The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the New York Jets to advance to 3-1 on the season. This was a dominant game for the Jaguars. Receiver Dede Westbrook stood out on offense with gritty play. Veterans such as Calais Campbell have said that good teams don’t lose two games in a row. He was right, and the Jaguars had a good bounce-back week at the Bank. Good offensive games like today will keep the Jaguars in the win column.
Dede Westbrook Shines in Jacksonville Jaguars Win
There were a few Jaguars receivers who played well today. But Dede Westbrook deserves player of the game recognition. Westbrook was taken in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft and was hurt for a portion of that season. Minus troubles in college, Westbrook would have been a higher draft pick. Once he got on the field, though he kept his nose to the grindstone and quietly had a solid half season.
Today he looked like a number one receiver. Westbrook had nine catches for 130 yards on 13 targets. Though he didn’t have a touchdown, he made defenders work for tackles and made plays on important downs. Westbrook, Keelan Cole, and Donte Moncrief all have number one receiver potential but Westbrook is starting to separate himself. In fact, he had eight more targets than the next closest receiver. Westbrook even showcased his speed on an end-around run play that went for 11 yards. But the one bad mark for Westbrook was a lost fumble deep in Jaguars territory. Westbrook’s mistake highlights an area of concern that the Jaguars need to fix.
Areas of Concern
It’s always good to win, but the Jaguars have mistakes that need to be cleaned up. They turned the ball over three times today (two fumbles and one pick), the running game is pretty bad, and the penalties continue.
Many coaches will tell you that whoever wins the turnover battle, wins the game. While that isn’t always the case, it’s never good to have three turnovers. Against a better team, the Jaguars would have been in trouble. Blake Bortles had a great game but one pass was deflected and a Jets receiver picked it off deep in Jaguars territory. Luckily, the defense held the Jets to a field goal on that drive. The other two turnovers were on fumbles. T.J. Yeldon and Westbrook lost fumbles for the Jaguars but they only resulted in one touchdown for the Jets. Ball control is a must.
The running game was bad today. Leonard Fournette left the game in the second quarter with hamstring tightness. In relief, Yeldon had 18 carries for 52 yards and one touchdown. That was just 2.9 yards per carry and the team had a 3.7 yards per carry average, which includes Westbrook’s 11-yard end around. It appears Fournette will have a nagging hamstring issue this year. If true, the Jaguars must find a way to get a spark running the ball.
Penalties are still an issue for the Jaguars. They had nine for 89 yards. While some were questionable, it’s incumbent on Coach Marrone to keep the players in check. The Jaguars were lucky to play well on offense and defense today because some of those penalties could have been momentum killers.
A Win Is a Win
Despite the areas of concern, the Jaguars got a solid win today. The offense and defense clicked, Jacksonville won the time of posession battle, and it was a blowout win. The team has won the first quarter of the season with a 3-1 record and it’s time to get ready for the Kansas City Chiefs.
