Jaguars @ Commanders - The Aftermath

JT: Actually, it’s both disappointing and I’m disappointed

The formula for a Jacksonville victory this week was an easy one. It’s been outlined in literally 75% of the columns written on this site (if only we had readers in influential places, or just readers. Also 75% might be a little aggressive, but it’s in there.). Let’s go over the formula and then we’ll discuss the actual game. What Jacksonville’s offense needed to do to beat the Commanders was to be efficient, eat clock and not turn the ball over. They needed to take advantage of the Washington linebackers. They needed to throw short passes over the middle to build T-Laws confidence early on and mix in the run. The Jaguars defense needed to stop Antonio Gibson and force Carson Wentz to throw. They had to hurry Wentz and rattle him into bad decisions. That was the formula for a Jaguars victory today. Here is the good and bad of the Washington Commanders / Jacksonville Jaguars week one football game.

I said the game was disappointing, here’s why. The Jaguars didn’t always follow the winning formula and yet they had the game won. They had Washington beaten. On the first drive of the game for the Jags, Trevor Lawrence missed a wide open Travis Etienne Jr. for what would have been a touchdown. Later in the first half Travis Etienne returned the favor by dropping a sure touchdown pass. Not to feel left out, Riley Patterson wasn’t quite ready to bury the place kicker question mark yet, so he thought it necessary to hit the upright and miss a 37-yard field goal. Ugh, it’s depressing just recapping these missed opportunities. Those are A LOT of points left off the board. Points that would be enough to win most games, most weeks, in most seasons. In addition, the Jaguars were penalty happy. The worst being a 15-yard roughing the passer (could have been unnecessary roughness now that I think about it) which extended a Washington drive and turned what would have been a field goal or punt into a Commanders touchdown. That’s just giving away points for free. We are the Jaguars; we cannot afford to do that. Thus, the positive takeaway from today’s offensive performance is that the Jaguars were good enough to win even when self-sabotaging and not sticking to the gameplan.

When they followed the JT game plan, Jacksonville thrived. After the Commanders were held to three and out on the first drive of the second half, the Jags employed the strategy. They called quick passes over the middle. Lawrence wasn’t holding the ball as long. He wasn’t always looking for the big play. He was checking down and using his outlet in a timely fashion as to avoid sacks, hurries and bad passes. They were running the ball up the gut with success, scoring points like it ain’t no thang. It was beautiful to watch. It opened up play action resulting in longer completions. It was textbook and it was working, until we got nervous when Washington came back and eventually pulled ahead. JAX still had enough time on the clock but let their anxiety set in and ended up reverting back to the horrible first half play that got them nowhere. Trevor, you still had fourth down, there was no need to throw that final nail-in-the-coffin interception, my man.

Jacksonville’s defense had to stop the run. They were built just for that purpose (think upcoming matchups with Tennessee’s Derrick Henry and Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor). The JAX defense was sort of successful. What they weren’t so successful at doing was handling Washington’s pass game. Granted, the Commanders have a phenomenal trio of wide receivers that would make it difficult for even the best of NFL defenses. That is exactly what the Jaguars are supposed to be, however. Something happened for the defense at halftime, as much as it did the offense. I’d like to believe the turnaround was because they read the JaguarsTalk Halftime Speech column, but I checked my analytics and nobody from Landover, MD logged on. So, it must have been something the Jaguars coaching staff had to say. Whatever the reason the defense came out energized. They came out ferociously. They came out doing what they should be doing every minute of every game, every week and not just in the second half. They held the Commanders scoreless while giving the Jaguar offense turnovers and chances to keep scoring. It was a harmoniously symbiotic relationship. Beautiful to watch. The only thing that compares is when you are sitting at a full blackjack table, and nobody is hitting on 13 when the dealer is showing a 6. Everyone is splitting their aces and eights. The dealer is always drawing ten cards when sitting in the low teens. It’s just magical when things work as they should. It’s called “the zone” and JAX was all up in it, right up until they weren’t. The Jacksonville defense stopped playing football after Travon Walker made an impressive, athletic interception in the Washington redzone. The Jaguars offense followed suit by making tee times after scoring the ensuing touchdown. Nobody told Washington the game was over however, because there was still plenty of time on the clock, even when they scored the go-ahead touchdown. It was an ugly finish. 

Okay now that the ugly is out of the way, we’ve talked about the disappointment, we’ve shown that sticking to the formula for victory actually works, let’s point out some positives. There were plenty. On the offense, the Jaguars wide receivers have no issue getting open. They are fast and shifty. They can run underneath, and they can beat you on a post. The receivers also have sticky hands. They weren’t the ones dropping balls. James Robinson and Travis Etienne are a solid one two punch in the gut for opposing defenses. Washington’s defensive line is beast mode, even without Chase Young. Jacksonville ran on them extremely well. Robinson scored two touchdowns, which makes sense since I have Etienne on my fantasy team. It’s like how it always rains after you wash your car. Queue Alanis Morrisette’s, Ironic.

Positives for the defense include Travon Walker. The front seven handled the run but will need to tighten it up another notch against AFC South opponents. They were able to get to Wentz and cause some chaos, hurried throws, and turnovers. The second half of the game showed that the defensive backs were up to the task, most of the time. And finally Riley Patterson, made three out of four field goal attempts, which is better than anything any other kicker did this preseason. The problem with these positives is that it just wasn’t enough. The Jaguars definitely left a “W” on the table. It was theirs and they left it, like when I get a to go box and then realize when I get home that it’s still sitting on the table at the restaurant.

If Jacksonville wants to see some wins on their schedule this year, they will need to change a few things between now and the next game. Riley Patterson cannot miss. It made a difference, not just in the final score, but in decisions that were made after the miss, because of the miss. We need every point. The defensive backs and the offensive line may be the weakest links on the Jaguars team. I say this with extreme caution, however, as Washington’s defensive line and wide receivers’ group are both elite. They are both top five in the league. So that makes it difficult to place blame on the JAX DBs. As for the offensive line, I think a lot of the issue was actually Trevor Lawrence. Trevor showed his NFL immaturity in this game. He held the ball way too long, on way too many plays, resulting in sacks, knock downs, hurries, and bad passes. He also overthrew and threw behind open guys several times. I think T-Law just needs to relax, take a breath, and get a feel for his pocket time limit and the defensive pressure. That should come with experience and Pederson putting him on a timer to either pass the ball, run, or throw it away. This offense showed that it can eat clock and is most efficient with short, quick passes and runs. That’ll get them in position to score points, usually field goals (so it seems at this point). So Riley, get your act together. Then just let your defense win the game for you by containing the opponent. Next time though, let’s do it for the entirety of the game.

Let me know what you all thought of the Jags effort in Landover in the comment section below.