Jacksonville Jaguars defense lays an egg in loss to the San Francisco 49ers: Quick Notes

The Jacksonville Jaguars head home unable to really celebrate their AFC South title thanks to their dud performance against the San Francisco 49ers.

Before they even stepped onto the field in Santa Clara, the Jacksonville Jaguars knew they had locked up the AFC South title – and they played like in a pathetic 44-33 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Not buying into the Jimmy Garoppolo hype, the Jacksonville defense showed up flat and got thumped by a less talented offense to the tune of 37 points given up.

Blake Bortles also had a rough day, but this loss was on the defense – they got pushed around early and never really recovered.

Here are some more quick notes from today’s loss:

• This was the worst showing by the Jacksonville defense, even worse than the debacle in week 2 against the Tennessee Titans. They looked shaky early, allowing Jimmy Garoppolo to drive down the field right away twice with ease. The held on the second drive to only allow a a field goal, but they were uncharacteristically lost in coverage and they were a mess mentally. In the second half, they gave away 30 yards with idiotic unsportsmanlike penalties and eventually a touchdown. This was a disappointing performance by a defense that needs to get right before the playoffs.
•  Blake Bortles finally came back to earth in deafening fashion. To be fair, his pick six probably wasn’t his fault as Keelan Cole stopped early on a route, but Blake’s third interception was a completely brutal throw when the Jaguars could least afford it. He had some nice drives and great throws at times, but it’s clear the Jaguars need to fix the running game and get Fournette going before they head into the postseason.
• This was a weird game – the Jaguars couldn’t get a pass rush early and they simply couldn’t get Fournette into a groove before they got down. I want to chalk this up to the wonky west coast trip, but I think it’s a deeper issue – they finally played a really good quarterback. Jimmy G is real, he’s a good quarterback playing with some lesser talent and the Jaguars struggled. They are going to play good quarterbacks in January so they need to learn to stop getting frustrated when they give up plays.
• Ultimately, this loss will likely mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. However, if the New England Patriots or Pittsburgh Steelers lose one of their final two games, the Jaguars will be kicking themselves for crapping all over the field in San Francisco. For now, it’s on to Tennessee.