Jaguars and Mac Jones make dubious history with dreadful outing in loss to Vikings

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10, but the defense cannot be blamed this time. After struggling to stop opponents throughout the season, the unit came through. However, the same cannot be said about the offense. In fact, the group was underwhelming without Trevor Lawrence and ended up helping the Jags make history for the wrong reason.

The Jacksonville defense registered three turnovers and didn't allow a single touchdown but the Vikes managed to win, making it the first time since 2006 that a team doesn't reach the end zone, turns the ball over three times, and still comes out on top.

Mac Jones, subbing in for Trevor Lawrence, led one scoring drive early in the game but was otherwise underwhelming. He only crossed the 100-yard mark late in the fourth quarter. To make matters worse, the Alabama product had two chances of winning the game and failed both times.

In the end, the Jags only held the ball for 17:41 minutes. As Michael DiRocco of ESPN pointed out, this is only the second time in franchise history that they have had a time of possession of 20 minutes or fewer.

There was most definitely a steep dropoff from Lawrence to Jones, but as John Shipley of Sports Illustrated pointed out, it was up to Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor to help their backup quarterback and put him in a position to succeed. They didn't.

Running back Tank Bigsby and wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. are among the team's best offensive players. Yet, neither one got involved. Bigsy only got snaps carries in the second half and Thomas was targeted a measly four times, most of them came late in the game.

Ideally, you want to put the ball in the hands of your playmakers, but the Jaguars didn't seem to have gotten the memo. That was reflected in the dreadful offensive showing and the 12-7 score.

The Jaguars missed Trevor Lawrence in the loss to the Vikings

Maybe Mac Jones will bounce back from his dreadful Week 10 performance, but one thing is certain, the Jacksonville Jaguars miss Trevor Lawrence more than they would have imagined. Granted, No. 16 has been far from perfect this season, but he certainly played well enough to give the Jags a chance to win the past two weeks.

It's true that Lawrence threw the game-sealing interception against the Philadelphia Eagles. It's also true that he hasn't always made the best decisions, but there's a reason Jacksonville gave him a five-year deal worth $275 million in the offseason: He's a franchise quarterback but the coaching staff isn't helping him one bit.

Once Lawrence was unavailable, the coaching staff's flaws were amplified, and they were so visible that the announcing crew openly talked about them during the broadcast.

The bottom line is that the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the worst teams in the league and there's plenty of blame to go around. The players have certainly contributed to the team's lackluster record, and so has the coaching staff. But ultimately, it takes a collective effort to make dubious history like they did in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

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