JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The AFC South is officially open for business again.
The Jaguars’ tenuous hold on the division is no more after the Ravens and Lamar Jackson handed Jacksonville a 23-7 loss at EverBank Stadium in its first Sunday night game in 15 years. The Jaguars turned in their second prime-time clunker in three weeks and now find their playoff standing no longer the sure thing that it was a month ago.
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Fans who packed EverBank for the team’s first Sunday night game since 2008 had little to celebrate. They had largely emptied the bowl by the fourth quarter as Trevor Lawrence and Co. gave them little reason to want to stick around. Making matters worse was Lawrence going into the NFL’s concussion protocol after the game, something coach Doug Pederson revealed at the tail end of a subdued press conference.
Jacksonville is in a swoon that has shown no signs of slowing down.
It has dropped five of its last seven games and has seen its injury list balloon. Lawrence’s concussion is the latest and most prominent in what has been a slew of notable injuries.
Carved up by backup Jake Browning on “Monday Night Football” on Dec. 4 and then knocked around by veteran Joe Flacco last week, the Jaguars actually did a solid job against Jackson. But it had little success in getting points against an excellent Baltimore defense.
“Right now we’re just not good enough to pull these games out against good football teams,” Pederson said. “That’s the honest truth. Until we figure that out, it’s going to be rough. It’s just a matter of continuing to work and taking your job serious and getting ready for another one next week.”
The Jaguars still control their playoff destiny, and they may still win the division. But they find themselves locked in a three-team tie for the AFC South lead and playing their worst football since last year. The Texans beat the Titans in overtime and the Colts walloped the Steelers to make things quite a bit more interesting for the final weeks of the season. Houston, Indianapolis and Jacksonville are all 8-6, although the Jaguars hold the tiebreaker on both teams.
That won’t matter if Jacksonville can’t figure out a fix for its growing issues. The Jaguars played better against Jackson than they did in losses the last two weeks against backup quarterbacks, but they continued to make too many mistakes on the offensive side of the ball.
Unforced errors, as Pederson has stressed, remain the team’s undoing. Two missed field goals, a fumble inside the red zone, ill-timed penalties and poor clock management at the end of the first half put a bow on an all-too-common theme.
“That’s the head scratcher. That’s the frustrating part. Again, we can’t get out of our way,” Pederson said. “That’s the frustrating part because we do some really good things, and then it’s a play two or here and there that keep us from scoring.”
What is wrong with the Jaguars? They won their final five games of the season last year to win the AFC South at 9-8. They head to Tampa Bay next riding a three-game slide, followed by their home finale on Dec. 31 against Carolina and then a trip to Tennessee to end the regular season.
Struggles continue
Brandon McManus missed a field goal for the third time in his last four games, hitting a 50-yarder off the right upright and then pulling a 55-yarder wide left. McManus had a streak of 18 consecutive field goals end against the Texans in Week 12 and is just 1 for 5 in his last four games.
Rayshawn Jenkins picked off a Jackson pass early in the second quarter to set up a Jacksonville drive that should have ended with points. But Lawrence fumbled at the end of a third-down run at the Ravens 19. Baltimore pounced on it and turned that gift into a 16-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Isaiah Likely and a 10-0 lead at halftime.
Self-inflicted issues continued to be Jacksonville’s greatest issue.
On the play before Lawrence’s fumble, he fired a rocket that rookie Parker Washington dropped. At the end of the half, Lawrence marched Jacksonville down to the Baltimore 4, but clock mismanagement cost it a shot at points. Lawrence hit Washington on a quick pass but the rookie was tackled inbounds and the Jaguars couldn’t spike it in time to stop the clock.
In terms of penalties, Jacksonville was dinged at the worst times. After it scored in the third quarter to get within 13-7, the Jaguars had momentum. But Walker Little was flagged for a false start on a third and 3 to back the Jaguars up to their own 12. Lawrence was called for intentional grounding on the ensuing play and the Jaguars had to punt from their own 1.
One big play
Lawrence’s best throw of the game came with Jacksonville down 10-0 midway through the third quarter. Jamal Agnew blistered Baltimore’s man coverage and found himself alone down the left sideline. Lawrence hit Agnew in stride and the receiver, in his first game back after coming off injured reserve, stretched it into a 65-yard touchdown. It was the longest touchdown pass of Lawrence’s career.
Jacksonville moved the ball, but it couldn’t attach points to drives. Lawrence finish 25 of 43 passing for 264 yards and a touchdown, but had two killer fumbles that both led to Baltimore touchdowns.
“Obviously, losing three in a row, we put ourselves in a little bit of a tricky situation. But we’ve still got to take it one game at a time. We can’t look ahead,” Agnew said. “Obviously, Tampa just got a really big win today, their offense is playing at a high level, their defense is playing really well. We’ve still got to take it one game at a time but we’ve got to be more urgent and just more consistent.”
Defense solid
Jackson is an MVP candidate and he showed why on more than one occasion. But the Jaguars actually played well against the Baltimore star. Jackson did most of his damage with his legs, extending plays in the pocket and allowing his receivers to find open spaces downfield. Jackson rushed for 97 yards on 12 carries and passed for 171 (14 of 24 passing).
“That is the beautiful part, there is a lot more of the season left. We are fighters. We will find a way. We just have to keep working to find these wins. It’s never easy,” said linebacker Foye Oluokun. “It’s the NFL, it’s never easy. Every team is competitive. We are a competitive team too. We have to get back to what makes us successful and put our best foot forward. We have to keep being positive in the locker room and we have to work to win. We have to know that.”