Jacksonville Jaguars: 5 Winners, losers from second preseason game

If you felt frustrated watching the Jacksonville Jaguars lose 21-23 to the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 of the preseason, you aren’t alone. It’s not that they dropped their second consecutive game. Rather, it’s how they did it. The Jags struggled to run the ball and their offense came to life only towards the end of the game. Their defense wasn’t much better, making Jameis Winston look like a First-Team All-Pro quarterback in the first half of the matchup.

It’s true that preseason games don’t count in the standings but that’s not what this type of matchups are for. They are for teams to evaluate the roster, sort out the depth chart, and iron out details ahead of the regular season. Based on the Jaguars’ last two matchups, they have their work cut out.

First, Jacksonville will need to do a better job of protecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Clemson product can’t showcase his talent opposing defenses can easily flush him out of the pocket. Second, the Jags must fix their running game. Against the Saints, they managed just 45 yards on 20 carries. Also, they have to figure out how to stop opposing teams from carving up their secondary.

If they want to avoid losing to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 of the preseason, they will have to go back to the drawing board and look for a way to fix everything that went wrong at The Big Easy. For the time being, here are five studs and five duds from the second preseason game.