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Jacksonville Jaguars: Loss should spell end of Gus Bradley’s tenure

By Tyler Spinnenweber

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Oct 18, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

8-30.

That is now Gus Bradley’s current record at the helm of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

After three straight losses to Matt Hasselbeck, Jameis Winston, and now Brian Hoyer, Bradley’s fate should all be cemented with a loss this weekend.

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This Sunday, the Jaguars will square off against Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills at Wembley Stadium in London. Though backup E.J. Manuel got the start for the injured Tyrod Taylor against the Bengals, Manuel has already beaten the Jags back in 2013. As a rookie, Manuel accounted for three touchdowns, two in the air and one on the ground as the Bills beat the Jaguars 27-20.

So far at Wembley, the Jaguars have been outscored 73-20 across the pond. A 42-10 drubbing against the 49ers in 2013, and a 31-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last season.

The Jaguars are trying to increase their fan base by playing overseas in England, but aren’t doing themselves any favors with the results they have had. Though the Bills are not as strong as the teams of years past the Jaguars have faced, don’t expect a win with how the team has been playing. The Jags have made Hasselbeck, Winston, and Hoyer look like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

So will Gus Bradley be fired after this weeks game? Well, if the Jaguars lose to the Bills, the team will head into their bye week at 1-6. No better time to pull the trigger than after the teams bye week as we saw this with the Miami Dolphins.

When the Jaguars hired Bradley in 2013, the team had little talent. Everyone knew the Jaguars were going to be bad in 2013 and their record showed. However, the team did win three straight games to end the year so there was optimism with the coaching staff and team heading into 2014.

In the 2014 draft, the team selected Blake Bortles as their quarterback for the future and surrounded him with a plethora of young talent. Still, not many predicted much success and the Jaguars went 3-13. Coming into 2015 however, Bradley said the roster was built. Playoffs might not have been the goal, but it was reasonable to expect at least six wins. The team is 1-5 right now and all indication is they won’t reach that mark. What’s worse is that the team should, and could, be 4-2 at this point with good coaching.

General manager David Caldwell has done an effective job at least at surrounding Bradley with adequate talent. But Bradley isn’t getting the best out of what he has.

The defense is abysmal and that is supposed to be Bradley’s specialty.

The Jags will square off against the Atlanta Falcons later this season. Take a look at this take.

And this one…

Alfie Crowe of Big Cat Country seems to agree saying, “Simply canning him mid-season won’t fix everything. It will give you a good idea however, on if it’s coaching or talent. I think it’s about 75 percent coaching and 25 percent talent at this point. I’m resigned to the fact that Caldwell is probably going to get a second coach, and to be honest that’s not a big deal. I think he’s done okay for the most part, and I tend to think Bortles is going to end up pretty good overall, and that’s the real key to Caldwell.”

If Bradley is gone after the bye, it’s likely Doug Marrone will step in and coach the team the rest of the season. The remaining  nine games will be an audition for Marrone to determine if he is the head coach going into next season.

Tune in to the Jags Bills game at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. The game will be the first ever game streamed live by Yahoo for everyone in the world to see.

Next: Jacksonville Jaguars: 5 Coaches to Replace Gus Bradley

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