Jacksonville Jaguars lose to Arizona Cardinals 27-24 : Quick Notes

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to Blaine Gabbert thanks to some costly mistakes down the stretch and some horrific coaching decisions.

Blaine Gabbert might be one of the first round picks in the history of the NFL, but he has plenty of reason to be happy today as he defeated his former team 27-24.

The Jacksonville Jaguars blew an eminently winnable game on Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals and there’s plenty of blame to go around.

The Cardinals scored two touchdowns on blown coverages and the coaching decisions were horrendous for Jacksonville.

Here are some other quick notes from today’s disheartening loss:

• For really the first time this season, the Jaguars let a quarterback have some success deep and it was against Blaine freaking Gabbert of all people. The pass rush was inconsistent today (even with a big defensive touchdown courtesy of Yannick Ngakoue and Calais Campbell), and Gabbert took advantage.
• On both sides of the ball, the playcallers for the Jaguars struggled. Defensively, Todd Wash dialed up a handful of blitzes at key times that didn’t get home and the results were usually a first down. Things got dicier after Telvin Smith left the game with a concussion, but it was odd to see Wash move away from the 4-man rush that has been successful this year.
• Offensively, Nate Hackett had a rough game early on. The Jacksonville offense in the first half consisted mainly of run-run-pass and the team failed to pick up on the Cardinals consistent blitzes on 3rd down.
• It’s hard to believe, but the better quarterback today was a Jacksonville Jaguars former first round pick… wearing an Arizona Cardinals jersey. Blaine Gabbert was tasked with facing the best defense in the NFL today and, while he wasn’t great, he made some plays and performed as well as anyone could have asked him.
• On the other side, Blake was not very good. He made some big plays with his legs but when he was asked to throw the ball it was a stressful affair. The Jaguars appeared to be in position for a go ahead field goal late in the 4th quarter before Blake threw a horrendous pass right into the arms of Tyrann Mathieu. It was reminiscent of his meltdown against San Diego and it’s another reminder that the fate of this team is at the whim of Bortles.
• The Jaguars made a lot of mistakes in this game but it’s hard not to focus on head coach Doug Marrone. It appeared he was trying to wind the clock down and go into overtime but for some reason they threw the ball and left time on the clock for Blaine Gabbert to lead a game winning drive. This is going to be a tough one to swallow as they head back to Jacksonville for a 3-game home stand.