As they have all season, the Jacksonville Jaguars got off to a slow start in their Thursday Night Football matchup with the Miami Dolphins, but this time they weren’t able to recover. As a result, they lost their second consecutive game of the 2020 season, this week by an embarrassing score of 31-13, leaving huge concerns heading from here on out.
The Jags’ rough night started on defense as they allowed the Dolphins to score a touchdown on the first drive courtesy of a Ryan Fitzpatrick 3-yard pass to receiver Preston Williams. From that point on, Fitzpatrick was in the zone and there was nothing defensive coordinator Todd Wash could do with him.
In the second half things didn’t that much better for the defense and the group allowed just under 300 yards. Due to a lack of a pass rush, they also allowed a time of possession of over 34 minutes, which will leave a lot of questions for fans to direct towards Wash, who has yet to impress in 2020.
Ultimately, Fitzpatrick finished the game 18-of-20 for 160 passing yards and a QBR of 133.3. Simply put, under the veteran, the Dolphins were able to distribute the wealth somewhat evenly exiting the game with 138 rushing yards and 160 passing yards.
As for Jags quarterback Gardner Minshew II, the magic just wasn’t there Thursday night as the absence of D.J. Chark Jr. clearly affected his play. That’s not to make any excuses for the second-year quarterback as his performance was unimpressive in itself as he finished the game 30-of-42 for 275 passing yards and a pick.
Offensively, Minshew received little help from his receivers who came into Week 3 on fire and there wasn’t a single passing touchdown caught. In fact, the two touchdowns the Jags were able to acquire were through rushes from rookie running back James Robinson, who was the one bright light for the team in general. After a solid Week 1-2, he ended Week 3 as the Jags’ leading receiver with six catches for 83 yards on the night.
The last noteworthy thing to mention with Thursday’s game was the penalties. While some of them were questionable, the Jags ended the night with eight, most of which killed any momentum they could garner. As many are aware, it was a huge issue for the Jags in 2019, and if he is to remain the Jags’ coach, Doug Marrone will need to address it quickly before it worsens.
With the Jags playing the first game of Week 3, they will at least get a great deal of time to rest up before facing the winless but competitive Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 4. By then it feels like they will have Chark back, which may be the key to at least getting the offense back on track.
