The Jacksonville Jaguars have won yet another rollercoaster, chaos-filled football game with the team’s 27-24 overtime win over the Arizona Cardinals.
It’s getting hard to describe this Jaguars team as
they couldn’t be more up and down. While they may be heart attack inducing every weekend, they are still gutting out one-score games. So far this year the Jags have won five games decided by a single score. That is one of the big signs of a solid team, especially when it comes to getting late in the season and in the playoffs.
Despite how frustrating this team may be to watch, the Jags are still 7-4 and firmly in the playoff hunt within the AFC. Had one flag gone Jacksonville’s way at Cincinnati and had the team not completely collapsed against the Texans, they’d be 9-2.
The defense stepped up Sunday on the west coast as the offense sputtered. Next week it could be the opposite. So buckle up, keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times and be ready for anything.
WINNERS
Defense
The Jags had six sacks today. They had two last week. They had eight total sacks in the previous seven games combined.
There’s been a lot of talk this season, and in this weekly segment, about the lack of sacks from the Jags. Travon Walker being hurt has not helped, but there still is plenty of talent to go around. The team captured that holistically Sunday after a strong outing last week. In terms of sacks, Dennis Gardeck and Devin Lloyd each had 1.5. Josh Hines-Allen, DaVon Hamilton and Antonio Johnson each added a solo sack of their own.
The best part about that list is the guys actually getting those sacks.
In a revenge outing against the Cardinals, Gardeck was all over the place. He hadn’t had a sack all year but came alive against his former team. Lloyd was back to banging heads from the linebacker position. Don’t look now but JHA has sacks in consecutive games for the first time this season. Even a guy like Johnson got in the backfield after a strong game last week.
It was a whole defensive effort and a true back to form performance by the defense overall.
Trevor Lawrence threw three picks and the defense gave up just one touchdown off of those turnovers. Lawrence’s fumble was returned for a score so this defensive unit should only be on the hook for 17 total points. That’s 23 combined points in the last two weeks. That’s a winning strategy.
Injuries have not helped this unit – see Christian Braswell having to play a ton and biting on the double move in the fourth – but the defense responds. This group bottomed out against the Texans three weeks ago but have responded in a humongous way in the past two weeks.
Foye Oluokun
Getting his own special defensive shoutout is Foye Oluokun, who surpassed 1,000 career tackles in the win. He was tied with Andrew Wingard for a team-high 10 tackles. He also added a tackle for loss.
Lloyd was certainly the flashier linebacker of the two, but Oluokun plays with such consistency that it shouldn’t be overshadowed. Having a savvy veteran like Oluokun to flank Lloyd is an awesome combo. Add in Gardeck playing well and the Jags have a hell of a linebacker unit.
And a special shoutout to Yale football for winning the Ivy League and clinching a spot in the FCS playoffs. Big weekend for Oluokun.
Cam Little
Simple and effective game for good ol’ Cam Little. Whoever said he was washed and the team should add another kicking leg should be ashamed!
Little went 2/2 from the field and 3/3 on extra points. He connected on a pair of 52-yarders including the game winner in overtime. In a game that was in part decided by a missed field goal, it was actually settling to know we had Little coming out to win a ball game.
Parker Washington
The best day by a wide receiver was had by Parker Washington, leading the wide receiver room with five catches for 71 yards and a score.
It has been up to Washington and Jakobi Meyers to hold up the offense in the absence of Travis Hunter, Brenton Strange and Brian Thomas Jr. The pair have done a pretty good job of locking it down.
No one play by Washington was bigger than his fourth quarter touchdown to give his team the lead, 24-21. Lawrence trusted his guy and they had the connection on what should have been the gamewinner.
Something that might get a little forgotten by way of how the game ended was Washington having a strong day as a returner. While he only returned two punts, he did take one for 43 yards. That return set up a six play, 27 yard touchdown drive. We will not be discussing the safety that wasn’t a safety, thank you.
Brenton Strange
Good golly this team needed Brenton Strange back badly.
In his first game in about a month and a half, all Strange did was set his career high in receiving with 93 yards. He caught all five of his targets and led the team overall in catches and yards.
What a welcome back party for Strange. This game showed just how much a solid tight end can not only help this offense but just help Lawrence in all kinds of situations. Evan Engram was the safety blanket for a few years for Lawrence, now that guy is Strange. Either way, if it helps us win, keep on slinging the ball to the tight ends Trevor.
LOSERS
Offensive Linemen
Ok, there isn’t a healthy linemen left on this team. That’s probably not great. And it showed a bit Sunday.
Lawrence was sacked three times with one of those resulting in a scoop and score fumble. Not every sack was on the offensive line, it never is, but with how many guys that are banged up on this squad it feels like the dam could break at any second.
Anton Harrison was already not playing. Then Chuma Edoga got hurt. And Walker Little got briefly banged up. It isn’t like there is a ton of depth just sitting around on the bench. With Cole Van Lanen playing right tackle, the depth was almost depleted. This group was a twisted ankle away from having a serious issue in Arizona.
They got out relatively alright in the end and the fumble didn’t ruin the game. But I grow weary watching this group, even when the Jags win.
Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence isn’t a loser today because his stat line sucks. His stat line does suck, but let’s look at it from a broader view.
The interception in the end zone was tipped. That’s hard to put all on Lawrence. The fumble came from a bad block about three seconds after the snap. That’s just unfortunate.
Lawrence’s pick across the middle in the third quarter was bad but Budda Baker made a solid play on the final pick. It’s so hard to judge this dude playing quarterback sometimes. Here is some more in-depth reading on the matter courtesy of Sports Illustrated.
He made some solid throws like the touchdown to Washington and he made some throws that really shock you like the touchdown to Meyers. And then he goes and tosses more picks.
The national conversation is all over the place about Lawrence but he is an all over the place quarterback. Maybe he is the perfect embodiment of what this team is: a rollercoaster. For as many awesome plays as he has, he has his usual handful of boneheaded, awful mistakes. Rollercoasters go up and around and all around and it feels like maybe that is simply what Lawrence is going to be moving forward.
Ben Solak said it best today. Who the hell knows what type of Lawrence we will see next week. See ya then.
