(Photo by Jim Brady, Florida Sports Wire)
By Jeff Moeller, Florida Sports Wire
It was another Jaguars’ loss and another microcosm of their season.
Sunday’s 32-25 loss to the Jets at a half or just over half-filled EverBank Stadium on a cloudy afternoon.
In a way, the setting was appropriate. It has been a half-filled, cloudy Jaguars’ season filled with plenty of dissatisfaction and unanswered questions.
Again, it was about situational awareness and late-game situations. The Jags dropped their seventh game by seven points or less.
They couldn’t make the big stop, and they couldn’t make the big play. It was the same old script.
At this point, you just accept it. When Trevor Lawrence was healthy, there was a sense of hope and optimism.
By now, you know how the Jets’ Aaron Rodgers and Davontae Adams put on one of the best combinations of the season and over the last few ones. Even more impressive was that they did it in the second half alone.
These were two guys who supposedly had their prime a few years ago in Green Bay together, and the Jags’ defense allowed them to turn back the clock for Jets’ fans.
How Adams got behind three defenders for a 71-yard touchdown, and then how he was all alone down the sideline and pranced down to the one-yard line was mind-boggling and horrendous.
It was the work of a duo that you won’t see often in your football lifetime, but you will remember.
Overall, the pass rush was anemic – one sack and three quarterback hits- and the secondary was, of course, atrocious.
And this was a defense that just held Tennessee to just six points.
And like they have all season; the Jags haven’t capitalized on any momentum. When you have three wins, it’s hard to accomplish.
Ironically, the Jets entered the game in a very similar situation, as their defense has been called out all season.
In another ironic twist, much-maligned Jets’ cornerback Sauce Gardner ended the Jags’ final drive with his first interception in 36 games.
Still, Jags’ quarterback Mac Jones was effective in his short passing game, but his long ball suffered once again. Earlier, he threw an ill-advised ball downfield headed to Brian Thomas Jr. in triple coverage that was picked off. Gardner’s interception was a Jones’ long ball.
Before Jones’ second interception, you sensed it was coming, and it was going to be another shortfall.
The Jags did muster 421 yards of offense – 136 on the ground – and they held the ball for over 21 minutes in the opening half (over 34 minutes overall). They had the Jets on the ropes at halftime, but couldn’t deliver the knockout blow.
Yes, it is the scene we have seen too many times.
What’s left for the Jags are three games beginning with a trip to state-of-the-art Allegiant Stadium, the league’s new centerpiece in Las Vegas to play the hard-to-watch Raiders this Sunday. The Jags need a double-digit feel-good win, and they could pull one off in Vegas.
After that, it’s the home final against Tennessee, and a meaningless season finale in Indianapolis.
More importantly, though, it is quite evident that the secondary needs another reboot, and coordinator Ryan Nielsen looks like the first sacrificial lamb here.
With three games left, you appreciate the little things that will be left and relish the drafting of rookie kicker Cam Little and also wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr, who is rewriting the Jags’ receiving rookie and overall records.
Change is coming, but the script will currently read the same.
