Jacksonville v ATL: The Aftermath

JT: It was quite a game this past Sunday in London, but was it enough?

I dragged my ass out of bed last Sunday morning to see the Jaguars play a football game across the pond.. Anytime you have to set your alarm on one of the few days of the week where you have the ability to sleep in until your dog’s bladder explodes because you’re a lazy, negligent pet owner, it’s a bad morning. After starting off the day sleep walking, zombie style (we’re talking The Walking Dead type not World War Z) my dog around the neighborhood, because I AM a good dog owner, then slopping together a leftover mixture of cold ricotta smothered pizza (because ricotta is a most amazing creation) and steak fajita onto a plate, I plopped my butt on the couch and tuned into the Toy Story (Andy’s Room) version of the Jaguars v Falcons game. No, I did not. Who would do that? What self respecting football fan would watch a cartoonish version of the real thing? Though, I have to admit, I saw some of the Toy Story Jaguars offensive plays after the game was over, and it was pretty cool. I legitimately felt a little sorry I didn’t watch some of the game like that in real time. More important than my desire to watch cartoon Trevor is my opinion (of which you care a great deal) of the JAX/ATL match-up.

My opinion is…Eh! There you go. Column over. Now don’t get me wrong, I am very glad we won. I feel we needed a win to right this once listing vessel (I’ve already used too many sailing references in previous columns so I will try to think of something new. I like to keep things fresh). The issue was that the win wasn’t convincing. To put another way, it didn’t make me think we have even a remote shot at beating the Buffalo Bills this Sunday in Tottenham. It didn’t convince me that the Jaguars are who I thought they were at the beginning of the season. It didn’t convince me that the offense is what it should be. Let me break it down for those of you questioning my take away.

The offense was just okay. It looked to me like Dougie P. was calling plays from the beginning (can someone confirm this)? The positives were that the receivers didn’t drop any obvious passes, save for the D’Ernest Johnson dropped TD pass on a fourth down that should have been tucked and run past the sticks, or tossed over to Christian Kirk who was wide open. Okay so I guess that was a big drop, but more so it was a missed opportunity. Trevor should have run the ball, as he did a lot in this game, which was another plus. I like when Trevor uses his legs. But that brings us to some of the negatives. Trevor HAD to run a lot this game. The offensive line was not very good and gave him little time. Granted, the Atlanta Falcons have a very good defense. They are stout and solid and any other “s” words that mean “good.” Add to that our offensive line injuries and you get the Trevor scramble (sounds like a Metro Diner breakfast special). I did see that Press Taylor listened to JagsTalk and removed Ben Bartch for Tyler Shatley at guard. Shatley isn’t a long term answer for solidifying our O-line but he was definitely more of a help than Bartch. When Doug Pederson was asked about making this move permanent, in the post game presser, he said he would have to take a look at the film and let us know that decision on Wednesday. I think we all know that answer means…Yes, Shatley is playing in place of Bartch permanently… But more on this very situation below. Now the other interesting factor to consider is that Cam steroidal-hulk-of-a-man Robinson comes off of suspension for the Buffalo Bills game and Pederson flew him to London with the rest of the team. Will he play? Is he in game shape? Can he go? Stay tuned my friends. Who would have thought, at the beginning of the season, that we were so hurting on our O-Line that we would be unbelievably happy to have Cam come back? Originally we were wondering if he would even have a spot come week four. So here is a big problem. Cam Robinson is definitely one of our five best lineman and he needs to play BUUUUTTTTTT, our best offensive lineman right now is Walker Little, and Walker Little is playing left tackle. Left tackle is Cam’s position. Pop quiz (hot shot) you have a hair trigger aimed at your head. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO? Tony Boselli says play Cam Robinson at left tackle and move Walker Little to left guard. But what does he know? That would mean that Shatley goes back to swing man and Ben Bartch is a back-up. I dare say that if Cam is ready to play then rookie right tackle, Anton Harrison, you are the weakest link. Do better O-line.

Okay, so you know I’m known for my tangents. Here is a very applicable one. The game is won and lost in the trenches. We seem to be forgetting this more and more as we dive deeper into the world of wideouts and high scoring passing attacks. Passing attacks don’t work without better linemen. You can have the best QB and wide receivers in the league but if you don’t have the time to get them the ball you won’t be able to live up to your potential. Look at the old Redskins offensive line, The Hogs. Joe Jacoby, Russ Grimm, Jeff Bostic, Jim Lachey, Mark May, Raleigh McKenzie. These Hogs gave their QBs the time needed to take advantage of the vertical game of receivers like Art Monk and Gary Sanders. The Jags traded for a great vertical receiver in Calvin Ridley but are unable to utilize his speed downfield because of poor offensive line play. Only twice did Trevor throw to Calvin vertically and on both plays Lawrence was scrambling around because he didn’t have a pocket from which to throw. All of this to say, love your lineman to the point that you make them some of the best players on your team. Granted, Atlanta has a very good defense, but so do the Buffalo Bills and they are flying across the pond as you read this (but probably you aren’t reaading this…Are you reading this?). For all of these reasons, the fact that we couldn’t get Travis Etienne going, and our red zone trips keep resulting in field goals, leads me to not be quite sold on this JAX O just yet.

The importance of a good line does not only apply to the offense, folks. Here is another reason why I think the Jaguars are maybe, Eh? The Jags D was phenomenal against Atlanta. Or was ATLs QB woefully awful? It is very difficult for me to anoint the Jags D after this showing simply because Desmond Ridder, Atlanta’s young QB, is terrible. So I’m conflicted. I will say this. I believe that the dominating play by the Jaguars defense against the Falcons will give them the confidence they need to beat the Buffalo Bills. Now will that confidence translate to a victory on the field? I don’t know, but I do know that without that confidence the Jags would have no shot. So the positive take away from the dominating defensive performance of last Sunday would be that Jacksonville now believes they can repeat that performance when Buffalo comes to Tottenham. Josh Allen meet Josh Allen. Let’s hope this introduction happens more than once this coming Sunday. Speaking of Josh Allen, I heard that the word Beastmode was just entered into Websters dictionary. A more timely insertion exists not, as #41 had himself a day. He recorded three sacks, including a strip sack to seal the victory. With his performance Josh Allen is tied for the NFLs sack lead. Darious Williams had a great game as well including a pick six while Chad Muma played well in place of the injured Devin Lloyd. He swatted down two passes at opportune times. I might be on the keep Muma on the field and move Lloyd to the edge while Walker takes his rightful position on the interior line, train. Just me? Only one? Mike Caldwell, call me. So to sum up the defense, they played really well but I still don’t know how much of that good play was because of the bad opposing quarterback. We will find out this Sunday against a much much much much better Buffalo offense.

A huge positive take away from the Wembley win is that I believe our special teams is back. Brandon McManus easily made a 56 yard field goal, a shot that I don’t think would have even been attempted had we not acquired the old mile high kicker. Unfortunately, Jamal Agnew was inured for the game, but that gave us a chance to see what newly drafted Parker Washington could do. Evidently he could get hurt, on his very first return attempt. Unfortunately, it may be somewhat serious, keeping him out for a little while. So that’s not good. All of this means Christian Kirk, our best producing wide receiver, is now catching kicks. Not ideal. In better news, Agnew may be healed in time for the Bills game. Pederson said they will try to work him back into the fold on Wednesday. That means Kirk won’t be getting killed by opposing special teams gunners.

I guess my take away is that I’m hesitant. The offense is not great, but not bad. At this rate, the defense needs to win games for us, but are they as good as Desmond Ridder made them look on Sunday? Will the addition of Cam Robinson help tremendously or hurt because he might not be in game shape? Will the JAX D be able to keep a high powered offense in check? Will Josh Allen get to introduce himself to Josh Allen? I just don’t think that this win over Atlanta told us a lot about our Jaguars. I think that this upcoming game against the Bills will. What this dub did do was build the confidence needed to go into the Buffalo game believing they can win. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.