Jaguars: Plain and simple, the offense must score more points

The Jaguars could be in the playoffs but they must score one more touchdown per game to be in the conversation.

The Jaguars have made the switch back Nick Foles at quarterback. My take is they are hoping he can throw the ball downfield and help the team score touchdowns instead of field goals in the red zone.

Per teamrankings.com, the Jaguars defense allows 21 points each game which ranks 12th in the NFL. Not a juggernaut, but not bad.  The offense, in contrast, scores 19.6 points each game which ranks 24th amongst the 32 teams. It’s possible this team could win more games if it was able to score just one more touchdown per week.

Taking a closer look at the Jaguars offense, it ranks 26th in offensive touchdowns per game. The most worrying statistic is red zone scoring, where only the Cincinnati Bengals are worse than the black and teal in getting into the end zone.

If there is a reason to be excited, it’s the work the Jaguars have done on special teams, where they are second in field goals made. This has kept Jacksonville close in games. The rushing offense is 10th and the passing offense is 14th overall.

The team’s red zone offense is definitely a problem.

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"According to Big Cat Country’s Alfie Crow, “If you actually take a deep dive in the team’s red zone trips however, the issue becomes very apparent. They’re trying to run the ball way too much int he red zone.”"

The analysis means the team’s offensive line is not good enough to create opportunities for the running game to score more touchdowns. This situation requires some creative play calling and possibly more passing attempts close to the goal line.

It is always easy to define the problem but solutions are more challenging. Head coach Doug Marrone apparently believes making he move to bring a healthy Foles back creates more of those opportunities for the Jaguars to end their scoring woes in these situations. Offensive coordinator John DeFillippo may open up the offense a bit with Foles, as the game plan was designed for the former Eagles star to run this offense from the beginning of the season.

While the play calling should improve, I don’t expect changes on the offensive line. The hope is the longer they play together as a unit the better they will be. In the end, the team just needs to score one more touchdown a game if all else remains the same.

It’s something the Jaguars must concentrate on as soon as they come back from the bye week with the Indianapolis Colts first on the schedule in an important AFC South matchup.

"“As the team enters their week ten bye at 4-5, fixing the red zone and scoring issues will be the team’s most pressing task,” writes John Shipley of Jaguars Maven. “The hope is that Foles will be the man to flip that switch.  We will find out over the next seven games if that will be the case, or if the offense will continue to struggle.”"