The Jacksonville Jaguars once again left egg on the faces of their fans Sunday after another embarrassing loss within the division. This time, the Jags were handily defeated by the Tennessee Titans by a score of 42-20.
It goes without saying Sunday’s performance, in which the Jags were outmatched in every way, was hard to watch but somehow we’ve managed to gather some thoughts on the Jags’ abysmal performance.
Here are three next-day takeaways we came away with:
It’s just a matter of time for Doug Marrone
Sunday’s performance by the Jags may have been the worse we’ve seen all year. The team’s embarrassing loss to the Titans marked their third consecutive divisional loss by 20 points or more, which is a telling sign that points to coaching.
Neither side has played well, so let’s get that out of the way first. On offense, the team has only scored 36 points in three games, most of which occurred when the game was out of hand. Those struggles were due to game planning on John DeFilippo’s part and struggles at quarterback (which I’ll save for later).
On defense, it’s been downright dreadful. Apparently, Marcell Dareus was a bigger piece to the unit than I initially thought because Todd Wash’s unit just doesn’t know what to do about the run especially. Derrick Henry once again made the unit look like an elementary school team, racking up 159 total rushing yards. In total, the unit gave up over 200 rushing yards and 471 total yards. To put it lightly, the Titans moved the ball at will after the first half and all Wash could do is take it.
The struggles of Wash and DeFilippo are ultimately a reflection of Doug Marrone. He ultimately is the overseer of the Jags’ game-planning in the end, and it appears that he and his lieutenants simply aren’t breaking through to the team. The veteran head coach has been asked about coaching changes two consecutive weeks and has seemed certain of himself when stating that no changes will be made. That said, it appears he’d like to stick with them to the end, which in all probability will result in his firing.
The Jags’ $88 million investment, Nick Foles, isn’t getting it done
Since returning from his collarbone injury, Nick Foles hasn’t in the slightest way performed like an investment of his caliber should. Last week, he threw in double coverage more than a veteran should and wasn’t overly impressive when throwing on the move. This week, he struggled to hit his receivers when it mattered and the result was the Jags looking lethargic on offense. As a result of the defense not offering much and the offense struggling as well, all we’ve seen is Foles end up in blowouts where he’s accumulating padded stats.
Foles’ struggles have led Jags fans to want to see the return of Gardner Minshew II — and rightfully so. He offers the team better movement skills in the pocket and simply had a knack for making plays in which energized his teammates. Foles, on the other hand, has been the exact opposite.
Marrone told the media he has no plans to bench Foles, and similar to the approach he’s taking with the staff, it appears he’s willing to go down with Foles as his quarterback. Whether that is because the front office is forcing him to are not is unknown, but the fact of the matter is Foles has been absolutely flat and isn’t elevating the players around him.
Leonard Fournette and Yannick Ngakoue are still playing their hearts out
Nobody from the current front office regime should be brought back next year, but whoever the team’s next regime is won’t have an issue figuring out who the team’s young leaders are.
Despite getting blown out, Leonard Fournette played with heart all game and continued to be the leader the Jags need through his actions on and off the field. Part of that is due to the underrated signing of running backs coach Terry Robiskie, who really has broken through to the young running back.
As for Fournette’s performance on the field Week 12, he had 24 touches on the day for 94 yards and two touchdowns and also was the team’s No. 2 receiving leader with nine catches for 62 yards. Simply put, he was the only source of reliable offense on the day as the passing game was lackluster for the most part.
On defense, Yannick Ngakoue continues to perform to the point where it’s looking ridiculous that the front office hasn’t paid him. He had two tackles on the day and a strip-sack on Ryan Tannehill, further proving he’s a turnover causing machine that any team would love to have. Sure, he could’ve saved his one-fingered gesture to the Titans’ sideline, but like Fournette, he could further mature with the right mentor on defense (which could come later).
Regardless, if you’re talking about what he’s done as a player and how his teammates view him, it’s clear he’s one of the young leaders of the locker-room.
