Another week, another absolute shellacking from a division rival to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jaguars wrapped up another disappointing week with a loss to the Tennessee Titans by a score 42-20 in a game where they were flat-out dominated. With the loss, the Jaguars fall to 4-7 on the year and are dead last in the AFC South. This is the third straight loss to a AFC South division rival and also their third consecutive loss by 20 or more points.
There is not a lot — if anything — that went the Jaguars way on Sunday. Nevertheless, here are the good, the bad and the ugly moments from the Jaguars and TitansWeek 12 matchup:
The good: Leonard Fournette continuously showing that he is a franchise running back
While the Jaguars offense left much to be desired, one player who showed up to play was Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette.
Fournette put the team on his back to the best of his ability as he finished with 97 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Fournette now has 951 total rushing yards on the season, which is good for sixth in the NFL. He even led the team in receptions with nine for 62 receiving yards.
Fournette’s continued growth has been completely lost in the Jaguars’ miserable season. He is currently fourth in the NFL in receiving among running backs with 391 yards. That would represent the highest total since his rookie season where he finished with 302 yards on 36 receptions.
Fournette is also on pace to rush for 1,366 yards which would shatter his rookie total of 1,040. In a season filled with disarray and disappointment, the Jaguars at least can be excited with knowing Fournette is truly panning out to be the productive No. 4 overall pick that they hoped for.
The bad AND the ugly: Every single thing on the Jaguars’ side of the ball not named Fournette
This game was so bad for the Jaguars that it can not be separated between being bad and ugly.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Jaguars were almost helpless.
The Jaguars didn’t score their first touchdown until 2:23 in the third quarter when the game was already out of hand at a score of 35-11. Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles finished with 272 passing yards with a large majority of most of those yards coming in the fourth quarter when the Jaguars were down as much as 42-17.
On the defensive side, the main issue all season was the Jaguars’ sieve-like rush defense. This game was no different as the Jaguars’ defense was completely victimized by Titans running back Derrick Henry to the tune of 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Henry even broke out for a 74-yard run in the third quarter.
The real story was Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who started the season as the backup to Marcus Mariota. He absolutely eviscerated the Jaguars’ defense and showed some toughness overall leaping into the air for a 21-yard rushing touchdown. The Jags’ defense allowed Tannehill to not only pass for 259 yards with a 14.4 yards per pass average and two touchdowns, but he also ran for 40 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. In total, Tannehill finished with a 93.0 quarterback rating and a 155.8 passer rating and completely demoralized the Jags’ defense.
The Titans not only dominated the entire game, but also erased the hopes of a respectable season from Jaguars fans. The loss put them further down the standings in the AFC South and could possibly lead to them acquiring the last spot in the division.
A loss is one thing, but another extremely brutal loss to a division rival is flat out embarrassing at this point. Something needs to change and the bleeding has to stop eventually. Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone will have to take a deep look at the game film and the makeup of this team and figure out where their hearts are at this point in the season.