After a third consecutive preseason loss, the Jacksonville Jaguars are heading into their last exhibition matchup with a win at the forefront of their minds. They came so close last night against the Pittsburgh Steelers but ended up just one point shy of taking the tilt to overtime for a chance to taste victory in dramatic fashion.
Though the Jaguars held their opponent under 20 points, the defense fell just short of dominance in the second half, allowing Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph to march down the field and score with just minutes remaining in the game. It proved too much for the third-string offense to overcome, and despite an all-around solid effort for the first 58 minutes, those last two would come to define their performance.
Head coach Doug Pederson would comment on the crunch-time defense in his press conference after the game, noting that, with the exception of the final drives at the end of the second and fourth quarters, the defense played their tails off.
Asked specifically about the first string defense, his quote about the unit was particularly telling about the unit as a whole, which failed at decisive moments at the end of both halves.
“Other than the two-minute drive at the end of the half I thought they played well,” Pederson said. “I don’t have the stat book in front of me but I think someone told me it was maybe 1.2 yards per attempt in the running game. I really feel like they got after them early and often. The two-minute drive, though, is something that we’ve got to get better at.”
It is curious that both the starters and backups failed in the same crucial situation during both of their shots to keep Jacksonville’s hopes of a win afloat. The team will certainly have the chance to prove that the failures they experienced against Pittsburgh were just a bump in the road, but for the time being the two-minute defense remains a key cause for concern for the Jaguars.