Sometimes it’s all about how you respond. The Jacksonville Jaguars responded Sunday afternoon.
After an embarrassing road loss last week, the Jags flipped the script this week with their 17-10 win over the hated Houston Texans. It was far from pretty or clean but it was a win nonetheless, showing this team might be built for adversity after all.
For the third straight week the Jacksonville defense produced three turnovers, already eclipsing the team’s season total from the year before. Brian Thomas
Jr. responded in a big way late in the game. And Trevor Lawrence called his own number to extend what ended up being the game-winning drive with a scramble.
Things were at rock bottom after Cincinnati. After beating your bitter rival at home for the first time in years? The mountaintop, if only for a couple days.
WINNERS
Defensive Backs
What a day the Jags DBs had on Sunday.
The Jacksonville defensive backfield had a stellar performance led by the likes of Tyson Campbell and Hall of Fame free agent signing Jourdan Lewis. The defense overall had a tremendous day by only allowing one touchdown to what can be a fairly potent offense, but the corners and safeties deserve a ton of credit for that win. Limiting Texans not named Nico Collins to just 100 yards receiving combined is a heck of a way to show out.
Lewis: The big play of the day for Lewis was his interception in the fourth quarter. It didn’t result in points for Jacksonville but it felt like a bit of a momentum shift. It was also C.J. Stroud’s first pick against the Jags in his three-year career.
Campbell: The almost $80 million man led the team in tackling and had key pass breakups down the stretch. But no play Sunday was bigger than Campbell forcing a Nico Collins fumble that resulted in the game-winning drive by the Jags. What a way to respond for Campbell after last week.
Andrew Wingard: Say what you will, but Dewey Wingard is playing some good football this year. Always good for a soundbite, the veteran safety was third on the team in tackles with six.
Antonio Johnson: What a random player to get the game-sealing pick but congrats to Antonio Johnson for making a great diving effort on Stroud’s final pass. With Darnell Savage now gone, Johnson will have to step up even more. So far so good for the safety.
Travis Hunter: Another guy who responded in a fine way was Travis Hunter, who played 43 snaps on defense. Hunter had some sticky coverage on Collins in the end zone that resulted in an incompletion on what could have been a costly touchdown. He is far from polished, and the team is far from understanding what to do with him, but this was a step in the right direction.
Josh Hines-Allen
No one probably deserves this more than Hines-Allen, who has seen the worst of the worst in Jacksonville and has been around for all the shellacking the Texans do when they come to town.
It was Hines-Allen who got to Stroud and the football on the Texans’ final play though, just barely making contact with the ball but making enough for it to sail in the air and into the gut of Johnson. That is the type of play Hines-Allen has to make for this team to be successful in these moments and he did precisely what was needed.
The sack numbers are not there for Hines-Allen this year, as he has just the one half sack he got today, but he leads the NFL in pressures with 18. It is coming for Hines-Allen. Houston’s rookie tackle Aireontae Ersery was food for Hines-Allen most of the game which is a great sight considering there is still another game to be played against Ersery and company too.
Number 41 needs just two sacks to break the franchise record of 55 sacks. That could come as early as next week.
Free Food
No one from Al’s Pizza is paying me to include this bit. Maybe they should. I do wonder if the marketing person there got fired for this promotion they are running, though.
No one could have guessed the Jags would get 2+ takeaways in three straight games, but more half off pizza for everyone because of it. Every Monday night for three straight weeks I’ve gotten Al’s, so thank you Anthony Campanile. It’s fitting free pizza comes courtesy of an Italian guy.
If you are a Firehouse Subs Rewards member, you can get free food too because Cam Little made a 40+ yard field goal too. BOGO medium subs are part of the Fieldgoals for Firehouse promotion which Little triggered to start the third quarter.
Victory Monday is great. Victory Monday with free lunch and dinner is even better.
NIETHER
Brian Thomas Jr.
What an interesting day for the much maligned former golden boy of Duval County.
Sunday was as rolleroaster-y as it could get for Thomas Jr., as the wide receiver was booed at home after a trio of drops but might have saved the game with his 47-yard catch late in the fourth.
He had just one catch prior to that audible by Trevor Lawrence at the line to get Thomas Jr. open, which just isn’t good for someone of his caliber. Something is wrong with him and it can’t be just his wrist injury.
Thankfully though, BTJ made a statement with his catch. It doesn’t exonerate him of his poor performance overall as he had just two catches on six targets. This year, he has as many drops as total catches with six.
No one has ever been in this newly created “neither” category. I hope BTJ doesn’t find himself here again.
LOSERS
Edgar Bennett
Speaking of drops, the Jags have the dropping football virus running rampant through this team. The cure needs to be found yesterday.
Bennett, the team’s wide receivers coach, has got to figure out what is going on with his unit and fix it soon. The offense cannot continue to be stunted by the apparent ineptitude of the pass catchers.
It has gotten so bad that there are whole segments midgame going over the dropping problem. Lawrence is getting sold down the river because of these drops. Think about how good this team would be if they caught half the passes they dropped over the past two weeks.
Parker Washington had 11 targets and caught just four balls. These numbers could make a grown man weep.
Winning does mask issues a lot of the time but this one is actually impossible not to notice. With Dyami Brown now hurt and his status moving forward up in the air, the team needs to hold onto the ball more than ever.
Penalties
Another issue that has persisted through three weeks are penalties with this Jags team. By game’s end Sunday, the Jags had nine (!!!) accepted penalties for 70 yards.
Those 70 yards are just 16 yards shy of the team’s overall rushing performance and more yardage than any individual Jaguar pass catcher had. This year, the Jags have committed 26 penalties which is an absurd number. Most of the stuff is presnap too, with Hunter having no idea where to line up or guys not settling before the snap.
Head coach Liam Coen said postgame he was proud of how his team battled through the adversity of drops and penalties. But you don’t need to battle adversity at all if you just do the right thing from the start.
