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The Jacksonville Jaguars can’t seem to find the winning formula as they drop another game this time to the Los Angeles Chargers. With the loss, the Jaguars fall to a dismal 1-6 record on the season and have lost their sixth consecutive game.
Tensions have slowly risen between the Duval fanbase and ownership as the team has shown zero signs of improvement. It also doesn’t help that it appears changes won’t be made until after the season at the latest.
It wasn’t complete doom and gloom for the Jags on Sunday though, as there were slightly good moments mixed in the bad ones. Here is your good, bad and ugly moments from Week 7’s Jaguars and Chargers game:
The good: No quit in these cats
While the Jaguars have consistently faced huge deficits early, they’ve shown an ability to continue to play hard and at the very least make their games interesting.
One example is the Jaguars falling behind early by a 16-0 deficit in the first half of the game, which many felt they wouldn’t bounce back from. However, the Cardiac Cats showed a bit of resiliency, answering with two James Robinson touchdowns that put the score at 16-14 before the half. The Jaguars would score their third straight touchdown on an incredible blocked punt return by special teams safety Daniel Thomas, giving the Jags the lead by a score of 21-16.
While the Chargers would go on to put up 20 points in the third quarter to pull away, the Jaguars showed a lot of fight from guys that aren’t exactly household names. That’s a good sign for a team dealing with such circumstances further proving that tanking isn’t something the players believe in.
The bad: The protection’s lack of protecting
Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II has been under fire all year from his offensive line. Coming into the game, the Jaguars ranked No. 5 in sacks allowed as Minshew has taken 17 sacks on the year. The Chargers’ defense woefully increased that total as Minshew was sacked five times Sunday. Two of those sacks came on third down.
The Jaguars were without the services of right guard A.J. Cann as he was ruled out due to a shoulder injury. He was replaced by rookie Ben Bartch, who was starting in his first game and was understandably overwhelmed by an extremely talented Chargers front seven. It felt as though the rest of the Jags line dealt with similar struggles.
No matter what quarterback will be behind center for the Jaguars, the line will have to do a much better job of providing protection overall.
The ugly: The defense once again falls apart
The Jacksonville Jaguars defense has been atrocious this year in coverage and in the run game.
While the offense has had their fair share of struggles, the Jags defense has put them into the most disadvantageous of situations by getting absolutely gashed repeatedly. Against the Chargers, the Jaguars defense gave up six plays of 20 or more yards. Two of those plays led to touchdowns by tight ends Donald Parham Jr. and Virgil Green.
The Jaguars defense also gave up a whopping 29 first downs on the day as the Chargers offense moved the ball completely at will. The Jaguars came into the matchup against the Chargers allowing the third-most first downs in the league and Sunday’s game was no different.
The Jacksonville Jaguars defense did not have a great day no matter how you look at it. They gave up 484 yards of offense, finished with only one sack, and failed to cause a turnover.
They also finished the day with this dubious streak:
The Jaguars have now joined the 1968 Broncos and 1984 Vikings as the only teams in NFL history to allow 30-plus points in six consecutive games in a single season, Per ESPN Stats & Info. https://t.co/GdtVEIuQCu
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) October 25, 2020
The Jaguars will face the Houston Texans, the Green Bay Packers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the next three weeks coming out of their bye week. That streak could possibly get extended by a fair amount in that time if head coach Doug Marrone and the Jaguars defense doesn’t get it together.