JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars lost 30-10 to the San Francisco 49ers in a game that looked like Jacksonville was the team traveling across three time zones to play a game on a short week. Instead, San Francisco dominated from the beginning. Here are my four biggest takeaways from the game:
Long drives
When were the Jaguars in the game? After the opening kickoff, San Francisco started its first drive at the 11-yard line. From there, the Niners drove 87 yards in 20 plays on a drive that resulted in a field goal. The drive took 13:01 off of the first quarter clock — nearly the entire quarter.
It’s the longest drive in the NFL this year — the 49ers had an over 11-minute drive on Monday night against the Rams — and it set the tone for the rest of the game.
After the Jaguars went three-and-out, the Niners marched down the field with a tidy seven-play, 80-yard drive for a touchdown. The two drives combined for 27 plays and 167 yards. It drained more than 17 minutes off of the clock. The Jaguars never recovered. After surrendering only two offensive touchdowns the previous 10 quarters, the Jaguars’ defense bent, and then broke against the San Francisco offense.
Mindless penalties
Sometimes a penalty is a penalty of aggression. A pass interference call while going for an interception, for example. Others are mindless. After a second-quarter play, Rayshawn Jenkins threw a punch at Jauan Jennings, drawing a penalty and getting Jenkins ejected. As a leader of the Jaguars defense, he has to be smarter. Penalties again were an issue for the Jaguars. They committed eight penalties for 56 yards. This is not a team that can afford self-inflicted wounds.
Who made plays on offense?
Is anybody going to show up? Big plays continue to be scarce. The Jaguars didn’t have a single play over 20 yards until the result was no longer in doubt. They controlled Nick Bosa through the first three quarters and still couldn’t find the end zone. James Robinson never got going. Receivers struggled to get open and Trevor Lawrence missed a few open receivers as well. Basically, nothing on the offense worked on Sunday.
What’s next?
The Jaguars host the Atlanta Falcons in the second straight home game. It will be the last time this year the Jaguars will have a home game after a home game. Somehow, the Jaguars need to find a way to get the offense going. If Cam Robinson’s knee injury and Jamal Agnew’s hip injury are serious, that’s going to make the challenge even greater. Now at 2-8, the Jaguars have lost the momentum they built over the previous four games when they won twice. The rollercoaster continues.