Jacksonville Jaguars Showed Improvement but Fall to Arizona Cardinals 27-14

Nov 17, 2013; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne (7) congratulates tight end Danny Noble (88) after he scored a 62-yard touchdown in the first quarter of their game against the Arizona Cardinals at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars came into Everbank Field on Sunday looking to build on a victory in Tennessee and they accomplished that goal. The Jacksonville offense came out of the gate immediately with two touchdowns, something they hadn’t been able to do at home all season. Despite giving up some big plays, the defense showed steady play and the young players continued to show growth. This was an archetypal game in the sense of long term success for Jacksonville – the team played hard and showed improvement but maintained a firm grip on the first pick of the draft in 2014.

Here are a couple notes from today’s game:

The Good

• The receiving corp, including the tight ends, were terrific today. Cecil Shorts was held mostly in check by Patrick Peterson, but Danny Noble, Clay Harbor, and Ace Sanders all played a big part in the passing game today. Whichever young quarterback the Jaguars select in the draft next year will have plenty of weapons on offense.

The Bad

• The secondary gave up a lot of yards to Carson Palmer and a pretty good group of wide receivers. Palmer wasn’t pressured too much most of the game and that also played a part in the defensive backfield’s tough day.
• Chad Henne had a few nice throws early in the game but eventually settled into his mediocre self by the second quarter. He doesn’t scan the entire field and checks down entirely too often.  

The Because Jaguars

• The running game continues to be an issue thanks to less-than-stellar interior offensive line play. The Cardinals have a pretty stout front seven so the troubles up front were to be expected, but the Jaguars only managed 32 yards rushing on 16 attempts.

This game worked out perfectly for the Jaguars – the offense managed to score some points and provide some much needed excitement for the home fans while not winning the game. At this point, losing is winning for the Jaguars. It was nice to see improvement on both sides of the ball regardless and head coach Gus Bradley should be proud of the effort the team gave today.

We’ll have a more thorough analysis of the game with Pro Football Focus grades later in the week.

– Daniel Lago

Yell at me on Twitter @dlago89