If you watched the Jaguars' season opening game against the Green Bay Packers on September 11th, you were in for a real surprise. No the Jags did not win, but they sure as hell put up a fight. The final score was 27 to 23 and it was back and forth the entire time. While most people predicted that this game would be a blowout, I had picked the Jags to win 27 to 24. The Packers have been a popular pick to be this years Super Bowl contender, but a lot of people thought twice after today as they should.

The Jags were 5-11 last season which isn't great. However the team has been in a rebuilding process for awhile now. In 2011, longtime coach Jack Del Rio was fired and we shuffled around for a few years until getting Coach Gus Bradley in 2013. We were also in a shuffle to find the right quarterback to build our team around. Our prayers were answered in 2014 when The Jags drafted Blake Bortles as the 3rd overall pick. Not only was it nice to have a fresh quarterback that was a Florida native, but Bortles has proved to be the driving force we needed.

For a team that kind of relied on our run-game for so many years it is nice to have a quarterback that can move us down the field and quick. A lot of people have compared Bortles to a young Ben Roethlisberger, but to me he seems more of a young Brett Farve. In addition to new coaching and picking up Bortles, the Jags have built quite the offense and now our defense is looking just as strong. Allen Hurns and Julius Thomas looked really impressive in today's game. Allen Robinson is one of the best wide receivers in the league and fantasy football gold.

This past draft and off-season free agency additions is what is going to make the Jags a driving force this season. Jalen Ramsey, Myles Jack, Chris Ivory, and Malik Jackson were the most exciting additions. I personally hope to see Myles Jack starting soon.

The point is we've been rebuilding for about 3 years now and now all that hard work is paying off. You can't expect a team to do a complete 180 in just a year or so. The Jags have a very very strong roster and I think Bradley has done an incredible job of building a driving offense and a tough defense.

These are my predictions for the rest of the 2016 season:

*September 18: at San Diego Chargers, 4:25 p.m. (CBS) W

*September 25: Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m. (CBS) W

*October 2: Indianapolis Colts (London), 9:30 a.m. (CBS) L

*October 9: Bye

*October 16: at Chicago Bears, 1 p.m. (CBS) W

*October 23: Oakland Raiders, 1 p.m. (CBS) W

*October 27: at Tennessee Titans (Thursday), 8:25 p.m. (NFLN) W

*November 6: at Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m. (CBS) L

*November 13: Houston Texans , 1 p.m. (CBS) L

*November 20: at Detroit Lions, 1 p.m. (CBS) W

*November 27: at Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. (CBS) W

*December 4: Denver Broncos, 1 p.m. (CBS) L

*December 11: Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m. (FOX) L

*December 18: at Houston Texans, 1 p.m. (CBS) L

*December 24: Tennessee Titans (Saturday), 1 p.m. (CBS) W

*January 1: at Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m. (CBS) W

9 W - 7 L

This is the Jag's year.

See you in the playoffs!