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The Jacksonville Jaguars had many opportunities to get back in the win column on Sunday against the New York Jets. Though they only held two brief first-half leads, they stayed within range and had a chance to tie it with a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter but didn’t convert. The Jags got another chance at the end of the game down five, and they got down to the Jets’ one-yard line.
But they had to spike it on third and goal, and on fourth and goal, quarterback Trevor Lawrence couldn’t connect with Marvin Jones. It wouldn’t have mattered if he did, as Jacksonville struggled to get set and was called for an illegal shift penalty, ending the game and giving New York a 26-21 victory.
The Jaguars have now lost their sixth-straight game, and with remaining games coming against the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, their odds of winning another one this season seem fairly low. After back-to-back losses to competitors for the bottom spot in the NFL, Jacksonville is likely heading for its second first-overall pick in two years. Here are the takeaways and notes from the disappointing loss.
A good game from Lawrence wasn’t enough
The Jaguars’ rookie quarterback had one of his best games of the season on Sunday. Though he didn’t find the end zone for the fourth straight week (and seventh time in the last eight outings), he completed 66.7% of his passes for 280 yards without throwing any interceptions.
He threw the ball 39 times, which was a result of a devastating injury in the run game. James Robinson was carted into the locker room in the first quarter, and it was revealed that he had suffered a torn Achilles. That’s an injury that will end his season and could even impact his availability heading into 2022.
Without Robinson, Dare Ogunbowale saw his most work of the whole season, carrying the ball 17 times for 57 yards and a touchdown. The Jags finished with 132 rushing yards, with most of the rest of the production coming from Lawrence (six carries for 37 yards) and receiver Tavon Austin (three carries for 21 yards).
While Lawrence avoided mistakes through the air and had his most productive passing game since a win over Miami on Oct. 17, he still had some areas of concern. He fumbled the ball twice, and though one of those was recovered in the end zone by guard Will Richardson for a touchdown, the other came after a 28-yard sack and gave the Jets the ball in their territory.
Those fumbles have become a bit of a trend for him, and he needs to take care of the ball when he gets hit as well, not just when he drops back to pass.
Jets run wild on the Jags
New York’s run game has been far from a massive threat this season, but you wouldn’t have guessed that from watching Sunday’s game. The Jaguars allowed 273 yards on the game, including a big game from rookie running back Michael Carter, who had 16 carries for 118 yards. Tevin Coleman was also effective, taking 14 carries for 57 yards.
Quarterback Zach Wilson even got in on the action, punishing poor containment from Jacksonville’s defensive front with 91 yards on four carries, including a 52-yard run for a touchdown on the Jets’ opening drive. Wilson was less effective through the air, completing 14-of-22 passes for 102 yards, though he did find the end zone passing the ball, as well.
The Jags were shorthanded, missing both Josh Allen and Myles Jack on defense, and while the defense played very poorly against the run, it wasn’t all bad. The team stopped the Jets twice on fourth down in the red zone, with one of the stops coming on a pass breakup from Shaquill Griffin in the end zone while the other came when rookie Tyson Campbell snuffed out a fake field goal.
The Jags outgained New York in this game despite not having much success on the ground, and though Jacksonville couldn’t stop Carter or Wilson’s rushing attack, the defense had bend-but-don’t-break tendencies in this one, and gave the offense multiple chances to win the game.
Other notes
- One of Jacksonville’s starters out on the Reserve/COVID-19 list was right guard Ben Bartch, meaning Will Richardson Jr. made the start on Sunday. He held his own, as the team only gave up one sack on Lawrence, and he even found the end zone as previously mentioned. With decisions to be made in the upcoming offseason about Cam Robinson, Jawaan Taylor, and Andrew Norwell, players like Richardson, and Walker Little impressing in the action they see has been encouraging.
- Another starter out was Laviska Shenault Jr., and that meant that Tavon Austin saw a much bigger role in the offense than he had in recent weeks. In addition to working him into the ground game, he had six catches for 68 yards, edging out Laquon Treadwell (four catches for 54 yards) though both played well. The leading receiver, however, was Marvin Jones Jr. The veteran was targeted 13 times, catching eight of them for 74 yards.
- The tight ends also got fairly involved in this game despite a slow start and the continued absence of Dan Arnold, with James O’Shaughnessy catching all four of his targets for 49 yards while Jacob Hollister caught both of his targets for 20 yards. Veteran Chris Manhertz played but wasn’t targeted.
- Without Jack, Chapelle Russell had a big opportunity while making his first start of the season at linebacker. He had his best outing of the season, tying Campbell for the team lead in tackles with seven, though he added another tackle on special teams. Shaquille Quarterman also factored into the rotation, and he made four tackles including a stop at the goal line to save a touchdown on third and goal.
- Allen’s absence also opened the door for a few rotational contributors to play a big role at edge rusher. Ultimately, veteran Jihad Ward outplayed second-year player K’Lavon Chaisson, totaling five tackles and the team’s only sack on Wilson. Meanwhile, Chaisson had just two tackles, dropped what should have been an easy interception, and left the game with an ankle injury.
- Andre Cisco made the first start of his career at safety with Rayshawn Jenkins on the injured reserve, and he had four tackles with a pass breakup. However, he was a bit outshined by rotational safety Daniel Thomas, who had six tackles and finished third in tackles behind Russell and Campbell. Thomas was a bit of a fringe final roster player during the preseason, but he has played well when given the opportunities.
- Special teams has been a problem all season for the Jags, but they were especially costly on Sunday. In addition to being the team’s leading receiver, Braxton Berrios had 138 yards on kick returns, aided mostly by a 102-yard return touchdown that came immediately following the fumble recovery touchdown from Richardson that gave the Jags the lead. Coleman was also effective on returns, taking three for 90 yards. There were special team positives as well, like the fact that the Jags blocked a PAT from Eddy Piñeiro and stopped a fake field goal while also converting on a fake punt. Matthew Wright also made all three kicks and has made his last nine after taking over midseason, but overall, the new coach is going to need to do a lot this coming offseason to address the degradation of special teams.