The Jacksonville Jaguars hit a new low on Sunday, falling 50-10 to the New England Patriots in what was their first time allowing 50 points to an opponent since 2015. The team sits at 2-14 after the blowout loss and is locked into a top-two pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
Once again, the Jags roster was fairly depleted with COVID-19 (or situations that required quarantining), and several practice squad players got call-ups to the active roster this week for the game. What we saw from those players wasn’t always good, but it resulted in a rotation we haven’t really seen before this season.
With that in mind, here’s how the snap counts broke down in Jacksonville’s loss on Sunday.
Offense
Analysis
- With three starters out on the offensive line, Tyler Shatley, Walker Little, and K.C. McDermott got the chance to start along the offensive line. Shatley and Little played the entire game, while McDermott rotated with Tre’Vour Wallace-Sims at right guard. The patchwork offensive line mostly held up, as the Jags gave up just two sacks and three quarterback hits.
- Despite seeing less action than Marvin Jones Jr., Laquon Treadwell was once again the favorite target in the passing game as he led the team in receiving and had the offensive play of the game on a great catch in traffic for a 40-yard gain. Tavon Austin played more than Laviska Shenault Jr. in the slot, but neither was very productive and Austin had just three catches for two yards.
- Dare Ogunbowale and Ryquell Armstead picked up the slack at running back with James Robinson and Carlos Hyde out. They combined for 64 yards on 15 carries as the rushing game was not very effective.
- Luke Farrell made the start at tight end with James O’Shaughnessy and Jacob Hollister both unavailable. He saw most of the time with Chris Manhertz and Kahale Warring rotating in, as well. Farrell was the only one in the group with a catch, though Manhertz was targeted once.
Defense
Analysis
- Chris Claybrooks got the start at corner in place of Shaquill Griffin and Pro Football Focus gave him a decent grade, but he and Tyson Campbell allowed big days to New England’s top receivers. Tre Herndon also struggled in the nickel spot, and he had just one tackle.
- With both starting safeties out, Daniel Thomas and Andre Cisco will likely be the duo moving forward, and they both played almost every defensive snap in this one. They finished second and third on the team in tackles, respectively, but they also struggled in coverage at times.
- After a solid game last week, Jihad Ward saw more playing time on Sunday than even Josh Allen. He only had four tackles, though, while Allen had six (one of which was for a loss). Without K’Lavon Chaisson, rookie Jordan Smith also saw some work at edge rusher in this game, but he only impacted the stat-sheet on special teams.
- The team opted for more of a rotation at linebacker than usual, giving Shaquille Quarterman some more playing time. He played well once again, finishing with six tackles in rotation with Damien Wilson.