JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Rough day at the office for the Jaguars. That locker room really wanted that win on Sunday against the Chiefs. Instead, the Jaguars suffered a 17-9 loss at EverBank Stadium. Here are my Four Cents from the game.
Play calling
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The loss starts and ends with the offense. If you are going to win football games, especially against teams like the Chiefs, you have to score touchdowns. Field goals don’t beat Patrick Mahomes. Let’s start with Press Taylor. I have seen a lot of fans pointing the finger at Taylor for the offensive sturggles because Doug Pederson turned over the play calling this year. People are missing the mark. The offense hasn’t been great, but that isnt just because of Taylor.
Blaming him just seems like it became the trendy thing to do becuase the news about play-calling duties came out right before the Colts game. Well, keep in mind Taylor was calling plays in the second half of games last year. Remember the Cowboys, Ravens and Chargers games last year? All those wild comebacks where the offense came to life in the second half and went on to win the game ... that was Taylor. So, let’s pump the brakes on criticism a little bit. What kind of plays do you want Taylor to call when the offensive line just isn’t getting the job done?
Offensive line struggles are real
Offensive linemen are the guys who nobody really talks about until they make a mistake. The past two weeks, they have made mistakes, big mistakes. Keep in mind that Luke Fortner and Brandon Scherff are both dealing with injuries that are impacting their play, but that doesn’t change the fact that O-line as a whole wasn’t effective.
Anton Harrison is a rookie but that doesnt change the fact that Chris Jones was able to throw him around to get into the backfield. The line has been a problem for two weeks and it doesn’t look like there are any real solutions in sight. Cam Robinson can come back after Week 4, but sliding him into the lineup at left tackle and then moving Walker Little to another spot on the line seems like it could be more of a Band-Aid than an actual fix. Nobody goes to games wearing the O-line guys jersey.
Many times, folks don’t even know their names. But if they don’t do their jobs, your favorite player doesn’t get the chance to make plays. The old football saying is games are won and lost in the trenches, and that saying is still true today. The Jaguars offensive talent is dynamic and at times they will be able to make plays, despite the lack of blocking. But that is not a recipe for success or one that will work very well in the postseason. The offensive line looks like a big problem and one that they have to find a way to fix and quickly.
These teams will meet again
This feels like a storybook that hasn’t written it’s final chapter. These two teams will likely meet again in the playoffs.
Injuries stacking up
The Jaguars left the game a little banged up. We will have to keep a close eye on if any guys will miss time because of those bumps and bruises.