh, uh Team Yellow Label member, of course, founding member uh here uh joining us uh this uh this afternoon as we were recording. Josh, thanks for hanging out. It's good to see you. It was a little bit of a surprise for me. So how are you doing here tonight, bud?

SPEAKER_03 3:28

I'm great, man. Blessed to be here, man. Blessed to be on my brother's uh uh birthday. It's uh it's a beautiful day, man. Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Yeah, and Jay wanted us to all go to Las Vegas, like just out of out of nowhere, but maybe maybe later down uh down the line. Again, they're begging people to come back to Las Vegas. So tourism is struggling out there on the strip. So we will see what happens down there. But uh yeah, excited to discuss uh the schedule in general, and uh maybe we'll just throw out some other games as well from the season, you know, just NFL teams in general, because there definitely are some marquee matchups that we'd probably want to highlight here for the episode. Of course, uh, if you are new to the podcast or if you need a reminder, make sure to check the show notes of this and every single episode. You'll find our Linktree link where you can uh, of course, follow the show on social media um as well as use that the um our promo code Touchdown Jaguars over on SeatGeek. I think that still works. Somebody use that and let us know. I'm pretty sure it's still up and running, but somebody can let us know. But um, Jay, yeah, let's get into it here. Uh, of course, let's start off with the schedule release video. Um, a little bit of a jump scare as we saw a uh a Trevor Lawrence sitting in the barber chair and getting those beautiful, beautiful locks cut. Uh, a lot of people were a little um worried that this was uh a massive aura loss on behalf of the quarterback. Uh the the the hair is part of the the whole look and the um uh part of the the look and the whole you know appeal with Trevor Lawrence. Uh for for those that are pretty you know keen-sided, we saw that it was a pretty bad wig. But what did you think overall, Jay, of the schedule release video?

SPEAKER_02 5:17

Yeah, no, that that video, yeah, it had your boy nervous, man. I ain't gonna lie, man, cuz the the look he went with too, man, the the whole the Bon Jovi look, I was like, oh man, Trevor, you could have done better than that, even if this was a real uh video of you getting your hair cut. But yeah, no, I I was kind of along the lines of you and everybody else. I didn't believe it, you know, when I was watching it unfold. But I mean, certainly genius on their part to think of something like that. And it's a it's an easy concept too. Like they ain't had to really like do a lot of work in terms of like, you know, doing graphics and all of that, like with these other videos we've seen in terms of the schedule release video, like the Halo joint, and it was some other people who did like, you know, I guess like anime related type of stuff. I thought I saw somebody do like an old arcade, I think it was the um the Browns who went with an old arcade thing. Yeah, so like we, you know, we didn't have to put that much work into it. It was something easy, but something that can go viral. I like how they were thinking there. Um, but don't scare us like that again. Well, at least the people who didn't believe it was a wig, but um, yeah, we did find out that you know he really didn't get the haircut, and um it also did good numbers according to um their social media um group. They put out the numbers. I think we we made it to the fourth spot in terms of views, so it did pretty good, it served his purpose, but man, I'm glad he's keeping that hair. He also said too, Marissa loves the hair, so I don't think we have anything to worry about in terms of him losing his hair.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Yeah, Marissa actually got into it, uh got in on it as well. She posted something on her story of kind of like the hair on the on the ground of the barbershop, too. So she kind of got involved there. Because rumors were kind of like swirling before the schedule release video even came out. So I mean that was uh uh that was pretty solid over there as well. Josh, have you seen this video? Did you see the uh schedule release video with the supposed uh haircut, or have you not checked it out yet?

SPEAKER_03 7:17

Uh I've seen parts of it. Like I've seen the uh some screen caps of it. I say this, anything was better than last year with uh what was it, Ashton Hollow?

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Oh my gosh, yeah, that one was bad. Yeah. I'm sorry, Phil. That one was not good. Um, but uh yeah, these scheduled release videos are becoming a you know, obviously a big thing every single year. Um, did you did you have any standouts, Josh? I'll throw it to you first. Any of them that stood out. Um, you know, we were talking pre-show. The Chargers once again killed it. That that whole team, uh, that whole social media team is on another another level. If you didn't see it this year, guys, uh, it is uh they went with Halo, brought in the original voice, so that one was was definitely great. But yeah, any any standouts, Josh?

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Yeah, obviously the Chargers won. And also uh I guess I can't remember which team it was. I guess uh the one where they go around uh in public asking people uh based on the logo what the name of the team is. Oh, yeah, the Titans did it.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

That was last year. Yeah, this year they went up to people that looked like players from their team, from the other team. Um, and that one was pretty good too.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Oh, yeah, that's what it was.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

What about you, Jay? Any other standouts? Uh the Falcons one wasn't really like a scheduled release video, but they did like the the old ESPN sports center commercials, those ones were were really good.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Yeah, that one, I love that one. It brought a little bit of nostalgia back, you know what I'm saying? From the ESPN commercials. I can remember, you remember the Oregon Duck one, y'all, where he's sitting at the desk looking at the ducks at the pond. And um the one where um uh I I think God rest his soul was it um Stu getting into the elevator with the Duke Blue Devil and it was going to the basics.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah, they're like going up, they're going up and it was the New Jersey Devil.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Yeah, the New Jersey Devil. Yeah, yeah, man. Um, so yeah, no, it brought back nostalgia to that. And it was actually funny too, man, where they introduced um Drake London to the tech guy whose name was Kendrick. They were like Kendrick beat Drake, Drake meet Kendrick. They were like they're about to get into it. So I like that one the most of all of the ones. I saw I haven't seen all of them. I'm not gonna say I watched all 32, but I seen at least 10 of them, and I think the Falcons one really stood out to me.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

The Colts did the Simpsons, which was pretty good. Yeah, obviously, we don't like to shout out the division rival here, but the Simpsons one for the Colts was pretty good. The Raiders did one with um Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins, and it was like step brothers. So that one was kind of funny. Um, so yeah, I mean these are always solid. Then, of course, look up the Easter eggs that a lot of teams put out there, uh, you know, in regards to the um Mike Rabel, Diana Rossini thing. We won't discuss that here. That's a different podcast, but uh, you know, a lot of a lot of teams alluding to what's going on over there. Uh, and then shout out to the Arizona Cardinals who had the absolute worst one, which was completely AI generated. And uh that team is um they are the only team in the league where they are underdogs uh for all 17 games. So uh Cardinals fans, you're in for a long one. Um, but yeah, the the again, these are always really great, but uh definitely special shout out to the one for the Chargers, especially those of us who have that Halo nostalgia. Um, so that one was really, really good. But yeah, let's get into the actual schedule itself here, folks. Um, I think what we'll do, Jay, since you know, 18 weeks, we'll just I'll break it up into six games, six games, uh six games or however it works out. So we'll we'll just do it that way. Um, preseason, not too much to discuss. Saints, Panthers, and Buccaneers, the usual suspects when it comes to our preseason opponents. Um, but then when we uh we will get a home opener week one against the Cleveland Browns. So maybe we will see a Shador Sanders, Travis Hunter matchup, depending on how that quarterback room shakes out over in Cleveland. Week two, they head back to Denver. So that'll be a rematch of that uh epic clash from last year. Uh so that will be a um week two matchup at Denver. Week three, they welcome in the defending AFC champion, New England Patriots. That will be a very, very fun game to watch. Uh, they will go back to Cincinnati in week four to hopefully get some revenge after a uh a loss there last year, um, a very unfortunate and incorrect uh defensive pass interference call against Travis Hunter. And then they have their two London games, week five and week six against the Eagles, and then against the Texans, so which means they will have their bye week pretty early this year, week seven, um, and then uh um after the uh, of course, the matchup with the Houston Texans. So, Jay, uh Browns, Broncos, Patriots, Bengals, Eagles, and Texans to start off the season. Uh, remember last year we said we're gonna learn a lot about this team uh in that like middle stretch of the year? Well, we're gonna learn a lot about this team here really early on. I think there's out of these first six opponents, one, two, five of them, we could feasibly see in the playoffs for sure, but even some Super Bowl contenders here amongst these opponents. So uh what stands out as far as the first six weeks of the season for you?

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yeah, I like opening against the Browns. Um, not an opponent that's um we we never want to say a pushover by any means, but um certainly not the hardest opponent on our schedule, you know. Like so you can get you a dub in there. I also like that from the standpoint of you know, we have been talking a lot of noise back and forth with Browns fans since the Travis Hunter trade. And now the Browns will get to see Travis Hunter on the field and see if he was worth what we gave up. And they'll also get to show us, you know, if um the picks that they made as well. Um they got the kid from Michigan, the defensive tackle, and I think they got a running back with one of their other picks. Um, you know, we'll get to kind of show, you know, who got the better of the deal, I guess, in that game. So that stands out. Um, with week two, I actually don't mind going to Denver because we we beat them in Denver last year. You know, it's gonna be some animosity there, of course. But um, I'm not as afraid of that as we were last year, right, Phil? We circled that game last year. It's like we were like, oh man, that's that's almost a loss there. But now we know we can go toe-to-toe with them. And um, you know, they're definitely gonna be shaking in their boots when they see Parker Washington take the field again because he just went off on them. Um aside from that, um, the other standouts here, um, that Philadelphia Eagles game and the Houston game, of course, because they're in London, uh, with the the one, the first one, which is in Tottenham Hot Spurs Stadium, uh, that one is concerning to me. Um, because again, we we do fare well when we travel, but it's just the aspect of um, you know, having to travel there that week and then play them that kind of concerns me. And I don't know what Philadelphia's record is in international games either, but they, you know, they're a team that I'll have to look up their history with us, but historically they've been successful against us. And um, I just I would rather face them at home if we were gonna do it. Um, but you know, with the stadium situation, they needed a whole like month, which if you notice that whole October window feel is away games and the bye week, they needed that, they made it that way and intentionally for stadium construction. So that's why it's kind of set up like that and why the jazz will be away for um a long time. I like, you know, I know a lot of people have said what they've said about playing Houston and taking that game away from the home stadium, and I hear that, and I I agree with that, but I also like playing Houston in London from the standpoint we'll already be there, right? That kind of gives us an advantage to win that game. And um, you know, like even if it was at home, I would still be a little bit concerned, but I feel a little bit better about that being a win um in terms of them having to come to London, us already being there, being acclimated. I do like that edge that we get in that regard. Still, you know, you hate to see a rivalry game taken away from home, but you know, with them being on top of the division, kind of, I mean, we are technically, but with them being um as good as they are, is what I would say. Um, I do like getting a competitive uh competitive advantage on them in terms of um that game and having them come to London. And you know, we're we're used to Wembley anyway. We play in Wembley all the time, so there's that.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Yeah, you know, it's it like you said, it's been a little bit of a mixed bag when it comes to the the London games. But yeah, hopefully that will be an advantage as far as when uh you know having to play Houston. Yeah, the Eagles game will be certainly very interesting. Philadelphia is a team that's just like, what are they gonna be this year, man? You know, another new offensive coordinator. There's obviously turmoil within the building, and you know, a a lot of they're gonna we're gonna learn a lot about that team and Jalen Hurts specifically when it comes to Philadelphia. Um, yeah, Denver, New England, Cincinnati back to back to back. Um, obviously, a lot of people are high on Cincinnati after the trades they've made after their draft. Um, we'll see how that goes. But yeah, like you said, you know, uh you don't want to look past Cleveland, but you definitely got to come out of there with a win. Um, because you, you know, you could you could feasibly lose, you know, a combination of those next three games when it comes to those AFC contenders. Josh, when you look at these games, uh, you know, you follow the Jaguars essentially through us, so you know a lot about what's going on. Um, you know, definitely some major, major opponents and obvious and also opportunities for them to make like a statement here from the first six weeks. Uh any of those matchups stand out to you uh when it comes to the opening of the season?

SPEAKER_03 16:55

Yeah, this is um is interesting. It was almost like last year. I can't remember exactly what the schedule was. Um but you guys came out and made a statement the first uh first what was the first six weeks, I guess, um about how what kind of team you got, what what the makeup of the team was and how got how you uh how you would compete in uh certain matchups. Yep, and getting an identity, finding out what the identity was.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Yep, I remember that.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

Um and now, you know, Travis, is Travis gonna be healthy week one? Um Yeah, should be. Okay. Well that'd be an interesting matchup if Shador's if Shador's starting, and you know, he's on the other side. He he's playing cornerback exclusively now, right?

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Or is he Well Yeah, he's gonna play both now. He's but he's gonna play more corner like because they lost um Newsom. Okay. So he's gonna essentially start at corner, like expect to see him at starting corner like at least 90% to 100% of the snaps. But he'll still continue to play offense, um, maybe even more than he did last year. That won't change, but uh he will be on the field a lot as a cornerback. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:02

Well even so, he'll be in his second year. Uh he'll have a more defined role and he'll be able to match the speed a little better of the of the pro level. But it it'll be uh I mean, this is a litmus test, even with the even with the Browns who played everybody hard last year. I mean, uh with the Broncos who were a deep playoff team, we don't know what the Patriots is gonna look like, you know, for the first two weeks, considering the match they have in the offseason. Um so I mean why what happened?

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Something happened.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:39

What happened, Josh? What right now, man?

SPEAKER_03 18:42

Uh let's talk about the Eagles game. Um please.

SPEAKER_02 18:46

Um the better question is what didn't happen with the injury.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

That might be the better question. Yeah, I mean this first six weeks is basically it's gonna be like last uh last year, I guess, where you you see how much you guys have improved. Uh you see you know what what you take advantage of, and you know what what are the deficiencies uh laying your team. But yeah, this is a very interesting first six weeks.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

It is very similar to last year because we had Carolina, Cincy, Houston, San Francisco, Kansas City. That was the Monday night game, uh, Seattle and and the Rams. Um Seattle and LA ended up being like the two best teams in football last year. And those are both losses. So um, and the Carolina Panthers win ended up being a much better win uh than than people thought it would be at come the end of the year. Um, so yeah, that's how it shapes up for the first six. Uh Jay, I think obviously ideally you want to come out of there, hopefully, what, four and two. Um, three and three is not the end of the world. Um, but after the first, you know, seven weeks, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seven weeks of the of the season last year, uh, you know, we were four and three. And uh, you know, obviously we're we're able to um to turn that around or to continue some momentum later on in the year, um, going on a big win streak there. But yeah, a really, really early bye week. Um, I mean, I last year it was week eight, so it's only a one week removed. Um, any concern there, Jay, with the bye being relatively early in the schedule?

SPEAKER_02 20:13

Yeah, I don't like that. I don't. Um with a long season like of 17 um games, man, like you would prefer to have it. You want it as close to the middle kind of as possible. Um, and if not that, you know, I I if not the middle, like closer to week 10 as possible. Uh so yeah, I don't think we did ourselves any favors there. Um, but you know, um at least we have a team that is battle tested, you know what I'm saying? They definitely will be battle tested when looking at who they're playing this season to as well. By that point, they'll be battle tested. Um, but yeah, man, I'm not feeling having a bye week on week seven. Um, but I understand, you know, and I I knew this season was gonna be a weird one for us. I knew it because of the stadium construction. I knew what we were walking into. Um, so I knew like there were gonna be a lot of things we look at with this schedule, like that bye week that we don't like, and a lot of people don't like the Texas game being taken away from Jacksonville. I knew it was gonna be a year where we look at the schedule and see a lot of things that we probably wouldn't like.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Yeah, we'll see how they are able to hold up over that, you know, obviously the final stretch of the season. Um, that's gonna be a big part of it, as it is with every NFL team. So we will see how that goes. Um, but uh let's move on to the next six games. Uh, Jay, we have our annual home matchup against the Indianapolis Colts that we have a lot of fun at. Um, hopefully this is not the year that Indy turns things around. Uh week nine. So four days later is the Thursday night football matchup. It'll be the first primetime matchup of the year. They'll go to uh Baltimore, which will be um again, that's another team. We'll see where they're at come week nine with the new coaching staff coming in. Uh, then they head to Nashville against Tennessee. Um, Tennessee is a team that I've talked about here um in the last few weeks, Jay, that I think is going to take a pretty substantial leap with Cam Ward and their new coaching staff in the front office and some of the acquisitions they made. Um they'll then play uh in New York against the Giants. Um, and then they will play uh at home against Tennessee. And then to wrap up the next stretch of six games, they will play the Chicago Bears in Chicago, which I think could be a big-time matchup as well. Two up-and-coming teams. Um, we'll see how uh if they are able to continue uh their success over in Chicago, who I think has the most difficult schedule um in 2026. So we're gonna learn a ton about the Chicago Bears and Caleb Williams um in 2026. So, Jay, Colts at home, Ravens, Thursday night football in in Baltimore at Tennessee, at New York Giants, home against Tennessee, and then away at Chicago. What do you got as far as those next next six games?

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Yeah, let's go ahead and mark that week eight as a win, uh, because we know the Colts can't win at Jacksonville, so we'll just we won't even talk about that that much, right? Um, that Baltimore game, you know, the first thing I thought of with that one is Richard Sherman's finally gonna have to watch the Jaguars. You know, and we all know about the story about Richard Sherman just not wanting to acknowledge the Jaguars. Well, buddy, you gotta watch them this year. Um, so there's that for Thursday night football. If Richard Sherman is still with uh Amazon and Thursday night football, believe it or not, film, and I wanted to make sure I was right. So I fact-check myself on here. The Jaguars are relatively successful against the Ravens. We got a 13 and let's see.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Even when they're bad, they play the Ravens pretty well.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Yeah, 13 and 11 against the Ravens all time. So we we lead the all-time series. That's rare for the Jaguars to read the lead an all-time series against a good team. But yeah, you you mentioned that, Phil. Like I'll never forget the London game where we dropped 44 on them. Just dropped a hammer on them. So there's that. Yeah, I'll be excited to see this new Titans team. You know, me and you have talked about GM Mike Burgundzi and um our concern with the team that he's building. Um, they do have a little bit more pieces. I still don't think they're there, but I think they'll be like close to a 500 team. They'll be a lot more competitive than they were. But um, that being said, you know, I do expect a more competitive Titans team than we have seen in the past, but you know, I do think we can win that one. And then the other one, I guess I'm kind of excited about in that stretch is the Bears, man, because we get we get linked to the Bears a lot, you know, with Caleb Williams and and Trevor Lawrence being young quarterbacks that struggle early, you know, and like people like to compare and contrast their careers, if you will. That one's actually at Chicago, too. So, you know, you got you got to worry about the weather at that time of the year in early December. You know, the it might be frozen out there, who knows with that game. But I think that'll be an interesting one. And also, too, it's a match of um two coaches that just got their jobs last year and Ben Johnson and Liam Cohen, who a lot of people like to compare and contrast as well, too. And let's not forget about the history of the Jaguars with Ben Johnson, where essentially we feel like Ben Johnson didn't take the job here because of Trent Balkey. Um, and that, you know, we pivoted and you know, obviously Balkey was fired and we ended up with Cohen. So yeah, we'll get to compare, you know, who got the better coach, I guess, guess, if you will, between Liam and Um Johnson, the better offensive mastermind in that game. So that'll be fun for the fans' sake. Um, I'm excited for this stretch, but again, Phil, you know, you you want to come away, you definitely got to win those games against the both of the Titans and um the Giants. You know, you got to take care of business there. And of course, the Colts, um, you know how that goes normally. I see us having a successful stretch here. And even that Ravens game, you got to feel good about when looking at our history overall against them.

SPEAKER_01 25:59

Yeah, a couple, like, like I said, really marquee matchups here with with uh Ravens and the Bears. Um, New York is like, they're just such an interesting team. They're like, they're one of those teams that I could see like if they if you told me they were gonna finish last in their division or win the division, like I wouldn't be surprised either way. Like what's going on over there in the NFC East is so weird. Um, so yeah, we'll see. And then the Titans game, like they always just find a way to split, even when whichever team is bad. Um, they find a way to split the home in a way as far as the divisional matchup, but you know, we'll see how that goes. And then uh, you know, the Colts game, of course, they'll probably um don those uh the throwbacks and have a good old time here uh in Jacksonville. But yeah, Josh, what do you think? Uh, you know, again, the Thursday night football matchup, so the team will be front and center. Um, but yeah, any of these other matchups or which of these matchups uh are kind of standouts for you?

SPEAKER_03 26:48

Well, going back to the bye week, uh uh uh I don't understand why it's not after the Thursday night game because I mean you're playing four it's four days in between Colson and Ravens, and then I mean I guess I guess it's it could have scheduled a bye week then. But uh moving on to you said the thing about the Giants. Yeah, I don't know, I don't know if I call it a trap game, but I mean neighbors will be healthy by then and Scatterboo and some of the other weapons they've added. I mean, I know they did they get rid of Dexon Lawrence? I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Yep, they traded him to Cincinnati for that kind of pick. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

But I mean, a hard bar coach team in the in the middle of the season is a is a is a hard one to get rid of. Um the I'm not sure to I'm not sure uh too sure about the Titans games, but the the most interesting game on this slate would be the uh the Bears games. Uh the Bears game, considering how they played last year. Uh as dynamic as Caleb Williams is, is it'll be uh it'll be a very entertaining matchup.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Yeah, where are you at now on on Caleb? Uh I'll ask both of you, but I'll throw it to you first, Jay, because you know, you have been talking about you not only in our group chat, but you you've mentioned it here before uh as far as Caleb Williams and kind of his development, especially with him coming out of college. You know, obviously they had a great season last year. We definitely saw some big things, you know, very similar to like a the leap we've seen Trevor take um here over his career. So like where where are you at with Caleb Williams now?

SPEAKER_02 28:14

Yeah, a shocker. I'm coming around on a young man. Um and it's because you know, I kind of see a similar situation to Trevor Lawrence in him, where you know, like a lot of why I doubt doubted Caleb Williams is because of the Bears' history, and they could never really put together the right infrastructure around a quarterback. They finally did that with Ben Johnson, who's a dynamic offensive mind himself. And, you know, he has benefited Williams just like Cohen has benefited Lawrence, and not just that, but Johnson has also changed the ties of the franchise in general, which that's what Cohen has done for the Jaguars. We're talking about two teams that have had bad history in terms of lately at least. You know, the the Bears got some good history there, but in terms of late and recent, the history for these teams have been predominantly bad. And we all we always said this, Phil, at least with us, with the Jaguars, it was going to take a special individual to change the Jaguars' fortunes and to change the Jaguars trajectory as a franchise. And that special individual was Liam Cohen, of course. And, you know, we could sprinkle some James Gladstone and Trevor Lawrence in there too. I think a similar thing has taken place for the Chicago Bears with Johnson being there and being able to get the best out of Caleb Williams, man. When you look at his development, man, where he was in the preseason in comparison to where he ended the season, it was leaps and bounds different. You know what I'm saying? He looks like a totally different quarterback. He was throwing like all kinds of crossbody picks in the preseason and stuff. And Ben Johnson probably got in that locker room and started cussing him out, or whatever the case may be. And he looked like a totally different young man, man. So shout outs to him for the improvement he made. And you know, we'll see if he continues to improve in uh this way is his third year, uh in his third year.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

Yeah, I'm with you, Jay. Um, this is his development uh or the trajectory of his development has been uh it's been surprising to say the least. Uh from his shortcomings at Oklahoma and USC to to what he looked like the the first half of his rookie season. It's it's a shocker what the level that he was playing at in the playoffs. It was I mean, yeah, he's found his weapon in the tight end. Was this Lovelace? Loveland?

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Loveland Loveland, who who by the way, I wanted in Jacksonville, remember? Yeah, that I was I was hammering the table for in Jacksonville. Dynamic tight end.

SPEAKER_03 30:51

Love that kid. Yeah, it's been it's it's been surprising. Um I didn't think it would he would be this good this quick. And um that's another point I had about oh, the Bears haven't had uh what you were saying about the Bears history. The Bears haven't had a a 4,000 yard passer in the history ever. I mean, well he got close last year. It was 3942, I think. Something like that. But as you say the the Bears history with quarterbacks has been well, I guess, you know, Caleb, I thought Caleb would be another victim of it, but if he can continue if he can continue to be like this, he'll be maybe the greatest quarterback, greatest Bears quarterback ever, even better than Jay Cutler. But I mean, that's just like the what his trajectory looks like now. I'm not saying that's what it'll look like, but I'm just saying, you know.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Josh, it's like that um that family guy skit where Stewie kicks the soccer ball and then gets the uh the trophy. Like that was easy. That'll be Caleb Williams. I think the thing with the Bears that will like really interest me is because correct me if I'm wrong, Jay, I don't have the stat in front of me, but like they had a lot of turnovers. They had a lot of forced turnovers last year, or a lot of close, yeah, most forced takeaways last year. And that stuff dries up, right? Well, we saw that with the 2017 Jags. Like, it's not easy to continue that on the defensive end. Um, so we'll see when it comes to the Bears, but I'm very excited for that matchup. Um, Josh, I know you said you didn't have too much to add on the Titans, but obviously you're very familiar with Cam Ward. So, like, you know, of course they're bringing Robert Salah in. Um, Brian Dable was another guy you're familiar with. Uh Gus Bradley is their defensive coordinator. We're familiar with that guy, right, Jay? Um just a crazy stew of coaches and bald coaches uh in the world.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

Yeah, I was about to say the ball team ball heads.

SPEAKER_01 32:36

Just a bunch of just a bunch of MJFs over there uh pretty soon over in in Tennessee. But uh Josh, what do you like what did you see out of Cam Ward? We talked about a lot about Cam Ward last year, and I'm relatively high on him because his his his whole tape is just him running for his life and then making a crazy throw uh all of 2025. So, like what do you think is his ceiling in Tennessee? Do you think like they'll they'll be on to something, or will this be one of those cases where he's gonna have to go somewhere else eventually?

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Yeah, I think it's gonna be a case where he's gonna have to go somewhere else. Um as great as a much of as much of a floor lifter, floor raiser as Cam Ward is, I don't think it'll affect the pro team as much as he did in college. I'm not saying that the the weapons that he has around him. Well, I guess he's only one, right? Who who did they draft? Uh the boy from Ohio. Oh, Cornell Tate. Cornell Tate. Yeah. And the jury's still out on him. I didn't even think he was the best wide receiver in the well, I didn't think he deserved to be drafted that high, but um Yeah, it was a weird wide receiver draft depending on like your opinion and how you felt about the injury for Tyson and Yeah, the the Tate going that high was a little surprising for sure. I mean yeah, it's uh I think it's a situation where he'd have to go somewhere else. Uh uh It might be it might not even be his next team. It might be his second, third, his third or fourth team like Baker or Sam Darnold. Yeah, it might be I think it's that situation in terms of Cam Ward's career path. I just don't I don't know if he if it's I don't know how to describe it. I don't think he can save that franchise. Yeah, I don't think it's I don't see it in the cards.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

Yeah, no, I mean I I think what Josh trying to say is um yeah, like how I didn't feel like Caleb Williams can save the Bears franchise. You know what I'm saying? Like it's a lot of franchises have that that yuck about them that they're it's hard to shake. And I think like with Josh Prowley, you know, he feels like the Titans are one of those organizations. But I mean, look, the Titans have had a generally successful history, generally. So I wouldn't put them in that class with the Bears. Um that's good. That's because the playstyle was different. I mean, Steve Minair was that's true, yeah. That's true.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

It was a different time than they call lighting in a bottle with Tannehill because of Derrick Henry, and you know, they had they've always had like a serviceable like defense, but like it they're yeah, they're a weird case, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

Yeah, but um, yeah, I mean, I think where the Titans um kind of to Josh's point, where their improvement should come is on the interior part of the of their defense, like on that defensive side, because if I'm mistaken, if I'm not mistaken, they added Franklin Myers, that was, you know, the defensive tackle we wanted badly here in Jacksonville. Putting him with Simmons, man, like that's gonna cause some problems, you know, for offenses. So um, yeah, no, I I get it because yeah, when you look at the offseason, at least to my recollection, um, I don't see where they made a lot of improvements offensively. I'm trying to think of any offensive linemen they picked up because that's probably where they needed to make more additions uh specifically. But it is right now I'm I'm kind of drawing a blank on that, but I don't think they really added any significant offensive linemen, which that was a big problem for them last year. So, you know, if that's the case, they might be just hoping that their offensive linemen that they have will develop. But yeah, no, I get it. I get where you're coming from.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Yeah. And also just before we get to the last five, to address your point, Josh, about the the the bye week. That you make a really good point because Jay, if they wanted to come back from London, they would have Indy. And like you said, you don't ever want to just write off a team and like check off a win, but like that's the most checkoff win you could have on the schedule is playing indie after the bye. But to to give you a little history, Jay, uh Josh, they usually do the bye after the London trip, but they didn't do that two years ago, right? Uh Jay? Two years ago, they didn't do the bye after London. So, like, there's proof of concept that they'll do it. Um, so yeah, because four, like you said, two games in four four days would would have been the time, I think would it would have been a good idea to do it then. But yeah, I don't know. And Shaw they requested week seven. That's what they requested.

SPEAKER_02 37:02

Yeah, but I and Shaw got enough pool. I mean, if if it's up to him, he's got enough pool at this point. Um, you know, you obviously he's well respected at this point by his you know, the other owners, like he could have lobbied maybe for it, but I don't know again, I don't know if that's something that's up to him or whatnot.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

But um you can you can request when your bias, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:22

I think so. Yeah, I think so. If I'm so thinking of it correctly, so yeah, it's a weird buy man. Um, but let's just hope like we're just coming out of that or going into the buy pretty healthy and we stay healthy, you know, after it as well. We'll see. I mean, well, the the unique thing about it is if there was a year to put the buy there, it was this year because you know, a lot of what we did this year is we built up our depth, right? So we are a deeper team than we let we were last year. A lot of our draft picks are people that aren't gonna start depth pieces, right? Literally, Nate Borkacher, right, is not gonna start. He's gonna be behind Brenton Strange. Um, Albert Regis probably won't start. Um, I think he'll be a starter eventually, but probably won't start out out of the gate. All of this is a lot of depth pieces. Jalen Husky, a backup safety, right? Um, the backup wide receivers that we got, so on and so forth. So at least we're deep enough to um, and we, you know, you knock on wood when you say this. If we do sustain any injuries, we're deep enough uh to hang on a little bit better than we were last year. Um, and hopefully having that buy as early as it is won't hurt us.

SPEAKER_01 38:35

There'll definitely be a big uh storyline to keep an eye on for sure. So um, but yeah, let's get to the last five games of the season, two more primetime games starting off the week 14. Monday night football, Jay, here at the bank against the Pittsburgh Steelers, uh, which there was actually just breaking news about the Steelers half an hour ago. Adam Schefter announced that uh Aaron Rodgers has signed a new one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Uh, he ain't gonna be the quarterback for the Steelers come week 14. I think we'll be seeing someone else by that time. Um week 15, they will go to Houston. Uh, so that's always a game that uh you circle because it's they've they've struggled in Houston against the Texans. Sunday night football against the Dallas Cowboys out there in Dallas on the 27th, so the uh the weekend of the of the holidays. Um they will play week 17 against the commanders here at home and then wrap up in Indy for week 18. So uh there you have it, Jay. Monday night football against the Steelers. Uh at Houston, week 15, Sunday night football, week 16 against the Cowboys, uh, at home against the Commanders, and week 18 against uh in Indianapolis to wrap up the season. So what do you got there, Jay? Two primetime games in the last five weeks of the season. Knock on wood, like you said, that that week 16 Sunday night football matchup doesn't get flexed out because it won't matter. Um, but yeah, another team in the Cowboys that I think is going to make some pretty, pretty big leaps uh when it comes to their season. So uh yeah, what do you got for us for the last five weeks of the season?

SPEAKER_02 40:03

Yeah, certainly not as tough of a stretch as that first set that you mentioned. Um, but still, you know, there are some teams on here, especially when you're late in your season, you know, and if you're beat up, that could cause some problems for you, right? You know, I man, it's just hard to get used to seeing Pittsburgh without Mike Tomlin on the sideline. That's gonna feel so awkward to me. But um, but yeah, I mean, with Aaron Rodgers being back if he's healthy and McCarthy there, um, you certainly can't overlook that game and the you know, the connection those two have and the years they spent together in terms of when they were with the Packers. Um, so you know, that's a game I can see us winning, but it it certainly won't be easy when looking at that quarterback to head coach connection. Um Texans at Houston is always hard, right? You know, we're talking about the top defense in the league. You know, you you would prefer, I mean, and that's not a bad spot to play them, actually. At least they're not like dead last in terms of the last team on the schedule. But yeah, that one, of course, like we always go in that one with with doubt, right? Especially with that defense, man, and having to travel. So um that's I think that's why it was so important. And a lot of fans are harping on the fact that that first Houston game, that's why people really wanted that in Jacksonville. Because, you know, if we go into the season, it's likely that um, or I guess what I'm trying to say is um when we play the Texans and the Texans are good, nine times out of ten, we split the series, right? And our best chance to get two up on them would have been having that home game in actual Jacksonville instead of in London. But um, you know, that's that's in the past now, the schedule's out now, there's nothing we can do about it. Man, I love the tech uh playing Dallas for Sunday night football. I think we'll be in good shape at that point. I think it won't get flexed out. Um, you know, it's rare that we're on Sunday night football. This will give us a little bit more exposure to a newer audience, if you will, because apparently still a lot of people haven't seen the Jacksonville Jad Wars. Have you seen the predictions out there and stuff like people still have the Texans winning the division, which is a respectable depend opinion, but when you hear why, it's like, well, you haven't seen enough of the Jag Wars, is basically why, you know. So that'll give them a little bit of exposure there. And I mean, Dallas is America's team, right? Um, I would say we we need to plan a trip for that one, y'all, because we love Dallas so much, but that's so close to Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

It's right after Christmas. You know how expensive it would be to fly. And they just shut down Spirit. How are we gonna get there? We can't afford to go to Dallas.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

You just made a great point. Spirit is gone. Jeez, man. Oh man. R.I.P. to the GOAT, man. But uh yeah, um, and then those two last games, uh, the Washington Commanders and the Colts. Um, I left hand up. Who are we?

SPEAKER_01 42:57

The left or right, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 42:59

Left is the left, I think. So uh yeah, shout out to the commanders. Uh man, you can't help but say it every time you see the commanders, man. Um, but yeah, man. Um, you know what really concerns me about that commanders game, that feel, man, like that late in the season and all the injuries that be going on there, man. It's at home. It's at oh, it's at home. Oh, thank God. Yeah, it's right here. Good call. Thank you. Oh, God was looking out for us there, man. Yeah, we'll play on that good old Bermuda Jaguars turf. Okay. So yeah, no, I like that. I like that for us. That's a win, probably. And then the Indianapolis Colts game. Um, you know, the Colts that can be a little pesky at the end of your season, depending on you know how healthy they are. And you know, if Daniel Jones continues on the path that he was when he whenever he returns, um, he'd probably be back for that first game when we play him. But um, that I hate playing divisional rivals for the last game, right? Because it can always get dicey and pesky if you need that last win. And sometimes the Jaguars have found themselves when they need that last win to get into the playoffs. Um, but again, you know, our history as of late has been good against the Colts. So I guess, you know, we have that to rely on. But yeah, man, I always prefer to not, and it never works out. We never, our schedule never falls that way. I prefer to not play a division opponent as our last opponent.

SPEAKER_01 44:24

Yeah, I think that's how they've they've done it the last few years for all teams is they want those division matchups to be pretty important come the end of the year. Um, mostly because they want like they want to make sure they get like Steelers Ravens in week Sunday Night Football and week 18, it seems like. So um, but yeah, Josh, what do you think? Two primetime games here, Pittsburgh and Dallas. Uh obviously some marquee quarterbacks as well, uh, here as far as some of these matchups here. So, yeah, what what what's your take on these last five games for uh for Jacksonville?

SPEAKER_03 44:57

Yeah, I think um the most important one is the Texans game. I think that would probably decide the division. I don't I think the Colts game would be by that point it would be incon inconsequential. But you guys get kind of an advantage here. It's December uh late December, but these two games, the Texans and Cowboys are inside, and then you know, you get the commanders at home. I don't think you have to deal with the cold weather that much, and you get Steelers at home. I think you guys will have a uh it'll be a favorable uh weather matchup for the last six games of the season, other than well, I guess the Colts is inside too. But yeah, I think the Houston, depending on what the defense looks like, uh if the Stroud can bounce back from the season he had last year, I think that'll be the most important game on the schedule is the week 15 matchup.

SPEAKER_02 45:50

Yeah, that's a good point. I didn't think about the weather. I mean, I mean, obviously I mentioned the weather already, but I didn't think about the settings. Like, right, December, the most important part of December football is playing physical, being able to run the ball, which in these settings you'll be able to do. You know, all of these are pretty much indoor settings or what what tropical weather, I guess I would say, uh conditions. So yeah, no, I didn't I didn't even think of that part of it with the um the two domes, the three domes, actually. Um, and then commanders, as Josh pointed out, is at home. So that helps a lot, especially in the month of December.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

Yeah. Not having to go to Pittsburgh is huge. Yeah, um, not having to go to Washington, as you were alluding to, uh Jay was with that that that stadium there stick staying out of that, um, is is obviously very beneficial too. So um, yeah, and and then like I said, two primetime games, man. Really excited. Go ahead, Josh.

SPEAKER_03 46:45

Uh uh, are they ever gonna give you guys a Thanksgiving game? Or have you guys ever played on Thanksgiving games?

SPEAKER_01 46:51

Yeah, we've we've never gotten, I think we're like one of the only two.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

Yeah, it's like y'all and um yeah, damn. This is always a trivia question. I can't remember, but I know it's one of y'all. I know it's y'all or somebody else.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

NFL teams feel gonna research never.

SPEAKER_03 47:06

It might just be y'all now, because I think the Texans play on Thanksgiving. Was it two years ago? Just us. Yeah, we sold up DLO.

SPEAKER_02 47:16

Yeah, you know what? I think I wouldn't be sure.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

Honestly, we always play Detroit horribly in Detroit, too. So like I'm fine with it. Um I mean, obviously, they could play the Cowboys, obviously. Oh, and now there's like what four Thanksgiving games anyway. So, but yeah, no, we still still nothing for us.

SPEAKER_02 47:32

Well, I think now that you mention it, I wasn't thinking about it, but I think when it would happen is when the new stadium's up. That might be a time to do it, you know. So they might be literally waiting. Of course, it can't happen, well, likely not next year because of the conditions. Then we're gonna be out of our stadium. Um, I mean, I guess we could play an opponent on uh Thanksgiving, but I think like a a way to debut our first Thanksgiving game would be in the new stadium. That would be a good idea if you know that's what the league is considering.

SPEAKER_01 48:03

Yeah, still no Thanksgiving game here this year, so the streak continues. Um, but yeah, that like you said, it will have it'll it's at least now on paper, looking like a little bit of a lighter schedule as opposed to how they open up the season. Uh, but we'll see how that goes. Uh Jason, things that stand out here, no back-to-back home games. I mean, technically the Eagles and the Texans game is a home game, but coming down the stretch, no back-to-back home games. Um, only four home games uh from week eight to week eighteen as well. Um, so those things are you know things worth worth notating. Um it's it's again it's interesting that they don't have they they have three straight weeks on the road, week nine, ten, and eleven away from home. So, you know, these are just things that you know trends that you notice here uh again in in May uh that may come up and be something worth paying attention to, you know, coming the actual season. So yeah, no back-to-back home games on the schedule.

SPEAKER_02 49:00

Yeah, yeah, I'm not shocked at all because again, I I knew the year of the stadium construction, um, this well, this year of the stadium construction, I knew it was going to be weird and disjointed. But yeah, no, you you would like for it to shake out a little bit better than that, you know, at least have one to two consecutive games at home. But um at the end of the day, you know, I I think we have the right coach to help us get through these special circumstances of a schedule. You know what I'm saying? And Liam Cohen, he's done a good job of having the team ready to play for the most part, regardless. One thing that also stood out, I don't think we have to go too far west this year, uh, which that's always something we're scared to do because we don't fare well um when we go to the West Coast. Um, you know, we we got the history, uh, especially with like the CO.

SPEAKER_01 49:50

They did they did pretty well. Yeah, that's true. They went to San Francisco and one, went to Denver and one. Uh they played LA in in London and got trounced. But um otherwise, like they didn't do too bad. Because we've that was a talking point for us last year. It's like how they're gonna do when they go out out west. Um, I think they beat the breaks off of the Chargers. Uh oh, that was here though. Um, so uh they won an overtime against Arizona. They beat they beat uh the Raiders, so they did pretty well last year heading out west.

SPEAKER_02 50:18

Um that's a tribute that's as I say we got the right coach the right coach to weather the conditions of a unique schedule, man. But one more thing came to mind, Phil, with the um if we ever had a Thanksgiving game in Jacksonville, you know, we always are together as a family, you know, you always with us. We even try to get Josh to come through to Jacksonville. How would we handle that? Would we we go to a Jaguars? We'd have to go. Right, right. We'll fill up on turkey at the house and then go to the game afterwards, right? Yeah, tailgate. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, that would be dope. A tailgate, yeah. Nah, but that was interesting, man. Go ahead. I would leave that to Josh. Josh is the I'm I'm okay on the grill, but Josh, Josh, and shout outs to Mr. Samson, man. Josh did some good things. I don't fry either, man. You don't know.

SPEAKER_03 51:14

Leanne did a hell of a job though. That one time, that one turkey we had, that was uh what was it, Friendsgiving where we had the uh turkey? Didn't Lee.

SPEAKER_01 51:23

Oh yeah, over Leanne's. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:25

Yeah, it wasn't bad. Yeah, dude. I'm not frying no man. I can't fry fish, man.

SPEAKER_02 51:31

Um or or yeah, Leanne. Um see I didn't I went at Friendsgiving though, but um Leanne or Jazz know how to whip up some turkey too, man. Like, yeah, like she got a loin last year. I'm really not a fan of turkey anyway.

SPEAKER_03 51:44

You can give me some pork.

SPEAKER_01 51:46

Hey, I mean, I have plenty of bronze. That's a whole other thing. The turkey is like the thing that I'm usually like like least excited about. It it kind of just brings the plate together, you know what I mean? But I'm more excited about the sides and and everything else, you know. Give me some Brunswick stew and some mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, and I'm good.

SPEAKER_03 52:04

Please.

SPEAKER_01 52:05

Greens, yeah, before sales okay. So yeah, but as we wrap up this episode here, guys, uh, we'll kind of look at some of maybe the like the marquee matchups. Are there any? I don't know how how uh in tune you guys have been with some of the other games that are happening uh throughout the season. Um I know we're opening up the year with a Super Bowl rematch, I believe. Um New England and Seattle will play it Wednesday night um in Seattle. Um, there's some games in like Australia, they're playing in Spain again, like they're trying to bring this game more and more international. The Christmas Day are the Thanksgiving Day games. We're getting Chiefs and Bills, which I'm just so sick of at this point. Uh Eagles, Cowboys on Thanksgiving could be pretty good, and then Bears Lions on Thanksgiving as well. Christmas Day games are Rams and Seahawks, so that could be pretty good. Uh Bills Broncos could end up being a solid matchup, and then Packers, Bears. Um, I'm not sure about the Packers, man. I we'll we'll see what happens with them this year. Um, some other primetime matchups that are being highlighted. Um, Chiefs Seahawks in week seven, Patriots, Chiefs, week 15. The uh Falcons Saints in week four is uh is being highlighted because it is the 20-year anniversary since the Saints returned to the Superdome. So that's kind of a you know big big anniversary there, of course, with the Saints. Not sure how good the football is going to be, but it is a uh marquee matchup for historical purposes, respectfully. Um but yeah, have you guys uh again pinpointed any of the any of the other matchups that we'll see from other teams outside of, of course, with the Jaguars? I have not. Did you check out any of those or or any of the ones that I mentioned specifically? Uh I think Patriot Seahawks opening up the season, I think will be uh is a uh is something that is pretty solid.

SPEAKER_03 53:48

Yeah, and and you know, there's a such thing as Super Bowl hangover. They they they they're gonna um I think the Patriots are gonna look well, I don't say I think they're gonna look, but it's gonna be very interesting to see what type of team takes the field after all the what's the what are the Calci uh odds that that variable is still coaching the Patriots come week one?

SPEAKER_02 54:13

Bro, yeah, damn Patriots we're one drop away.

SPEAKER_01 54:16

We're one thing away, TMZ notification away from him having to step down.

SPEAKER_02 54:20

Dude, like I don't think you know like Josh McDaniels, welcome back.

SPEAKER_01 54:27

Time's a charm.

SPEAKER_03 54:30

Oh man. Was behind this whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 54:35

Oh wow mastermind stuff there, man. Mastermind stuff. Uh but yeah, no, I I pulled up some primetime games that um on that show up on NFL Network that they listed as some of their favorites. Um, absolutely that Rams and Seahawks, man. After how that went last year, those two man, like you always gonna get must see TV with them. Um and of course, you know, we we watch the Rams closely because we're from the Rams tree, right? So uh watching Sean McVay versus that Seattle defense, which we struggled against last year, will be interesting. Uh so that one stands out to me. Um Rams 49ers, um, that NFC West division as a whole always have interesting matchups, but Rams 49ers, um, that one is gonna be an interesting one as well. And you know, one thing you got to factor in there, which I don't think is gonna be a drop-off, but you know, um Robert Salah's gone from the from San Francisco, so you know it's a defensive coordinator change there. So, you know, you always kind of keep that kind of stuff in mind. But um those are the only ones that kind of stand out on this list to me. Um, I see Chiefs and Broncos that should be interesting with the the Chiefs kind of bouncing back from next year. I expect them to bounce back. But yeah, man, I uh a lot of these marquee matchups that I want to see are the Rams involving the Rams and that NFC West division.

SPEAKER_01 56:02

Yeah, Josh. Any any uh you got that list there, I think, in front of you. Any any of those games uh that are gonna be stand-ups for you? Do you also share Chiefs Bills fatigue?

SPEAKER_03 56:12

Oh yeah, I I I skipped right on past that one. Um maybe maybe some of these. But Josh Allen. It's this is the year. Maybe some of these uh divisional games like the Ravens, Bengals, especially after the whole trade what was it, trade Max uh Max Crosby thing. Max Crosby thing, yeah. Or uh what else we got here?

SPEAKER_01 56:34

Uh they got Texan Steelers on this. I don't know if I'd call that.

SPEAKER_03 56:38

Yeah, I don't know about that one either. Yeah, I don't even know what the Texans interesting one. Uh did did Rogers and McCarthy make up? I didn't even know how I don't even know how that happened. Like that's uh I thought they had bad bloods.

SPEAKER_01 56:50

They must have. They must have. Yeah, I mean, listen, when you're when you got no other suitors, sometimes it just I guess.

SPEAKER_03 56:59

Uh oh, Bears and Seahawks, yeah, that would be a good one. Um Kayla Williams going into Seattle. Yeah, that would be an interesting one. Yeah, I think you hit all the the important ones, uh Jay.

SPEAKER_02 57:13

Yeah, yeah, man. That I that Rams and uh Seahawks game from last year is one I'll never forget, man. That was some of the most epic football I've ever seen in my life, man. Well, all three of them were shootouts, weren't they?

SPEAKER_01 57:25

That's why uh they were they were crazy.

SPEAKER_02 57:28

That I I'm talking about, I think it was that first one, that Thursday night one, was it? The one like at the end of the season? Yeah, yeah. At the end of the season, that one was pretty epic. Yeah, some of the best football that our generation will see. Well, no defense was being played, but some of the best offensive football our generation will see, man. I I it thoroughly enjoyed that game.

SPEAKER_01 57:49

Well, there's that's it, folks. The the schedule release is here. We know what the uh season will shape up to look like. Three again, three primetime games, just to throw that out there again, is a is a big deal. Very, very excited for the city and of course for the team, especially since uh, you know, of course, two of them are away. Um, but that Monday night football game, right around my birthday, guys, maybe we'll start making plans. That'll be very, very exciting. Uh yeah, like I said, Jay, I would love to go to a uh Sunday night football game in Dallas, uh, you know, my second home, but uh right around Christmas. I just don't know. I don't know. Just like your Las Vegas plans. We'll see how that goes when it comes to planning that out. But uh guys, this was a whole lot of fun. An unexpected surprise for me to see uh Josh here on this episode. So this was a lot of fun. Josh, anything you want to share with the audience? If do you if I don't know if you have anything to plug or if you just want to leave a leave a parting message for the touchdown Jaguars audience?

SPEAKER_03 58:39

Uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 58:43

Go by Lego Batman coming out uh on May 22nd.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

Yeah, uh Batman comes out next week. Uh so does Spider-Man for some reason. Wait, what is it coming out? Next, is it July?

SPEAKER_01 58:54

Oh, the movie? Yeah, yeah, June or July or something like that.

SPEAKER_03 58:58

Yeah, I'm gonna be in my cave for a little while with Batman.

SPEAKER_01 59:00

007 first light, go check that out.

SPEAKER_03 59:02

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:04

Drake went over three this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 59:06

Um yeah, actually let's talk about let's play the dice, man. Let's do that. Again, different different podcast for a different discussion for a different time. Uh Jay, anything else you want to mention for our audience before we wrap up here tonight?

SPEAKER_02 59:24

Nah, man. Um, again, just blessed, man, to be able to do this on my another birthday, another trip around the earth with my friends here. Um yeah, it was an unexpected surprise. Josh had hit me up earlier today, said um um he wanted to come through. I was like, sure, man. And then it dawned on me, Phil, around I think it was like 6.59. I was like, oh my god, me and Phil got to record. So I had to set everything up here. And um when you turned on the camera, you was like, oh Josh, what are you doing? So it was a pleasant surprise, man. We got to do more of these, man. It's always fun making content with your friends. But um, yeah, in terms of anything to plug, man, uh, of course, you know, you can um check out Touchdown Jaguars as always. Um, I will start doing those scouting reports. I haven't gotten around to them yet, but we'll do the scouting reports on the the draft picks. Um, as always, you all know where to find our episodes, whether it's Spotify, iTunes, you name it, Apple Music, we're there. Um, also, too, a little side plug, man. Check out my um streaming channel, level 88 Gaming. Been doing that on the side on Fridays. Um, my blood pressure's up because it's Resident Evil, but that's okay. Um, I got a good doctor. So feel free to shout, uh, check that out and rate, comment, subscribe to that. But yeah, man, this was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:41

Yeah, 100%. Uh everything you need again is in the show notes of this and every single episode. We appreciate you guys. Uh, of course, during the off-season episodes are a little bit lighter, um, but uh we we definitely appreciate you for continuing to support the show. Uh, make sure to follow us over on social media, and then also um you can follow me at Phil the Filipino as I continue to chase my voice acting dream. So make sure to check us out or check me out over there as well. But folks, my co-host James Johnson, our buddy Josh, shout out to him again for joining us. And I am your co host, Phil Barrera. Thank you so much for listening to Touchdown Jaguars. You guys be safe out there, and we will see you on the next one.

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Touchdown Jaguars!

James Johnson/Phil Smith

James Johnson and Phil Smith from The Jaguars Wire (USA Today) bring you the best and most up to date Jacksonville Jaguars news. “Touchdown Jaguars!” is a tribute to the prospective ownership group “Touchdown Jacksonville!” In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams and “Touchdown Jacksonville!” announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists. In November 1993, the NFL owners voted 26–2 in favor of awarding the 30th franchise to Jacksonville. James and Phil have been fans of the franchise ever since and have had the honor (and sometimes dishonor) of covering the team professionally since 2017. The rest as they say, is history.

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