The Jacksonville Jaguars ended Week 4 in the win column as they defeated the Denver Broncos by a score of 26-24 in a tough road game at Empower Field at Mile High. This now makes it two wins in a row for the Jaguars, while the Broncos are still in the winless column. Even though the Jaguars pulled off an impressive second win in a very hostile environment, it was not without many flaws. Here are the good, the bad and the ugly moments from Sunday’s game against the Broncos:
The good: Leonard Fournette has a career rushing day
This is the game that people expected from Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette when he was selected with the fourth overall pick. Fournette was an absolute force to be reckoned with on the ground rushing for a career-high 226 yards on 29 carries. He even broke off a huge gain for 81-yards on this play:
With his amazing day on the ground, Fournette is currently the third- leading rusher in the NFL, trailing only Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook and Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey by six and seven yards, respectively.
Fournette has faced much criticism lately stemming from his off-the-field antics, his health and his draft position. Hopefully, with this kind of continued performance, he can quell those doubts and show the football world that he can be a franchise running back.
The good: Josh Lambo is Josh Scobee
Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo has been an absolute godsend since joining the Jaguars in 2017. He has been very reliable going 44-for-47 on field goals, 45-for-48 on extra points and a perfect 9-for-9 in the postseason with the Jaguars. He has shown to be an exceptionally clutch kicker and Sunday’s game-winning field goal against the Broncos was his latest display of his clutch personality:
Lambo has done a great job of solidifying the Jaguars kicking game. When the offense has struggled, Lambo has done a great job of putting points on the board.
The bad: A Jalen Ramsey-less secondary
Jaguars All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey was ruled OUT for the game against the Broncos due to what the team is calling a back injury. In his absence, the defense struggled in the secondary as backup cornerback Tre Herndon was tasked with covering talented Broncos wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Emmanuel Sanders. Needless to say, that it was not a good day for Herndon as Sutton and Sanders got loose for a combined total of 166 yards and two touchdowns.
Clearly, Ramsey’s absence was felt and if the Jaguars decide to go through with his trade request, this could mean continued trouble in the secondary for the rest of the season.
The ugly: Penalties and poor offensive line play
It was another rough day for the offensive line of the Jaguars as they gave up five sacks against a Broncos defense that had zero coming into Sunday’s game. Broncos linebacker Von Miller had a field day against Jaguars tackles Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor, as he amassed two sacks and forced both into five penalties alongside Denver’s defense as a whole.
Speaking of penalties, the Jaguars in total had 12 accepted penalties for 102 yards. Nine of the penalties were on the offensive side of the ball as Robinson, Taylor and tight end Geoff Swaim all combined for a majority of those. Teams with a large amount of penalties don’t normally find themselves in the win column, but the Jaguars were lucky that their self-inflicted wounds did not cost them the game.
Some more good: The Jaguars resiliency in the face of adversity
Let’s end the day on a good note. The Jaguars were in a heap of trouble in the first half as the Broncos came out firing and led the Jags by a score of 17-6. In a game where it looked like the charm and allure of quarterback Gardner Minshew II would finally run out, he and the entire team went on a tear scoring 20 answered points which were also fueled by the dynamic running of Fournette. Backup tailback Ryquell Armstead, who ended the game with 42 rushing yards and his first career NFL touchdown, also had some great moments.
After a late go-ahead touchdown by the Broncos, the game looked to be over. However, Garnder Minshew led the Jaguars downfield including a huge 32-yard throw to Dede Westbrook to set the Jaguars up in field goal range for Josh Lambo to hit the game-winning field goal.
While it started off ugly, the Jaguars showed great poise in a situation where things could have turned bleak. That is definitely an encouraging sign moving forward for the rest of the season.
Check out the Jags Wire on Twitter and Facebook for more Jaguars news and discussion. Also, follow Robert Ricks on Twitter for all things Jaguars!
