The Jacksonville Jaguars have now lost their seventh straight game after a 20-10 defeat to the Denver Broncos. Sitting at 2-10 on the season, they have now mathematically eliminated themselves from playoff contention. With a capable offense, the Jaguars would have had a realistic shot at a dominant win. However, quarterback Blake Bortles was responsible for three turnovers and that is no way to win football games.
Jacksonville Jaguars Week 13 Takeaways
Can Defense Win a Football Game?
There is a phrase that says “defense wins championships”. That’s great, but the Jacksonville Jaguars fans would like to see the defense win a game. Why? Because the offense isn’t cutting it. With four games left in the season, it appears doubtful that the offense will do enough to win a game. In order for the defense to help win a game, they need to start creating situations that make it easier for the offense to score. That starts with turnovers. According to ESPN team stats, the Jacksonville Jaguars have seven turnovers on the season. That includes just three interceptions and four fumble recoveries.
While the defense has done well, there needs to be more turnovers to help win more games. Safety Tashaun Gipson has one of the three interceptions this year. More analysis can be done on him as a player, but he came to the team as a free agent last off-season because he was a “ball hawk” for his previous team. It would be great to see more of that. Also, rookie cornerback Jalen Ramsey has done very well covering some great receivers this year, but has no interceptions. A lack of interceptions was a comment made about Ramsey in the draft so hopefully he will start to catch on as turnovers are concerned. It’s hard to say if the team will win more games this season, but defensive turnovers would help the cause.
Allen Robinson Can’t Get a Break This Year
To say that the Jaguars star wide out has had a disappointing season would be an understatement. This is partly because Allen Robinson had a breakout sophomore campaign. He scored 14 touchdowns last season and earned a spot in the Pro-Bowl. With four games remaining, he has just six touchdowns on the season. It’s likely that there are multiple reasons for the down year, but let’s hope he can work around them for the last four games of the year.
One factor that seems obvious is the fact that officials have missed pass interference calls on Robinson all season long. Yesterday the officials missed an interference call and Robinson could not keep his mouth shut. The official obliged Robinson by penalizing him for taking his helmet off. It’s wrong to blame everything on penalties though. In fact, some would say that Bortles’ first interception was partly Robinson’s fault. In order to do well with “50/50” passes you can’t bobble the ball into the defender’s hands; even if that defender is Chris Harris Jr.
Blake Bortles is Becoming a Detriment to the Offense
If you’re a Jaguars fan, then you probably know that Bortles is struggling this season. According to ESPN writer Michael DiRocco, Bortles has more turnovers this season (19) than 20 NFL teams. Some may say that he’s been a detriment to the offense all season, but Bortles is becoming especially ineffective now.
For two consecutive weeks, Bortles has thrown at or below a 50 percent completion percentage. In week 12, he was 13 of 26 which is exactly 50 percent. On Sunday, he was 19 of 42 which is 45 percent. An offense that doesn’t pass well is in trouble. It’s possible that Bortles can fix his problems, but this is the NFL and almost the end of his third season. Time is running out.
