Happy Victory Monday to all who celebrate.
The Jacksonville Jaguars went out west again Sunday and again came out victorious with some late-game heroics, this time to the tune of a 30-29 overtime victory
over the lowly Las Vegas Raiders.
Coming out of the bye, you would have expected the Jags to play a bit cleaner and have taken it to the two-win Raiders much more. That is just not what happened.
Geno Smith and Brock Bowers went off on the Jags defense while the offense had to scratch and claw its way into some leads. All that said, the Jags are 5-3 and back squarely in the playoff hunt.
If you don’t feel awesome about this win, I cannot blame you. If you are excited the Jags won a close game, or even won a game at all, I cannot blame you there either.
Someone quite famous in football once said, “Just win, baby.” That is exactly what the Jags did in Vegas.
WINNERS
Travis Etienne Jr.
With the wealth of injuries the Jags have across their skill positions, someone had to step up on offense. That guy was Travis Etienne.
Etienne had a great day with 84 yards rushing and 31 yards receiving. While he didn’t score (he came so close so many times), his output was one of the main reasons this team was able to score its most points in three games. Etienne rushed for the most he had since the 49ers win and had his season-high in receiving Sunday. According to ESPN Next Gen Stats, Etienne also forced a season-high nine missed tackles.
A special shoutout in this section should also go to the patchwork offensive line, which allowed just one sack and looked to be getting back to the form they had at the start of the year.
Due to injuries, it really might not be so far-fetched to say that Etienne is the team’s number one option moving forward.
Trevor Lawrence
It was another up-and-down day in the office for Trevor Lawrence, but the dude gutted out a win under bad circumstances. Neither of his top wide receivers was playing, his top tight end wasn’t playing, and he had to make it work with his legs a handful of times, but he did just that: make it work.
Throwing the ball 34 times for 220 yards and a pick isn’t going to jump off the page for any fan. Coupled with two rushing scores and the win, however, and it isn’t so bad.
It was Lawrence’s flu game, as head coach Liam Coen confirmed the franchise signal caller was up all night puking before the game. During that flu game, all Lawrence did was set the new franchise record for rushing scores with 18. He didn’t play great, but he did enough to win. That counts for something.
Cam Little
Hey look, Cam Little is back!
After an abysmal past couple of weeks – where I even speculated his career in Jacksonville might be done – Little stepped up in a not-so-little way.
Not only did the second-year kicker go 3-3 on field goals, he set the new NFL record for longest made field goal at 68 yards. Little had missed two straight kicks over 50 yards and an extra point but Coen and the coaches trusted him to kick out of his slump. He did so in a fashion that has literally never been done before. Hats off to him.
D-Line Stepping Up Late
It’s minor, but this is now twice this season that defensive tackles have made game-saving plays for the Jags.
Much has been said about how ineffective this overall group is at getting to the quarterback, a lot of it by myself. While the pressures into sacks numbers may still not be great, defensive tackles DaVon Hamilton and Arik Armstead both stepped up in huge ways out west with the game on the line.
Armstead forced a late fumble in San Francisco that his team recovered, snuffing out any chance the 49ers had to come back. Hamilton put up his hands on Vegas’ two-point conversion and knocked Smith’s pass clean out of the sky to end the game. Josh Hines-Allen can even get a nod here, as Hines-Allen getting to C.J. Stroud and tapping the back of the football while Stroud was passing caused a pick. That is now twice defensive tackles have made game-saving plays and three times the defensive line itself has stepped up. Three of the team’s five wins were secured behind big plays from the defensive line. Maybe pressures without sacks aren’t so bad after all!
Josh Hines-Allen
Speaking of Hines-Allen, he should get some credit for his play last night.
Again, I have been critical of our franchise defensive cornerstone having just .5 sacks prior to Sunday’s game. He left Sunday with 2.0 sacks. Still not a big number, but a significant improvement.
Hines-Allen came in clutch, sacking Smith on the final drive of regular time to force OT. The Jags got the ball in overtime and immediately went down and scored. Oh, by the way, Hines-Allen also tied the franchise’s all-time sack lead Sunday. This year might not be going the way Hines-Allen or fans may have hoped in terms of overall sack production but the dude still has the juice in clutch moments.
Tweet it out JHA. You earned it.
LOSERS
Injuries
Football obviously takes its toll on people over time, both physically and mentally. The Jacksonville Jaguars are feeling that in a major way.
For example, take the names of who Lawrence had to pass to on the team’s final drive in regulation: Etienne, Hunter Long, Austin Trammell and Tim freaking Jones. I am not so sure I’d say that’s a star-studded group for a franchise quarterback to be throwing to let alone with all the injuries along the offensive line, like with Ezra Cleveland leaving the game Sunday.
Outside of Cleveland, receivers Brian Thomas Jr. and Dyami Brown went down. Long got banged up himself as did cornerback Jourdan Lewis. The Jags have plenty of late-round picks. They might need to start shipping those off for more guys who can actually play.
Next up for the Jags is a trip to Houston, where franchise quarterback C.J. Stroud sustained a concussion. Sportsbooks don’t even like this iteration of the Jags, given the injuries, to beat a potentially Davis Mills-led Texans team.
This team has to find a way to get healthy, or get the guys that are playing to play above their usual level. Or we will have another Bowers situation…
Covering Tight Ends Ever Again
As you read this, Bowers might still be running circles around Andrew Wingard.
So, everyone knows Bowers had a huge day Sunday, catching 12 of 13 targets for 127 yards and three scores. Bowers’ three touchdowns were more touchdowns than the Raiders have scored as a team since scoring 24 all the way back on Sept. 28.
Outside of Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty though, the Jags didn’t allow a receiver to score. The Raiders’ receivers accounted for just seven catches for 61 yards.
It is frightening that the Jags couldn’t cover Bowers with literally anyone on defense. He may be the best tight end in football right now, but that still should raise concerns with how the Jags are going to cover other tight ends like Dalton Schultz next weekend.
