Jaguars @ Lions - The Embarrassment

JT: ZERO PUNTS FOR DETROIT

Could this be the straw? Where is the camel's back because I want to test it out? It takes a lot to get Doug Pederson angry/fired-up or even raise his voice a little, and in the press conference after the Detroit game, while I saw none of that from the Head Coach, I did detect a little bit of exasperation. Hell, I’ll take it. This was an awful game. This was abysmal. It was atrocious. Me and a few hand picked guys from my Twitter feed could have played with more heart against the Lions than the Jaguars did today. The outcome would have been the same (a monumental loss) but we sure would have put everything we had into the game, unlike the team we saw sleepwalking through this match-up. There is absolutely no excuse for the complete lack of effort the Jaguars exhibited. They should have to pay back their game salaries, or at least donate them to charities because they certainly did not earn them this week. It is a question of pride and the Jaguars displayed none. Of all the things to do this game, how could you let Aidan Hutchinson sack Trevor Lawrence? And he was untouched. The absolute best pass rusher on the field tonight, hands down, for both teams, and you let him put Trevor Lawrence on his back, completely unabated. COMPLETELY UNTOUCHED! You had one job.

Let’s talk about problems. Some may disagree, but there is definitely talent on this team. If talent exists then why isn’t it displayed on the field? Misuse? Rookie defensive coordinator? Not enough of that talent? Yes, yes, and yes. This experiment that the Jags have been fooling themselves with, trying to make Travon Walker something he is not, needs to end. Walker is not an edge rusher, Travon is an interior guy. Put him against any offensive guard and he gets to the QB every game. Against a tackle, off the edge, he rarely gets there, and when he does, as shown in this Detroit game, he doesn’t do anything. Goff, one of the most immobile QBs in the game today, made Walker look like he was on skates as he side stepped Travon like he wasn’t even there. Walker is a bull rusher, up the middle force, so play him as one. The Jags also spent some high value draft picks to jump back into the first round to snag Devin Lloyd. Lloyd hasn’t been producing in his linebacker role. So much so, in fact, that third rounder Chad Muma has taken his place. Now, I believe Muma should have been a second rounder however nobody had Lloyd below Muma on their board. So put Lloyd on the edge. Put him where Travon currently is and see what he can do. Do we really have anything to lose at this point? Mike Caldwell has to answer for his inability to coach the defense at a level even resembling the NFL. He may not have all of the talent that other teams have but he certainly has enough to perform at a level higher than what he is doing right now. This offseason the most important acquisition will be a defensive coordinator that knows what he is doing. Caldwell will be fine. He will get picked up by another team and be coaching again in no time. The NFL and politics are the only occupations where you can fail upward. It doesn’t matter how bad you are, you will always get hired by another team. Now for the issue of talent. The Jags could use one or two shut down corners. They also need a pass rush (moving Walker and Lloyd will help considerably), but adding an elite “true” edge and/or D-lineman will make a huge difference. On offense, Calvin Ridley should solve any WR issue and we should secure some O-line depth in the middle of the draft. Once again the focus of the 2023 offseason needs to be defense because the Detroit Lions just hung 40 points on your boys. 8 possessions, 8 scores, 0 punts, 437 total yards, 13 minute advantage in TOP, making Jared Goff look like an NFL MVP = pathetic defensive play by Jacksonville. And I am not letting the offense off the hook either. Detroit is the worst defense in the entire NFL and yet we could only score 14 points. Only one touchdown. Christian Kirk (over 100 yards receiving on the day) can’t do everything himself.

This game was best summed up by the coach and the players themselves. Doug Pederson, in his post game presser said “we were not ready.” How is that acceptable when everyone involved is being paid millions of dollars specifically to be just that, READY? When asked if he will get involved in the defensive game planning Pederson said he does not get involved and that's not his expertise. Then, not a minute later he said that they need to take a look at it and see if they are playing the right guys in the right spots. Coach Pederson said, “we’ve all got to be honest in what we’re doing and that we've got the right guys in the right spots (via Mia O’Brien).” You are plainly alluding to Mike Caldwell not doing his job well. You are the head coach, the buck stops with you, both offense AND defense. If you don’t want to get in the weeds defensively that’s fine, but you have an obligation to get involved from a coaching standpoint when your DC is producing the same pile of poop, every week, through the first 13 weeks of the season. 

Pederson says he was surprised by the wide receiver drops today. So were we Doug. Zay Jones evidently took the week off. Maybe he was tired from his career game last week. Maybe he was more injured than he let on. This is a, what have you done for me lately, league Zay, and while I like you as a player and person, you can’t rest on last week in the NFL. I am also wondering why Evan Engram and Zay Jones seemed to be running the same patterns during this game. Twice Zay Jones dropped passes that I thought were intended for Evan Engram. Why were two receivers in the same area? That question needs to be addressed and corrected. 

Josh Allen said he is at a loss to know what they can do defensively to move forward. Well, that ain’t good. How can you not know? We as fans know. You aren’t producing in your current spots, so move around. Maybe run some different stunts, blitzes, delays. Anything to switch up the monotony of mediocrity that hasn’t been working all year. Pederson keeps stressing it’s everybody, “not one position or position group, its players, coaches, all of us.” Well then switch things up everywhere. Start with taking a vested interest in the defense. If you aren’t going to fire Mike Caldwell during the season then hire a defensive consultant to “help” Caldwell. If receivers aren’t catching the ball then put Tim Jones in the game and take the others out. If linebackers aren’t covering/pressuring then play to their strengths and put them where they belong. This isn’t rocket science, it’s football. It’s a game. It should not be this difficult to understand that when something isn’t working, it needs to be changed. That’s common sense.

In the very short presser that Pederson gave, the most accurate thing he had to say when asked about the Detroit beat down was, “it’s not good enough, it’s embarrassing quite frankly.” We, as Jaguars fans are thoroughly embarrassed for being sucked into believing that this team can actually play football for more than one week in a row. Josh Allen summed it up by saying, “that s#&t was embarrassing. It’s disappointing. For them not to punt the ball one time, that’s embarrassing (credit to Brent Martineau).” Yes it is Josh, almost as embarrassing as your year has been thus far. I believe in you, but you only have so much time to get back on track. I think that the most apt description of this game hands down belongs to Trevor Lawrence. “Embarrassing is the word to describe it. This was a playoff game for us and we laid down.” (thank you to Mia O’Brien for that quote). Brent Martineau shared Trevor’s best quote, “we just got our ass kicked.” Yes you did Trevor, yes you did.

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