Jags deflated by late mistakes, fall to 0-3

Sports

Jags deflated by late mistakes, fall to 0-3

by
September 27, 2021

The Jags had the best chance they’ve had all year to secure a win on Sunday, but again, their mistakes proved too costly.

After a James Robinson touchdown late in the third quarter, Jacksonville expanded their lead to nine. The offense was in complete control on the drive, getting great push at the line and breaking off huge chunks in the run game. The play calling on the drive involved a few read-option plays that kept the Cardinals defense on their toes.

The Cardinals went down the field and cut the lead to 19-17 on their next drive, but Trevor Lawrence and the Jags were still in the driver's seat. After dominating with the run game on the previous drive, Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell dialed up a flea flicker on 2nd & 6 from his own 25 yard line. The pass protection was blown up from the start, and Lawrence wound up forcing an errant throw off his back foot that was picked off and returned for a touchdown. The call was creative and it’s easy to say it was a poor decision considering the result of the play. That was a scenario in which the play was doomed from the start, and Lawrence needed to either take a sack or find a way to throw the ball into the bleachers.

Later in the contest, down 31-19, the offense was in Arizona territory again when another turnover killed the momentum. Robinson ran into Lawrence and knocked the ball out of his hand as he was about to release it; Arizona quickly jumped on it. While clearly incidental, these are the kinds of mistakes an inexperienced team makes. There’s a difference between playing well and playing well enough to win. On Sunday, the Jaguars played well, but they’re still a ways from doing enough to win.

Last week in this article we signed off on the hope that each week the Jags’ performance is a little more inspiring than the last. I think we can say that this week. Up until the pick-six with less than a minute left in the third quarter, Jacksonville had the lead and gave themselves a chance going into the fourth quarter. As a way of assessing Jacksonville’s season, I think it’d be wise to break the schedule up into sections. The first eight or nine games may be a learning process, but this feels like a team that could finish the year 5-3 in the latter half and carry some momentum into year two.

The Jags need to prepare for a quick turnaround, as the squad heads out to Cincinnati to face the Bengals on Thursday Night Football. It’ll be important to see how this staff full of new faces can gameplan on a short week. See you guys Friday morning!