The boat sunk today. Going in to the Jacksonville Jaguars week five match-up against the Kansas City Chiefs, many were looking forward to fireworks. But the Jaguars were a dud today. Blake Bortles was responsible for five turnovers in a game that was very hard to watch for Jacksonville fans. Though the defense picked Patrick Mahomes off twice, the offense couldn’t capitalize. The story of today’s game is a Jaguars offense that continues to hot or cold week to week.
Blake Bortles With a Mistake-Prone Performance Against Kansas City Chiefs
The Offense Was Bad
Bortles looked like his 2016 self against the Chiefs. He threw four interceptions and lost a fumble. Last week, Bortles threw for 388 yards. That was a career high for him until this week, except that he was horrible against the Chiefs. Early in the game, he overthrew receiver Donte Moncrief twice on the same drive on deep balls. Two of his four interceptions were laughable. One of them was a pick-six to 6’6″ defensive lineman, Chris Jones. Bortles intended to throw the ball to T.J. Yeldon but didn’t take into account the giant tracking the ball. Bortles other bad pick was on a play in which he threw the ball into an offensive lineman’s helmet. Just bad quarterback play overall.
Besides the quarterback, the offensive line was no help. While the Chiefs defensive strength is their defensive line, they did not give Bortles much time all day. The pocket regularly collapsed and forced Bortles to make a decision. Of course, those decisions weren’t usually good ones. Speaking of decisions, the play-calling was odd at times. The Jaguars had the ball in the red zone in the first half and ended the drive with no points. The worst part is that Yeldon was having a successful drive running the ball and they decided to throw the ball in short yardage in the red zone. Today’s offensive game was a head scratcher, to say the least.
A Few Positives
There is no doubting this was a very bad game for the Jaguars. But there were a few positives that are worth mentioning.
Rookie receiver D.J. Chark finally had a good game. It wasn’t a “breakout” game, but Chark showed his ability to stretch the field on one of Bortles first pass plays. The catch went for 38 yards and the defender was all over Chark, but he hung on for the catch. With more experience, Chark has the opportunity to develop into a really good receiver.
Another positive is that the Jaguars defense had two interceptions against Mahomes. Interestingly enough, they are the first two picks from Mahomes all season. Safety Tashaun Gipson and cornerback A.J. Bouye were the two defenders to get picks for the Jaguars. For the game, they didn’t help much since the offense was bad. But, they were the first interceptions for the Jaguars secondary this season. Let’s hope to see more where that came from in games where the offense shows up.
The last positive is a player who is a very bright spot on this team: Josh Lambo. Lambo has been outstanding for the Jaguars since he was signed to the team in 2017. Today, he recovered his own onside kick. That feat doesn’t happen often in the NFL, it’s just too bad that it wasn’t a part of a comeback win.
The Last Word
The Week Five match-up against the Chiefs was a deflating loss for a team with the wind in its sails. Instead of beating the best offense in the league, Blake Bortles and the Jaguars offense got pummeled. But at the end of the day, the team is still tied with the Titans for the division lead. It’s time to move on and focus on next week’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
