Well, that certainly was a football game that was played.
In an uninspired, dull, and lifeless afternoon, the Jacksonville Jaguars rolled over and lost to the visiting Seattle Seahawks 20-12. The defeated
moved Jacksonville to 4-2, which is still great at this time of year, but it was how the Jags got that second loss that should raise the alarms around the franchise.
Of the litany of errors on Sunday, there was the fact that the offensive line was flat-out awful, allowing seven sacks. The team as a whole committed 10 penalties. The receivers couldn’t catch and the corners couldn’t cover. Oh, and half the team is now hurt or playing very banged up.
The sky is not falling in Jacksonville because of one bad loss. However, questions need to be answered as to why this team can’t play consistently clean football. It really raises the question as to what this team is doing in practice during the week when Travis Hunter STILL cannot line up properly.
With a quick flight to London on Monday morning and half the team injured, there will be many moving pieces to get this team back on track and ready to face a solid Los Angeles Rams team in Week 7.
WINNERS
Trevor Lawrence
There are many reasons Jacksonville lost Sunday. Trevor Lawrence isn’t one of them.
Doing the best he could with what his offense was giving him, Lawrence finished the day with 258 yards passing and two touchdown passes. He threw the ball an eye-popping 47 times but didn’t turn the ball over once. Lawrence quietly has just one pick in his last three games, which is certainly a sign of growth.
He wasn’t the most accurate quarterback in the world over the weekend but he gave his team, and his receivers, a chance to win and balls to catch. Everyone else around him failed him.
Despite the game feeling like a 40-point blowout, Lawrence had his offense within striking distance of tying the game late multiple times. Drops from Brian Thomas Jr. or penalties from guys like Chuma Edoga killed any momentum, and the team fell flat. Lawrence will get some blame because he is the quarterback and face of the team, but he isn’t the one to be pointing fingers at.
Buster Brown
Quietly, Montaric “Buster” Brown had a solid day. Brown had two key pass breakups on one drive and even had some timely tackles to keep his team in it. Jacksonville has asked a lot of Brown during his time on the team, and he rises to the occasion more often than not. Without Tyson Campbell (or Greg Newsome for the most part), Brown and Hunter were asked to handle outside duties.
Brown and Lawrence helped the team win today.
Foye Oluokun
I once said that Cam Little was going to have a reserved seat at the Winners table. Maybe I should have said that about Foye Oluokun.
It was another good day in the office for the linebacker who led the team in tackles with nine and logged one tackle for loss, one pass breakup and a quarterback hit. No one was getting home to Sam Darnold all day but Oluokun tried to make his mark. Oluokun had to step up with Devin Lloyd out and Ventrell Miller playing big minutes. He did a fine job.
Al’s Pizza
What, did you think the bit would end?
The defense may not have recorded two picks, but there is still an Al’s Pizza deal to be had — and a Big Cat Country-specific one at that! Use discount code BigCat12 (for the team’s 12 points scored) to get 12% off your online orders on Monday, Oct. 13, and Tuesday, Oct. 14. Shoutout to Al’s!
And be on the lookout this week for information regarding a certain London football game, a certain local pizza location, and a certain Jaguars blog. More details will be shared soon.
LOSERS
Liam Coen
Someone needs to look Liam Coen in the eyes and ask him one simple question: Why is this team unprepared to play half the time?
There are some things about Sunday that can be excused, I suppose. Coen can’t predict that Little would miss two kicks. Coen can’t literally catch the ball for Thomas. But he can ensure Hunter is set and his offense has some sort of pulse.
Coen is a first-year coach. These types of growing pains are to be expected. That said, at what point is it beyond that? When do the tough questions need to be asked about why this team sometimes cannot do the simplest of football things correctly?
Obviously there was going to be some hangover from last week’s primetime win over the Chiefs. That is to be expected. That much hangover, though, is unacceptable.
Somehow, the Jags aren’t even in first place across the NFL in penalties with 52, but it feels like they had 5,200 Sunday. In fairness, the three teams that lead the league in penalties are all coached by first-year guys. Coen also should get some praise for scheming up the touchdown pass to Thomas.
Outside of that, though, I hope Coen will have to answer some tough questions and face a bit of criticism for his team’s lack of preparedness in basically all six games at times. The collapse in Cincy is one thing. To have an entire game like that is quite scary to see.
Cam Little
Did anyone think there would come a day when Little would be the center of a kicking controversy?
Little has been bad recently, and it reached an apex against the Seahawks when he sprayed an extra point – unheard of for him – and later missed a 50-yard field goal. Both those misses cost the Jags precious points in what was a close game all day.
Jacksonville will likely work out a kicker either this week or next, whichever is easiest, given the weird travel situation with the London trip. Little isn’t going anywhere as of now, but another bad weekend may have him in a precarious spot. That 70-yarder seems like a distant memory now…
Offensive Line Play
Good. Gravy. What was that performance?
Anton Harrison was Swiss cheese. Jonah Monheim, thrown a bit to the wolves because of injuries, was baptised by fire. Edoga is probably still either holding someone or lined up improperly as you read this. Walker Little is making a lot of money to not block anyone.
With the Seahawks having a ton of dudes hurt on defense, you would have assumed this was going to be a big day for the Jacksonville offense. Second-round pick Derrick Hall wasn’t even playing and DeMarcus Lawrence didn’t have a sack entering the game. Lawrence left with two sacks.
This unit will be something Coen will certainly have to answer for, as they were close to getting Lawrence seriously hurt Sunday. Lawrence had 47 pass attempts, and on 27 of those, he faced pressure. Actually what the hell is that?
At times, Lawrence didn’t handle the pressure thrown his way well, so the offensive line isn’t completely at fault here, but they are like 90% at fault. It is a minor miracle Lawrence left that game unscathed. Who on this team is going to step up and block Jared Verse on Sunday?
The Defensive Line
Speaking of pressures, when can we stop saying that dudes just getting pressures for the Jags is OK and them not getting sacks is fine? I am looking at you, Josh Hines-Allen.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have a problem creating sacks. Hines-Allen, at this point in the year, has just 0.5 sacks to his name while supposedly being the team’s cornerstone defensive player. He gets double- or triple-teamed a good bit, but that doesn’t happen every single play. He needs to make a bigger impact outside of being a run-stuffer.
Travon Walker is a whole separate issue because of his cast, so he gets a pass for now, I guess. Arik Armstead might be the team’s best pass rusher at the moment. That’s a scary proposition. Armstead eclipsed JHA’s season sack total on just one play today. I think it is OK to say: that is not acceptable.
A special shoutout goes to BJ Green, who flat-out just dropped a pick.
Can’t win ‘em all. Jacksonville certainly didn’t on Sunday.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
