The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to 3-3 Sunday. It was the team’s second ugly loss in a row. For those hoping for “Good Blake”, you didn’t get that today. Blake Bortles wasn’t as bad as he was in week five, but the whole team was bad. Very bad. Since beating the Patriots at home in week two, the Jaguars are 1-3. It’s definitely time for some soul searching in Duval.
Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars Implode Against the Dallas Cowboys
Inefficient in Every Way
In Sunday’s 40-7 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Jaguars got beat in every category that matters. Total yards, passing yards, rushing yards, redzone appearances/attempts, turnovers, and time of possession. It’s hard to place the blame squarely on one player or unit. The play-calling was curious at times. The offensive line seems to be seeing the effect of too many injuries. Everything is out of sync for a team that had Super Bowl aspirations at the beginning of the season.
Coming off of two weeks in which Bortles threw for over 300 yards, he only managed 149 against the Cowboys. He even threw a pass intended for Dede Westbrook into triple coverage which was picked off.
I have no idea what Blake Bortles saw when he let go of this ball. Three #Cowboys defenders there….pic.twitter.com/vfyeC69jWG
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 14, 2018
Blake Bortles isn’t the best decision maker. It appears this was his first read and he decided to stick to it. But even if it wasn’t for the above interception, the game was out of reach.
The Jaguars never had the ball in the redzone against the Cowboys. Of course, this gave rookie punter Logan Cooke a lot of practice, but he never put the Cowboys deep in their territory. In fact, special teams had a pretty big blunder on a punt. On a play that the Jaguars were to receive a punt, they had twelve men on the field and the penalty gave the ball back to the Cowboys. Careless play like that falls directly on the shoulders of the coaching staff. There’s no excuse.
What Happened to Sacksonville?
The Jaguars defense is a raucous bunch. With trash talk from Jalen Ramsey on an almost weekly basis, one wonders if Sunday’s match up will shut him up. Granted, the Jaguars did have three sacks but it didn’t change anything. They got gashed by Cole Beasley on more than one occasion. It’s easy to tell that the defense is having problems with zone coverage.
Ezekiel Elliott is currently the leading rusher in the NFL. He ran for 106 yards against the Jaguars and added a touchdown to boot. Besides Elliott, the Jaguars defense allowed 206 total rushing yards. Needless to say, it wasn’t a good day.
The Last Word
The Jacksonville Jaguars need to regroup. They are now on a two game losing streak and sit at 3-3. The only positive is that they are in a three way tie for first place in the AFC South. But that doesn’t mean much, if they are going to keep playing like they did against the Cowboys. Yes, they have injuries. But every teams suffers setbacks. It’s time for the coaching staff and the players to figure out a way to win games, because right now the plan isn’t working. The team faces a division foe in the Houston Texans next week. Time will tell if they can right the ship.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
