Jaguars Sputter Into Wild Card

by PhoenixJaidin | 8 years ago | 0 Comments

Following the loss to the Colts, the Jaguars knew they were in dire straits, falling behind the division leader in both overall record as well as divisional record, and needed to play the best football they could to stay in the playoff hunt. They followed with three wins, including a big one against AFC playoff frontrunner, the Pittsburgh Steelers, though their head coach was sick for the game and left his assistant in charge, leading to a rout. But that was where the trouble began, going 1-3 in their final four games, barely holding onto their playoff spot as both the Raiders and the Chiefs made a push to take them out and load the playoffs with 3 AFC West teams.

Aside from the win vs the Ravens, signalcaller Blake Bortles more than doubled his interception total in the final 3 losses, throwing for 778 yards and just 5 touchdowns to his 9 interceptions, including 3 pick sixes. This brought his final season statline to 37 touchdowns, 17 interceptions, 4447 passing yards, and a 116.9 quarterback rating. Out of those 9 interceptions, however, 4 were credited to Allen Robinson, the star top receiver on the Jaguars squad, who suddenly started playing with no motivation and no ball skills, despite how renowned he is at securing the ball in traffic. Two jump balls to a mediocre rookie cornerback on the Cardinals named Julius Adkins, a route where he stopped running and allowed Deone Buchanan to take it away uncontested, and a pick six to Joe Haden where he ran away from the ball like it was a disease, definitely played a role in not only 2 of the 3 losses but also a lot of momentum moving forward. Despite the difficulties, though, the receivers did finish with strong season statistics, with Robinson leading the way, nabbing 54 catches for 1148 yards and 12 touchdowns. His opposite, Allen Hurns, finished with 44 catches for 653 yards and 10 touchdowns, while slot receiver Marqise Lee hauled in 47 catches for 833 yards and 8 touchdowns. Tight end Julius Thomas had the most receptions with 56 for 888 yards and a touchdown, while Will Tye pulled in 22 passes for 398 yards and 3 touchdowns. Running back TJ Yeldon, who started the season on a roll, cooled by the end, but finished with a respectable 1161 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns, as well as 16 receptions for 184 yards. They hope to get back on track as they move into the playoffs, now needing to win 4 games to claim the ultimate prize.

Luckily for them, their defense has been holding strong and keeping them in games. Lead by shutdown corner Jalen Ramsey, former defensive rookie of the year, they managed to keep teams to just 201.6 passing yards, the 2nd best in the league against the pass. Ramsey finished the season with 40 tackles and 6 interceptions. Rookie cornerback Roshawn Avant also finished with 6 interceptions, as did rookie strong safety Diamond Bragg and inside linebacker Christian Jones, who started more than half the season with Myles Jack being injured. Rookie free safeties Paul Ottis and Keron Turk both finished with 4 interceptions apiece. Outside linebacker Dante Fowler Jr and defensive end John Simon each finished with 10 sacks, while Telvin Smith finished with 7, despite missing the last quarter of the season. The defense will have to maintain and keep pressing forward, hoping the offense can balance out their efforts in the playoffs.

When asked about what happened, Coack K only said, "we haven't been playing with the same heart we started the year with. Teams are playing tougher now, while our guys seem to be lacking in motivation. Perhaps advancing past where we got knocked out last year will motivate our boys to play their best here out. I hope to be lifting the Lombardi at the end, but it'll take some real gameplanning and better execution to make it happen."