By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire
JACKSONVILLE – High school coaches will tell you the old adage that their teams need to play “four quarters.”
Note to the 2-7 Jaguars: take note.
However, the NFL version of it is to play with intensity for four quarters and avoid turnovers and big plays.
Those have plagued the Jaguars all season long, and there hasn’t been signs of it ending soon. The only thing that could be ending is any hopes of salvaging their season. They have already jettisoned tackle Cam Robinson and defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris. The Doug Pederson watch is on.
In their 29-23 loss to the Eagles, the Jags had a brutal first half that saw them generate a feeble 32 total yards, one first down, and a 1.76 yards per play. It was also a half filled with missed tackles and lackadaisical effort
An average first half would have kept them in the game with the Eagles, who had a 16-0 halftime lead.
Like they have on different occasions, the Jags showed their fortitude battling back to generate 16-point third quarter, and they fought until quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw a high pass to running back D’Ernest Johnson, who was turned the wrong way, and Philly’s Zach Baun picked it off to seal their victory.
It left them with their fifth loss this season, and they remain winless on the road (0-4). Five of the Jags’ seven losses have been by five points or less.
Look at Miami loss (20-17), the Cleveland loss (18-13), the Green Bay loss (30-27), the Texans loss (24-20), and the Eagles’ loss (28-23). They all were within the Jaguars’ grasp of a victory.
This team could easily be 5-4 or 6-3 instead of their current fate.
This Jags’ team has the talent to still make a run at the AFC South. At 6-3, Houston has shown some flaws, and their offensive line is terrible. The Colts at 4-4 has Joe Flacco at quarterback, and he looked ancient against Minnesota last Sunday night.
Speaking of Minnesota, the 6-2 Vikings march into the Bank Sunday, losing two straight before they outlasted the Colts, 21-13.
Some of their early-season luster has worn off, but they are still a dangerous team. Ironically, though, the passing numbers of Lawrence and fellow quarterback Sam Darnold aren’t far apart – Lawrence (2,004 to Darnold’s 1,900) – wow, Lawrence does have 2,000 yards – and running back Aaron Jones (545) had slightly outgained Tank Bigsby (515).
The slight difference maker is wide receiver Justin Jefferson to Brian Thomas, yet not startling. Jefferson has 48 catches for 783 yards, while Thomas Jr. has 35 for 595. Both have five touchdown passes.
The real difference maker is the stingy Vikings’ defense, which has allowed 150 points, pitted against the porous Jaguars’ defense, which has allowed a league second-worst 252 points.
Minnesota has capitalized on opportunities, while Jacksonville has not.
Lawrence has been bothered by a sore right shoulder, but he expects to play. Longtime backup C.J. Beathard, who was waived earlier, is back in camp as insurance.
The four-year signal caller doesn’t want to white flag the season, but he knows the team has to get beyond their frustrations.
It’s no different approach than if you’re doing well, honestly. I mean, I think it’s harder in the sense of the frustration piece,” offered Lawrence. “Obviously, you want the results, and you want to be in a different position, and you want to have more wins than we have right now.
“But there’s really nothing else for us to do than to go to work. We can’t just get frustrated, and we have a job to do at the end of the day. It’s to do everything we can do in our power as players, as coaches, as a team to win on Sunday. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten that result enough this year, but there’s still a lot of football left.”
Instead, it is a matter of how much meaningful football is left, and how many of those will be intense-filled for four quarters.
