JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Texans are on the clock for the Jaguars and Jacksonville finally looks ready for them.
After a season of inconsistent and ragged performances on offense, the Jaguars put a full four quarters together in Sunday’s 34-14 blowout of Tennessee. It flashed just how smoothly things can run for Doug Pederson’s team when the offense is in synch.
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And that’s much-needed heading into its most pivotal game of the season, a rematch against the much-better-than-expected Texans (6-4), who are just a game back of the AFC South-leading Jaguars (7-3).
Just what has Jacksonville learned since its first meeting of the season against Houston and talented rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud? The Ohio State product shredded the Jaguars in Week 3 at EverBank Stadium, a 37-17 romp. It’s not uncommon for teams to have issues against players who they don’t have a lot of film on, but teams have plenty of it on Stroud now and he’s still thriving.
“It still seems like he’s putting up really good numbers and they’re scoring on offense, defensively they’re better,” Pederson said. “You just see the improvement each week with this group. We understand what happened here not too long ago, and C.J. performed well in that game. That and the ability to run the football, which they’ve been able to do. They’re playing good right now.”
After Sunday’s showing, Jacksonville is playing well, too. And they needed that type of game badly after getting eviscerated by San Francisco (34-3) a week earlier.
While no player would publicly say their confidence had been shaken, it was certainly worth questioning if that was the case due to a poor and inconsistent offense. The Jaguars had labored most of the season on that side of the ball. Trevor Lawrence was averaging more turnovers a game than touchdowns, and he was being sacked at a rate that would rank as one of the most in franchise history. Naturally, the questions about the offense have been a weekly conversation.
Why so many struggles for a unit that was projected to be one of the league’s best? Lawrence said it’s just the nature of the NFL.
“We’ve had some adversity going back the last couple of seasons, and we’ve been good at responding, and we have to keep doing that,” Lawrence said. “That’s what the good teams do, you know. It’s hard to go undefeated in this league. There’s been, what, one team to do it. You’re going to have weeks where you don’t play great, and you’ve got to find a way to be able to turn the ship and play better the next week.”
Pederson said that the offensive struggles were a combination of things and not one specific area. Arguably the biggest reason for the offensive issues was the play of its line, which was below average statistically last year and had been even worse this season.
Sunday was a glimpse of why there may just be some good news on that front.
The maligned offensive line played one of its best games of the season against the Titans. Lawrence picked apart Tennessee’s defense and added two rushing touchdowns. Calvin Ridley had his best game as a Jaguars player, finally showing what he was capable of when he was targeted at high volume. Receiver Zay Jones, who was arrested on a domestic battery charge last week, returned to the field after missing a chunk of the season dealing with a knee injury.
All those pieces came together at the perfect time.
Jones’ return coincided with Ridley’s big game (9 touches, 121 yards, 2 TDs), and there’s no question that Jones, even if he’s not full healed from his knee issue, makes a significant difference in the game.
“It was good to see him get out there, it was good to see him get that early catch. I think he had four targets, four catches yesterday, kind of getting him back in the mix,” Pederson said. “I think it just helps the whole overall offense. We don’t have to switch and change as many personnel groupings as much as possible. He was tough in the run game.”
For a team trying to get out of an offensive funk, the Titans game came at the perfect time. The Jaguars had been stagnant on offense much of the season as Mike Caldwell’s defense led the way.
The offensive line was at the forefront of the struggles. When it plays well, Lawrence tends to have an opportunity to settle in and get comfortable. Sunday was perhaps the first time this season where that group had a bit of continuity and that showed. Lawrence wasn’t sacked and was seldom pressured.
“I thought protection was great. I barely got touched in the pocket,” Lawrence said. “Obviously on some scrambles, extended plays I did, but as far as in the pocket, I mean, those guys did an awesome job protecting me all day, gave me time.”
Cam Robinson missed the first four games due to a performance-enhancing drug suspension. When Robinson returned, Walker Little went down with a knee injury to dent the left guard position. Rookie right tackle Anton Harrison has had the typical struggles of a first-year player. While the group collectively still has a long way to go, it played very well against Tennessee, a positive in that unit’s second game working together. Pederson said that was the expectation, and that the limited amount of game reps together have been a reason for the struggles.