Jacksonville Jaguars Play of the Week: Bortles to Lee

The Jacksonville Jaguars put together an unprecedented and historic comeback this past weekend as they defeated the New York Giants 25-24, and a lot of the credit has to go to the defense. They scored 2 touchdowns on fumbles at the most opportune times and really single-handedly drove the Jaguars back into the game.

Still, even after the Jaguars scored that first defensive touchdown and pulled within 11 points, everyone in the stadium knew the Jaguars needed to do something on offense to really have a chance. Down 21-10 with almost 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Blake Bortles took the Jaguars 67 yards down the field and capped off the drive with a terrific 30 yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Marqise Lee. Let’s take a closer look at the play:

Lee-Bortles — Giants 1 (GR)

The Jaguars have a very interesting formation setup, as they are selling the wide receiver screen to the bottom of the screen hard. They have two lineman at the bottom with Allen Hurns and Cecil Shorts, with Marqise Lee isolated at the top of the screen. After the snap, Shorts sets up as if he is going to take the screen pass, and Lee just turns on the burners and runs a go route.

Bortles – Lee — Giants 2 (GR)

Right away, Bortles does a good job of selling the screen to Shorts, making the corner peek into the backfield and hold up on turning upfield to cover Lee. This helps Lee get the separation he needs to catch the ball in a very tight window.

Bortles – Lee – Giants 3 (GR)

When Bortles finally does make the throw, he has a very clean pocket and has the time to make a nice throw without any pressure around him. His mechanics still look a little wonky, but he makes a terrific throw to the sideline for Lee.

Bortles – Lee- Giants 4

The play is capped off by Lee making a terrific sideline catch, just barely getting both feet in bounds. The corner never had a chance, and Lee was running so fast that he couldn’t stop himself and actually ran down the tunnel.

This play had a lot of things we’ve been wanting to see on offense all season – creativity, good pass protection, a good route by a talented rookie receiver, and a good throw by the rookie quarterback. There were plenty of great plays from Sunday’s win, but this is my pick for play of the week.