The second (third, if you count college football) week of the football season is now behind us. As with every week of the football season, there were upsets, comebacks, and dominating performances. My South Carolina Gamecocks beat the #6 Georgia Bulldogs 38-35 on Saturday, the San Diego Chargers threw at Richard Sherman and beat the Seattle Seahawks 30-21, and Andrew Luck and the Colts fell to 0-2 after losing to the Eagles on Monday Night Football.
The Jacksonville Jaguars did not have a good game on Sunday. That’s about as nicely as I can write it. I’m sure if I typed how I really felt about Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins that I would be fired. Luckily, I’ve waited an extra day to calm down, and I will try to be as civil as possible. Washington had their way with the Jaguars on Sunday and won by a final score of 4,100-10 41-10 (it felt like 4,100-10). Instead of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, this week I have The Bad, The Worse, and The Ugly for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Bad
Where should I start? Ok, the Jaguars defense was atrocious on Sunday. The Redskins were able to run or pass on any down they wanted to. Unfortunately for the Redskins, QB Robert Griffin III and WR DeSean Jackson sustained injuries in the 1st quarter that took them out of the game. However, this did not seem to phase the ‘Skins offensive attack and backup QB Kirk Cousins looked like Tom Brady circa 2007 (go check out Brady’s numbers that season…amazing!) against the Jaguars defense. Cousins was 14/18 for 170 yards and 1 TD in the first half and continued to be in complete control of the game in the 2nd half. His favorite target was TE Niles Paul (who I correctly predicted as a fantasy sleeper last week). Paul had 8 receptions for 99 yards and a TD. One silver lining is that safety Johnathan Cyprien did not play after sustaining a concussion in Week 1. The defense has looked lost without his leadership, so I’m holding out a bit of hope that one player can make that much of a difference.
The Worse
The Jaguars offensive line had quite possibly one of the worst games in the history of the franchise on Sunday. The Redskins recorded 10 sacks. I REPEAT: 10 SACKS! Defensive end Ryan Kerrigan recorded 4 sacks by himself. QB Chad Henne had almost no time to throw when he dropped back for a pass. The inability to produce anything with the passing game probably stemmed from the lack of a running game on 1st and 2nd downs. The Jaguars managed to gain only 25 yards rushing against the Redskins. I’ll let that sink in for a second. 25 yards. In four full quarters of football. Overall, the offense got outgained by Washington 449-148 in the total offensive yards category. You will not win many games at any level of football when your team gets outgained by over 300 yards.
The Ugly
I’m going to reserve this spot for the whole Jacksonville Jaguars franchise. The team did not look prepared to play on Sunday, so I’ll put 1/3 of the blame on the coaching staff. Head coach Gus Bradley, offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, and defensive coordinator Bob Babich need to quickly turn things around with this team. Another 1/3 of the blame has to go to the front office. This team looks to be void of overall talent and quality depth at multiple positions. I, like many fans, understand that many players are young. Yet, I feel that talent will win out over youth, if the talent is truly there. Finally, the last 1/3 of the blame must fall on the players. After all, they are the people who are making/executing the plays. They have to find a team identity and correct the mental mistakes for this team to be competitive this season.
I will try to not sound too critical of the Jaguars here. However, this franchise has suffered through six straight seasons without a winning record (2010 produced an 8-8 campaign). Jacksonville has not won a division title since 1999, and the team has really struggled for three consectutive seasons. Hopefully, the young players will continue to gel and the offensive line will come together. If this team loses too many more games, though, it may be time for rookie Blake Bortles to finally get his shot. If the team is going to continue to play this poorly, Bortles might as well be getting NFL reps and improve his game for the 2015 season.
Take a deep breath Jaguars fans. This season may get worse before it gets better.
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