Jags Defense Creates Opportunities, Henne Falls Short
By Luke Sims
Sorry bud, but it wasn’t good enough on Sunday. Source: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE
The Jaguars/Raiders game is completely the fault of the offense under Chad Henne. The Raiders defense was the same defense against Henne that it was against Blaine Gabbert. Instead of seeing a poised NFL ex-starting quarterback, we saw Henne fold like a rookie Gabbert and succumb to pressure. This is not the fault of an “everything” problem. This was a Chad Henne problem.
Rather than seeing an offense that could transition well without its two leaders, the Jags fell apart under Henne. Rather than seeing massive drop-off after Maurice Jones-Drew was forced to leave the game, the Jags saw drop-off when their beleaguered young quarterback left the field. Despite being able to move the ball, despite the defense making plays, Henne failed this team. He found phantom pressure, he failed to step up against real pressure, and he lacked the communication that Gabbert had with this team.
The scoring drives following Henne’s insertion into the game look like this:
- Field Goal: 4 plays, 4 yards
- Field Goal: 6 plays, 17 yards
- Field Goal: 4 plays, -3 yards
If there’s a single trend here, it’s that the offense couldn’t move to save its life yet had good enough position to score. The total 14 yards on scoring drives under Henne are a testament to that. None of those field goals was shorter than 40 yards. The team couldn’t get into the red zone, nor could they prove to be a threat. The 14 points that were put up under Blaine Gabbert were like a distant memory when watching the Henne offense.
We may have thought it couldn’t get worse with Gabbert at the helm, but it turns out that it can.
The positives of this game were outweighed by the Henne-led negatives. This looked like a breakout game by Blaine Gabbert before the injury. Before the Gabbert injury it looked to be a very good game for backup running back Rashad Jennings. This game was a breakout game for the Jaguars defense.
The defense almost doubled its sack total with two on the day. The defense looked sharp and aware. Derek Cox recorded his second interception of the season. Paul Posluszny had his fellow linebackers, Kyle Bosworth and Russell Allen, making plays. Everything was clicking. Austen lane was all over the field, displaying the high motor that Gene Smith drafted him for. Even Chris Prosinski looked more like an asset than a liability. Terrance Knighton in particular had a big day with four tackles, a sack, and a fumble forced.
The Raiders were mistake prone and the Jags defense took advantage. Unfortunately Chad Henne couldn’t.
– Luke N. Sims
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