The Jacksonville Jaguars are now in crisis mode
By Kathy Clark
The Jacksonville Jaguars lost a critical “home” game at Wembley Stadium in London against the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-18.
While the Philadelphia Eagles kept their playoff hopes alive, the Jacksonville Jaguars may go into “wait till next year” mode with a 3-5 record at the halfway point in the season. The best news for this franchise is a bye next week. Injured players and tired defenders get some much-needed rest.
Too many injuries – The Jaguars started the game with an energy that the team has lacked recently. The defense played with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the secondary was decimated by injuries.
Three undrafted rookie corners played during the game. They were Tre Herndon, Quenton Meeks, and Dee Delaney. The tight ends were also new to the team. In fact, the announcers said right guard Jermey Parnell looked at the tight end lined up next to him and said something to the effect of “who are you?”
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Despite the loss, there were some hopeful signs.
Hopeful signs – Blake Bortles played about as well as he is capable of playing. He was careful with the football and had impressive stats.
Bortles was 24/41 for 286 yards and one touchdown and ran for another 43 yards. However the experts on both the radio and NFL Network pointed out the inaccuracy of his throws and again dwelled on his poor mechanics.
He did NOT lose this game.
The offensive line seems to get better each week. Bortles had time to throw the ball. The experts say that it takes time for the offensive line to come together as a unit and this appears to be happening.
The kicking game is the stars of the team. Punter Logan Cooke averaged an impressive 48 yards on his two punts. Josh Lambo was 4 of 4 on his field goals with a long of 57 yards.
T.J. Yeldon caught seven of the nine balls thrown to him for 83 yards. Donte Moncrief and DJ Chark each caught four passes and David Grinnage, a tight end just activated, caught three passes for 37 yards. There were some drops as well but the group is getting better.
The defense created some turnovers and looked good considering the makeshift secondary. They managed one interception, one fumble recovery, and four sacks.
Hopeless signs – The running game was completely missing. The running backs had only eight carries during the entire game. Nathaniel Hackett abandons the run game way too soon. This is not acceptable for a run-first offense.
The defense once again remained on the field too long causing fatigue and injuries.
The first half woes continued. The Jaguars offense had only 90 yards and four first downs in the first half.
The future – There are still eight games to play and the Jags could go on a winning streak that equals the current losing streak.
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The bye week allows rest and the possibility to get some injured players back. It is quite likely that the team will use the remainder of the season to evaluate players and look toward 2019.