It’s been a while since we’ve been able to have a Victory Monday, but the Jacksonville Jaguars went to the West Coast Sunday and handled their business against the Oakland Raiders. It was a weird game in which the Jags looked like they weren’t going to win until the fourth quarter, but thanks to some late quarterback heroics from the Mississippi Mustache, the Jags pulled off a comeback victory.
With the roller coaster ride at RingCentral Stadium in the record books, here are our good, bad and ugly tidbits of Sunday’s game:
The good
- Gardner Minshew II and Chris Conley connection: The Jags came into Sunday’s game without their best receiver, DJ Chark Jr., but that ultimately did not matter. Rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew II simply took a “next man up” mentality and utilized what he had to the best of his ability. While Keelan Cole led the team in receiving with 79 yards, Chris Conley made the most impactful plays. He especially was clicking with Minshew in the fourth quarter as both connected for two touchdown passes, including the one in the Jags’ last offensive drive to give them the lead.
- Yannick Ngakoue and the Jaguars’ pass-rush: TheJags’ pass-rush kept them in this game. Yannick Ngakoue especially came up huge as he had arguably his best game of the season. He ultimately finished the game with five tackles and two sacks. Josh Allen also had a good day and was disruptive, accumulating his tenth sack on the season.
The bad
Penalties
The Jags came into Sunday’s game as the most penalized team in football and had eight on the day against the Raiders. In all honesty, that’s actually not too bad for a Jags team that routinely has double-digit penalties, but at the same time, they beat the Raiders in the category (six), which typically translates into a loss.
Simply put, if the Raiders were able to capitalize on their offensive possessions better, they would’ve won the game. That also would’ve made the Jags’ eight penalties more impactful than they were.
The ugly
The run game
The Jags, a team who is supposed to be a run-first team, has been anything but that as of late. That was once again the case in Sunday’s game against the Raiders as they registered just 77 yards on the ground.
Part of the reason for the Jags’ pedestrian rush figures as of late is due to the team falling behind so quickly at times. At other times it seems as though John DeFilippo gets away from the run too easily when it’s not working out. Additionally, the offensive line hasn’t been all that good and there have also been times where Leonard Fournette could have more of a “take what you can get” mentality.
Regardless as to which one of the aforementioned reasons you agree with one thing is clear: the Jags’ run game likely won’t be improving before the season ends.
