Jacksonville Jaguars defense must tighten up, fix mistakes vs Broncos

The Jacksonville Jaguars scored 21 points in the season opener. That is kind of encouraging until you realize the defense gave up 37 points. They missed tackles, and couldn’t stop the Houston Texans’ passing game. The Jags will have to work on those areas if they want to beat the Denver Broncos in Week 2.

Jaguars defensive coordinator Joe Cullen met with the local media on Thursday and talked about the team’s preparation ahead of Sunday. Cullen knows they must improve in pass coverage but emphasized the fact the team gave up less than four yards per carry against the Texans.

"Okay, we were 3.9. If you stay at 3.9 for the year, you’re going to be in the top five. The tailbacks average three yards a carry. The tailbacks, they had 37 carries. Mark Ingram, he is a powerful runner, I love Mark, I was with him in Baltimore, he averaged 3.1 per carry."

It’s true that the Jaguars held the Texans to 3.9 yards per carry but they still allowed 160 yards and two touchdowns. They also had a hard time defending the pass and gave up several big plays. More importantly, they allowed 37 points. It doesn’t matter if they give yards in chunks if they can stop their opponents from reaching the end zone but that wasn’t the case in Week 1.

Now, it’s just one week and as Cullen rightfully pointed out, overreacting after just one game won’t take the Jags anywhere, “if you’re up and down in this league, it will bury you. It’s a man’s league”. He has plenty of time to get his unit back on track.

Keep in mind that the Jaguars’ defense ranked near the cellar in most meaningful categories, and they are in the process of rebuilding. They will surely keep adding talent to both the front seven and the secondary next offseason. For the time being, they need to work on their fundamentals and play disciplined football.