Russell Wilson Carves Up Jacksonville Secondary, Jaguars lose to Seahawks 45-17

Sep 22, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell (41) tackles Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Cecil Shorts (84) during the second quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ matchup against the Seattle Seahawks played out in a fairly predictable fashion – the Seahawks got a big lead early in the game and the Jaguars got some meaningless points and statistics in garbage time. The offense looked functional in the second half, which is something to build on despite the context. Some of the young players showed up in a positive way and we actually have a few nice things to talk about.

The Good

• Cecil Shorts III had an awkward drop early in the game (he seemed to be shocked that Richard Sherman didn’t intercept Chad Henne’s awful pass), but he played well against a stout Seahawks secondary. He provided the big play that the offense has lacked so far this season and got tough yards in the middle when they needed it. Shorts can hang his hat on this performance and hopefully start producing more in the first quarter instead of the fourth.
• Jordan Todman only got 2 carries, but he got his first touchdown with the Jaguars and it deserves some notice. Todman came out of nowhere to earn a roster spot this preseason and it’s nice to see him sneak into the end zone and see his hard work pay off.

The Bad

• The offensive line wasn’t as bad as the last two weeks, but they were still a liability. Meester could be observed getting pushed into Henne’s face multiple times and the interior line as a whole was just overwhelmed. This is going to be a running theme throughout the season especially with the poor quarterback play.
• The defense overall didn’t play as poorly as the final score indicated. The Jaguars got pressure on Russell Wilson a handful of times and the interior defensive line actually did a good job clogging up the running lanes. The real issue came from our next note below…

The Because Jaguars

• The secondary was undermanned and Russell Wilson took advantage of it. With Johnathan Cyprien, Demetrius McCray, and Josh Evans, the Jaguars had three rookies holding the fort in the defensive backfield. Chris Prosinski also got playing time which virtually guarantees one or two coverage breakdowns. Almost all of Wilson’s touchdown passes were to wide open players.

We’ll have a more thorough analysis with Pro Football Focus statistics coming up later this week.

– Daniel Lago

Yell at me on Twitter @dlago89