Jacksonville Jaguars Fall to Tennessee Titans 16 – 14

The Jacksonville Jaguars continue to be plagued by costly mistakes, and this week it probably cost them a victory against the underwhelming Tennessee Titans.

Blake Bortles almost pulled off one of the most unexpected comebacks in franchise history after a late touchdown and a recovered onside kick, but Josh Scobee’s field goal was blocked and it sealed the 16-14 victory for the Titans.

Despite a very encouraging drive to open the game, the Jaguars were unable to get the ball down the field for most of contest. Blake Bortles overall had a very good day, and he did the best he could given the apparent gameplan and the play around him.

At 0-6 with the prospect of facing a formidable Cleveland Browns team, the Jaguars are probably kicking themselves for not taking advantage of their opponents over the last 2 weeks.

Here are some quick notes from today’s loss:

• There were a couple of key mistakes on offense that clearly cost the Jaguars points today. The first was a drop by Jordan Todman on an outstanding throw by Blake Bortles. Todman probably would have scored if he caught it, or the Jaguars would have had the ball in the red zone with at least a field goal attempt guaranteed. The second big mistake was Cecil Shorts’ fumble on a big gain deep in Titans’ territory late in the game.
• Aside from their permanent inability to cover the middle of the field, the defense once again did enough to win the game. The Jaguars run defense continues to be a bright spot, as they allowed only 70 yards on 24 attempts. Charlie Whitehurst had a decent day, but, again, it was mostly thanks to poor linebacker play covering tight ends in the middle.
• The Jaguars running game struggled again, but Storm Johnson actually looked pretty good despite his less-than-stellar 2.1 yard average. The Jaguars offensive line had a very poor game, with Luke Joeckel having easily his worst performance of the season.
• Gus Bradley had a very poor day as far as game-management, as he had two completely indefensible challenges, both of which resulted in the ruling on the field to be confirmed. He also made some questionable decisions with clock management, including the decision to try the game-winning field goal with 12 seconds left as opposed to throwing another pass to potentially gain a few yards.
• All-in-all, this is the type of game that would be encouraging, if the Jaguars didn’t have essentially the same type of performance last week. They played tough, made a few plays, but made way too many mistakes and lost to a team that, quite frankly, they should have beat. The Jaguars at least have a quarterback now, but it’s going to be tough to see this young team go through so many growing pains.