For a team that plays in the south, the Jacksonville Jaguars have a hard time recognizing that the trenches are what win games at the highest levels of the sport. Yeah, they spent two draft picks on guys who know how to put some paws on people in the run game this offseason, but they didn't do anything to address the glaring lack of production from some of the more experienced linemen in the room.
That lack of action came back to haunt the Jaguars in the worst way when the Denver Broncos got their get-back yesterday in Mile High. The Broncos' defensive line was able to do whatever it wanted to Trevor Lawrence and the running backs when its number was called. In contrast, Sean Payton's offensive front kept Jacksonville's pass rush from seeing any glimpse of Bo Nix's jersey.
It was a stunning display of how you can't galaxy brain your way out of respecting the most fundamental aspects of the sport, and now we're forced to think about how Liam Coen and his offense can overcome such a pivotal position group being one of the weakest elements of the roster as the season progresses.
Denver's pass rush lived in the Jaguars' backfield
Now, to be fair, the offensive line only allowed two sacks. However, I've been told that sacks don't tell the entire story in today's NFL. A quick look at the numbers shows that Denver racked up seven QB hits, with three of them coming from Nik Bonitto alone. That means, at the very least, Lawrence felt the pain nine different times while trying to deliver the mail to his receivers.
For perspective, Lawrence only had 29 pass attempts. That means, on paper, he only had 20 clean looks all day.
Of course, the film proves that this definitely wasn't the case at all. It was rare that Lawrence could set his feet and throw a dime to the receiver in his sights. As the game progressed, it was clear that he became more and more focused on just getting the ball out on time. That could be the explanation for his seemingly inexplicable pick in the second half.
In contrast, the Broncos' offensive line was able to stonewall Jacksonville's pass rush and give Bo Nix the time he needed to process what was being thrown at him by Anthony Campanile and his exotic blitzes.
In the end, the Jaguars' best pass rusher in Denver was safety Antonio Johnson. Yes, that Antonio Johnson, the one who plays safety.
The Jaguars' O-Line didn't help in the run game either
Liam Coen gave his run game the opportunities it needed to be great, as the running backs had their names called 22 times. In those 22 reps, they gained an underwhelming 89 yards. At 4.04 yards per carry, that rate isn't abysmal, but the team didn't draft a blocking tight end in the second round for this facet of the offense to only be average.
Despite the NFL's overwhelming push towards the passing game in the modern era, teams who want to compete at a championship level need to be able to run the ball whenever they need to, and especially when they want to. It would be one thing if the Jaguars' offensive line was filled with an army of dancing bears who thrive in third-and-long situations, but the current crop of big men doesn't really excel in any major skill set.
Also, as critical as I want to be towards the coaching staff, 22 handoffs are more than enough to keep a defense honest. The offensive line had their chance to punish the Broncos defense and wear down their pass rushers before they had a chance to strike back. Unfortunately, that just didn't happen; and it hasn't happened since the run game's noticeable slump last season.
What's next for the Jaguars?
Well, as many of you may know, help is not on the way in this position group. One offensive lineman isn't going to fix the other four, and every other NFL team is struggling to fix this problem themselves. The best time to address this problem was free agency and the draft, and the latter gave us Emmanuel Pregnon.
As bright as his future is, Pregnon can only play one position at a time. This is another topic of discussion as well, as the Jaguars' endless obsession with swing tackles and versatile backups hasn't paid off at all. Constantly preparing for one of your starters to get hurt doesn't help the fact that some of them aren't the best option to begin with.
Alas, this is a math problem for James Gladstone to solve, not us. I'd imagine that Liam Coen and Grant Udinski would want the current O-Line to have a lot more time to gel before making any drastic decisions. As fate would have it, they'll get their wish, because the team doesn't have any other choice.
Either way, we're onto New England.
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