The Jacksonville Jaguars Win First Game in Quest for Greatness

The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the New York Giants in an ugly game. The game looked ugly and sounded ugly but the Jaguars came out on top. Is this the first of many defensive battles to come?  Stay tuned.

The Jacksonville Jaguars restored my joy of watching football today.  First, let me say that I had the misfortune of cheering for the Florida Gators last night.

The game today had all the possibilities of being another disaster.  However, the defense played like champions and the Jaguars came out on top.

Best of all it was a clean game that culminated in the exchange of jerseys between Odell Beckham and Jalen Ramsey.  Local sports radio 1010XL AM and 92.5 FM had the coverage of the game and mentioned the two stars showing respect for each other. Good sportsmanship is so wonderful to see!

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The Offense

The Jaguars offense needs to go back to the drawing board.  They scored no offensive points in the second half.  Blake Bortles’ good plays were outnumbered by his bad plays.  He missed receivers and didn’t see open receivers.  On the other hand, Bortles had an impressive 42-yard run.  Also, his quarterback rating was higher than Eli Manning.

The radio announcers stated that by the end of the game the Giants were playing the run with no respect for our quarterback or receivers.

The offensive line gave Bortles time to pass and allowed only one sack.  However, Andrew Norwell didn’t live up to his reputation in this first game since he allowed a sack and missed several blocks.

To add, Cam Robinson had a 15-yard penalty and several false starts.  The other linemen were not mentioned.  This is always a positive for the offensive line since we only hear about the mistakes.

The running game was successful but Leonard Fournette left after the first half with an injury.  He rushed for 41 yards on 9 carries. T.J. Yeldon was a very adequate substitute and gained 51 yards but it would have been nice to see more of Corey Grant.

There is no news on Fournette’s hamstring yet.

Kicking Game

Josh Lambo did his job with two field goals and making his extra points.  Also despite his ups and downs, Logan Cooke had a monster punt of 47 yards when the game was on the line.

The Defense

No doubt this was a magnificent performance by the proud Jacksonville Jaguars defense.

To start, the STAR of the game was Myles Jack.  He returned an interception for a touchdown and led the team with 10 tackles.  The Jalen Ramsey vs. Odell Beckham dual was a draw. Beckham caught 11 passes for over 100 yards but didn’t score a touchdown or make a play to win the game for the Giants.

Calais Campbell and Lerentee McCray each had a sack.  The defense only allowed one big play. That was a 68-yard run for a touchdown by Giants rookie Saquon Barkley.

Comments

Its hard to feel very positive about the offense but they did enough to eke out a win.  The running game totaled over 100 yards and the penalties and turnovers were minimal.

This is the formula that Doug Marrone wants to use all year.  Prepare to sweat out every victory and always remember a win is a win even if it’s ugly.