Jacksonville Jaguars must play to win the game on Sunday vs. Tennessee Titans
By Kathy Clark
Some articles and posts state the Jacksonville Jaguars should rest their starters against the Tennessee Titans. Doug Marrone plans to play his starters against the Titans this Sunday. I agree with this decision.
The Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South division. This division win was the first for this team since 1999. The Jaguars won the title before the San Francisco game began. As a result, they went on the field as division winners but played a mediocre game. The team lost in all phases of the game and allowed Jimmy Garoppolo to look like his mentor Tom Brady. The running game never started. Also the passing game had good statistics on paper but paper stats don’t win football games. Marrone and team can’t go into the playoffs with poor momentum. The team must recapture its mojo.
The Jaguars have a young team. They played well this season but they let the game get away from them last week. It’s easy to revert to old habits when things go badly. San Francisco is not as good as the Jaguars. They got off to a fast start, and although the Jags took the lead at one point, Jacksonville didn’t get the dominant play back. The team needs to end the season on a positive note.
The Jaguars reverted to some bad habits. For example team members fought each other on the sidelines. Pro football is a very macho game and the players are highly tuned to be aggressive. However, the aggression must be tempered. Fights with teammates don’t win games. Foolish unnecessary roughness penalties don’t win games in the NFL, either.
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Blake Bortles had good stats. But he threw three interceptions. One interception was run back for a touchdown. He needs a strong game to get the bad taste out of his mouth. He played very well the second half of the season and needs to return to that form this week.
The running game total yards and yards per carry dropped. The run game needs to get back on track. Our young receivers played well but mistakes in route running, blocking, etc. cost the team some valuable yards. Others need to pick up the slack while they are learning.
The game is more intense during the playoffs. The teams are high caliber and each game is one and done. The Jaguars haven’t played at this level for many years. They must use their aggression by making great plays on the field. The first step is to win this Sunday and gain the momentum to carry them into the playoffs on a positive note.