Jacksonville Jaguars: Defense brings offense down in Week 9

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense couldn’t keep up with their offense in Week 9.

We aren’t trying to sugarcoat the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ 25-27 loss against the Houston Texans in Week 9. In fact, it was a game they had a chance of winning and should’ve won. If they didn’t do it, it was because of their defense. While the offense kept them on the game, their defensive counterpart made things difficult for them.

The worst thing is that there isn’t just one thing to single out. Rather, the unit as a whole performed poorly. While there were some fine individual performances, the group committed plenty of mistakes that ultimately led to the loss.

The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t getting much from their first-round picks.

The ‘Jags’ selected cornerback C.J. Henderson with the ninth overall pick in this year’s draft with the intention of adding talent to a defense that didn’t have much. The same is true for defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson, whom the organization chose with this year’s 20th overall pick. However, neither of them have had much of an impact in 2020 and played a part in the team’s defensive struggles in Week 9.

Henderson was flagged for a 50-yard pass interference penalty and got beaten by Texans wide receiver Will Fuller V on a 77-yard touchdown reception. Meanwhile, Chaisson was a non-factor and only played on 18 percent of the team’s total snaps on defense after getting 26 snaps (32 percent) the week before.

The duo weren’t the only former first-round selections to failed to make an impact. Defensive tackle Tavon Bryan has had his snaps gradually reduced in the last few weeks. Against the Texans, he only played in 36 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, his lowest number in 2020.

There were a few positives for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9.

On the bright side, Myles Jack played at a Pro Bowl level, recorded 11 tackles, and ripped the ball off Texans running back David Johnson’s hands, causing him to fumble the ball. Rookie defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton had another solid game and had his first sack ever. Moreover, defensive tackle Doug Costin was playing well before he left the game with a concussion.

The negatives definitely outweigh the positives and the coaching staff has their work cut off if they want to fix things in Jacksonville. Although the defense is struggling as a unit, the play of those who have played well shouldn’t go unnoticed.