The Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts duked it out at Lucas Oil Field Sunday afternoon and it didn’t end well for the Jags. In fact, it was a beatdown for the Cardiac Cats, who fell by a score of 33-13.
As there is in any game there were some players (and coaches) who came out winners and losers from the process and here are four members of the Jags in particular who caught our eyes:
Winners
WR D.J. Chark Jr.
DJ Chark Jr. is a player who we’ve often placed here in the winners category and with Nick Foles back under center, he didn’t disappoint once again. Chark had his third 100-yard game of the year and second game with two touchdowns. He set the tone early by linking up with Foles for a touchdown pass in the first quarter and was the most consistent player throughout the game.
Although the game had gotten out of hand late, he added another touchdown reception to his résumé, giving him eight on the season which is tied for the most in the league. The 104 yards he was able to accumulate on the day also put him at 796 yards total on the season, good for ninth in the league.
Chark’s performance against the Colts No. 9 ranked defense further makes his case to attend the Pro Bowl this season after a drastically improving upon his rookie season. At the rate he’s going he’ll eclipse 1,000 yards in two to three weeks, which hasn’t been done since 2015 when the Allen Brothers did it.
DE Yannick Ngakoue
In a performance where the Jags’ defense was gashed and allowed 264 rushing yards, there was some good play on the edge. Yannick Ngakoue, in particular, was a player who caught my eyes on several occasions as he was a handful for the Colts talented offensive line.
Ngakoue ultimately finished the day with four tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. Unfortunately, the Jags weren’t able to recover the fumble, however, that’s certainly not his fault.
Many fans already had questions as to why Ngakoue hasn’t gotten paid yet and the performance he had against a quality Colts unit will only make fans scratch their heads more. Then again, maybe the front office will have a change of heart and get something done as Ngakoue now has 34.5 career sacks to his name and has been a turnover causing machine for the franchise
Losers
DC Todd Wash
The Jags had their second consecutive rough outing against the run and the team’s inconsistency in the category at this point is getting tiresome in the eyes of the fans. In a season where the Jags are already two games behind .500 and are running out of time to string some wins together for a playoff push, Todd Wash’s seat has to be getting hotter by the week.
In the Jags’ postgame presser, Jags coach Doug Marrone said the team tried everything to stop the run and nothing worked. The Jags also gave up some big plays in the passing game, including an embarrassing third-down and 19 situation where running back Jonathan Williams was able to convert on the Jags o a screen play
Clearly, Wash isn’t getting through to the Jags’ defensive unit on a week-to-week basis and Marrone can’t keep holding on to him if this continues to happen. After all Marrone’s job might be on the line, too.
With the Tennessee Titans coming up, things may only get worse against the Jags as Derrick Henry has had a great deal of success against them aside from their meeting that occurred earlier this season.
RB Leonard Fournette
The usage of Leonard Fournette since the London game has been quite puzzling. In Week 9’s international battle, he only got 11 carries, however, most expected that to change this week. For whatever reason, it didn’t and he received even less carries against the Colts (nine).
Clearly, the Jags success relies heavily on Fournette and if he’s a non-factor, then their chances to win are drastically low. Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo knows this more than anyone and can’t afford to not use arguably his best weapon going forward. If he doesn’t, we could be looking at a situation similar to the one he was in with the Minnesota Vikings, where there were issues DeFilippo and Mike Zimmer because of the lack of a rush attack.
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