Another Blackout For Jacksonville and Oakland

NFL News - October 17th, 2009 - Written by John

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to avoid a blackout earlier this week before having to extend the deadline. The Cincinnati Bengals are hoping an extension will help their 46-game sellout streak to continue.

The Jacksonville Jaguars? They're not even trying. On Thursday, the team conceded that their game against the St. Louis Rams will be blacked out this weekend for the third time this year. Management passed on a chance for an extension to fill their luxury seats, as well.

It doesn't come as much of a surprise. If Jacksonville was unable to fill the stands for a game against the reigning NFC champ Arizona Cardinals, who are still an entertaining team, earlier in the year, there was no realistic chance that they were going to do it against a team that ranks dead last on ESPN's power rankings.

The Jaguars were ripped apart by the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday, 41-0, and don't seem to have a consistent identity that fans crave. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew vented his frustrations eariler this week when he questioned the play calling and named himself a glorified decoy.

It's only going to get worse. Owner Wayne Weaver, per ProFootballTalk, said he didn't believe the team would sell out a single game all year. Their next three home games are against teams with three wins between them, two coming from the Houston Texans.

The only other team with a high probability of being blacked out is the Oakland Raiders, who were recently dubbed a "laughing stock" by it's own defensive tackle Shaun Ellis.

There is a painful gap between the bottom five or six teams with the rest of the league, and those differences are hitting the franchise's pocket books big time.

To discuss this and other NFL related stories be sure to check out our new forum at:
https://www.usaplayers.com/forums/