It's only Week 3, but ESPN's Ben Solak believes he may have identified what will be the Jacksonville Jaguars' downfall this season.
In Solak's latest "Seven things" article, one of the things he spends time pontificating on is the play of the Jaguars' offensive and defensive lines, specifically, that those units will be a "problem" come the playoffs.
In Jacksonville's most recent game against Denver, the Jaguars' offensive line unit faced a very good Broncos' front and would struggle.
"Lawrence was pressured on 45.2% of his dropbacks and to great effect: He completed 33.3% of his pressured throws and 76.5% when unpressured," wrote Solak. "He had Denver's secondary beat when he had time."
Liam Coen addressed the offensive line play on Monday, noting
that it wasn't just one player, but everyone contributed to the issues. He also mentioned that he and the coaching staff can do a better job helping that unit out, which includes quicker throws in certain situations and "moving the launch point."
On the other side of the ball, the Jaguars' pass rush struggled to get after Broncos' quarterback Bo Nix. With time in the pocket, the Denver offense was able to generate numerous explosive plays through the air.
"Jacksonville had only a 19.4% pressure rate, less than half the 45.6% the Chiefs had in Week 1," Solak wrote. "And despite what you might expect, it was the Jaguars who blitzed more, at a 45% clip. Of their five second-half pressures, a half in which the Jaguars mostly led, four came on blitzes. Only one was in a four-down rush."
As Coen said, if the Jaguars are going to beat a team like Denver, then they have to create pressure.
The name of the game is getting after the quarterback and protecting the quarterback, and against a playoff-caliber team with high-end offensive and defensive line units, the Jaguars struggled to do both.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: ESPN pinpoints Jaguars playoff 'downfall' after Week 2 loss
