The Jacksonville Jaguars and their defense have done the unthinkable once again.
In the team’s dramatic 26-21 win over the San Francisco 49ers, for the fourth straight game, the Jaguar defense picked off
at least two passes and forced even more fumbles to secure a 3-1 record heading into Monday Night Football this week.
It’d be wrong to say Sunday afternoon’s game was pretty by any means but it was another instance of a gritty win and the defensive unit stepping up. Things are still somewhat early in the Liam Coen head coaching era, so maybe some of this ugliness is the sort of thing that comes with a new coach.
There is much to talk about following the win, plenty of which happened after the final whistle and on postgame podiums. But you can’t talk about Sunday’s game without mentioning our very first Winner…
WINNERS
Devin Lloyd
In the wise Twitter words of Jourdan Lewis, “Devin go be rich as a mf.”
Lewis is absolutely right, as Lloyd has played out of his mind ahead of a potential contract year. Sunday, Lloyd snagged a pair of game-changing interceptions. Those picks led to 10 points for the offense and can be directly tied to winning that football game.
Lloyd finished second on the team in tackles with eight but his presence was felt all over the field. Especially in a game where Foye Oluokun was in and out, Lloyd stepped up yet again and made play after play to keep the team in it.
The fourth-year Trent Baalke product has three picks this year and one fumble recovery. His pick numbers are tied for first in the league. He is also the first Jags linebacker to record a takeaway in three straight games. His three-game turnover streak is also the longest current streak in the NFL.
There was a time not too long ago when Lloyd couldn’t cover anything and could hardly tackle a toddler. Those days are gone with the wind, as Lloyd is positioning himself to be quite a rich man when this season ends if he can keep this up.
His interceptions weren’t the coolest plays in the world, so below I present this NFL Next Gen Stats graphic that has a bunch of crazy numbers and percentages that mean Lloyd was playing extremely well.
Arik Armstead
Another player who has likely changed the fans’ outlook on himself is Arik Armstead.
Finally playing back along the interior, Armstead has solid production this year. His most important play of the season has to be forcing a fumble on San Fran’s final drive of the game, though. Doing so against his former team earned the veteran the game ball from Coen postgame.
In the past three games Armstead has put up stat lines of: a sack, a half sack, and now a sack plus a fumble forced.
It was a cool moment for Armstead to put the final nail in his old team’s coffin. With Oloukun recovering the fumble, the Jags hit lucky turnover number 13. Since 2016, only the ‘18 Browns have matched the Jags in terms of turnover numbers through four weeks.
Offensive Line Play
You can hem and haw about how Trevor Lawrence or the receivers are playing, but you can’t debate the offensive line is killing it.
Dealing with injuries through the day, the O-line didn’t miss a beat no matter who they put in. The Jags churned out 151 yards on the ground for the team’s third game over 130 yards rushing. The line also kept Lawrence upright, blanking a team in sacks for the second time this season as well.
You can even attribute a bit of the team’s zero turnovers on offense to the line. With Lawrence getting clean pockets (yes, Nick Bosa was hurt but still) he wasn’t rushed into any bad positions with the ball against the ‘9ers.
No one could have expected this level of production from the line, but this is how the Jags can overcome their rollercoaster offense. Running the ball and keeping the quarterback upright are two obvious paths to victory. The Jags have done a great job of both of those things thus far.
Travis Etienne
To go along with Lloyd, Travis Etienne is someone playing himself into some cash.
Sunday featured Etienne creating a big play yet again with his 48-yard touchdown scamper following the first 49ers’ turnover. He finished with a game-high 124 rushing yards on 19 carries. His day in the office pushed him to 394 rushing yards this year which is good for third in the league. Etienne has also already matched his rushing touchdown output from last year with his pair of scores.
The offensive line is giving Etienne the holes, the receivers are doing a great job of blocking for him and Etienne is making his moments count. He is probably the team’s best offensive player right now.
Returners
The Jags got a pair of good returns yesterday, both of which flipped Sunday’s game on its head.
Receiver Parker Washington fielded just one punt against the 49ers – who only punted twice due to turnovers – and housed it for 87 yards in the third quarter.
Despite what whiny Kyle Shanahan had to say about blocks in the back postgame, none were called on the field and the Jaguars took a commanding lead later in the contest, up 26-14. Without that return Jacksonville likely doesn’t win.
There is another return that might go slightly more unnoticed, since it didn’t end in a score. Rookie Bhayshul Tuten, who previously had struggled in the kick return game, caught a kickoff in the endzone and ran it back 54 yards. Getting his team past the 50 resulted in a Cam Little field goal. Much like a turnover, that score was in direct relation to the return.
Little moments like that win you football games. Big moments like punt return touchdowns are also nice.
Liam Coen
For some reason, the 49ers coaches just don’t like Coen. And Coen made it known he doesn’t care.
Everyone saw the postgame spat between San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Coen. Most everyone probably saw Saleh talking all week about how Coen leads some sort of “legal sign stealing” operation. Shanahan has even made mention of the sign-stealing stuff and its potential impact.
What a bunch of crybabies.
Coen took the high road and didn’t say much at his press conference, making sure the world saw that he wasn’t going to be walked over by someone like Saleh. What a weird fight for those coaches to pick and what a wrong way to handle it.
Coen did what he needed to do and looks like the bigger man from it. Just a baffling display by a 49ers organization which normally should be considered the standard around the league.
The Al’s Pizza Bit
Anthony Campanile is the greatest football coach to ever live for getting his defense to play like this.
For the fourth straight week, Al’s Pizza gets to activate its promotion for half off pizza because the Jags snagged two picks. Lloyd should be in a commercial because of it. I am also open to any and all endorsement deals from Al’s due to keeping this bit alive.
LOSERS
Penalties
Now for the unfun stuff from Sunday.
That game was yet another sloppy showing from the Jags, largely on offense due to penalties. By game’s end, the Jags had 12 accepted penalties for 90 total yards. For reference the team’s top two receivers, Brian Thomas Jr. and Brenton Strange, combined for 94 yards receiving.
This is the second game with double-digit penalties for Jacksonville, which now has 38 accepted penalties. It should not surprise you that that number leads the league.
Lawrence and company were able to overcome some penalties on their 13-play touchdown drive but that won’t always happen. Penalties have been on the losers list all season. How long until these things cost the Jags a(nother) game?
Injuries
More in the abstract than straight up penalties is the injuries the Jags suffered in San Fran.
As mentioned previously, Oluokun dealt with some stuff and Travon Walker went down with a wrist injury he did not return from. Anton Harrison went down and came in and out. Patrick Mekari got banged up. Eric Murray got ruled out with a neck injury. Dyami Brown already wasn’t playing.
Maybe it is something about playing in San Fran that causes any team, including the home one, to suffer more injuries. Thankfully the Jags have a little bit longer to rest before playing on MNF but that many impact starters dealing with stuff is not a welcome sign.
