San Diego Chargers destroy Jacksonville Jaguars’ hopes in Week 2
By Luke Sims
The San Diego Chargers were the better team in Week 2, completely decimating the Jacksonville Jaguars and stomping on the hopes that lingered following a close Week 1 bout with the Green Bay Packers.
It isn’t every week that a team manhandles another quite like the San Diego Chargers did to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2. There was little to like or be positive about in the loss.
38-14 sounds exactly as bad as this game was for the Jaguars. This game looked completely uncompetitive.
In Week 1, the Jaguars were competitive with a perennial playoff contender, giving hope that they could legitimately win any game this season. The Chargers quashed that dream. Despite being a team that won just four games the year before, the Chargers looked leaps and bounds better than the Jags.
Ahead 21-0 midway through the second quarter, the Chargers would hold the Jags scoreless until they were up 35-0 in the fourth quarter.
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Exposed in coverage, the Jaguars let Philip Rivers go 17 of 24 for 220 yards and four touchdowns. He looked like some sort of football demi-god as he found mismatches (like middle linebacker Paul Posluszny playing man coverage on a wide receiver!) for big play after big play. Rivers looked like he could do no wrong.
On the Jaguars side, things were completely different. Blake Bortles went 31 of 50 for 329 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He didn’t look nearly as sharp as Week 1 and his offense sputtered again and again as it sought to find some gains against a Chargers defense that looked more like one of the best in the league than a unit hot off being 20th last season.
More than anything, this game exposed the Jaguars. Week 1 hinted toward greatness. Week 2 showed that the team still has a long way to go.
This was a sobering reminder that the team was just 5-11 last season and has to claw back each and every week to prove they can be relevant. 8-8 is still the goal.