Game Balls (or Lack Thereof): Ravens 40, Jaguars 14
The Jacksonville Jaguars were dominated in all three phases of the game versus the Baltimore Ravens, resulting in a 40-14 loss and the team's 13th straight defeat.
As a result, it's hard to pick out any one performance from each side of the ball as worthy of being highlighted. Instead, Jaguar Report's John Shipley and Kassidy Hill take a different approach when distributing today's game balls.
Offense
Hill: How do you give much credit to anyone on offense on a day the Jags finished with 267 yards (4.8 per play) and no skill player had more than 53 yards? You don’t, so we’re not going to pontificate here today. There were bright moments of course. James Robinson and Chris Conley both finished with a touchdown apiece (both receiving) and D.J. Chark had 53 yards on four receptions. Chark’s four receptions were off of five targets, greatly improving his target-catch ratio that had been under scrutiny in recent weeks.
But a touchdown to Laviska Shenault in the third quarter being called back for holding, only to fumble the ball two plays later is a perfect example of what the Jaguars were doing all day in a sense on offense. Quarterback Gardner Minshew II explained after the game they were trying to take advantage of corners Marcus Peters and Jimmy Smith both being out. To some extent, they were able to do that with Minshew going 22-29 for 226 yards and two touchdowns. In doing so, however, the offense went away from Robinson who has consistently proven to be the cog that turns this whole wheel.
The offensive line and Minshew collectively working together to take five sacks for 21 yards also stalled any progress they might have found otherwise, with two sacks coming on the same drive even.
Shipley: Bueller? Bueller?
Jacksonville had a few individual players make big plays. DJ Chark had a few terrific reps against Marlon Humphrey, James Robinson scored his 10th touchdown of the year on a terrific catch by the sideline, and Laviska Shenault, Keelan Cole, and Chris Conley all made impressive grabs.
But 61 yards of offense in two quarters, just one scoring drive in the first 40 minutes of the game, and a 5 for 12 mark on third-down spells out how awful of a day this was for the Jaguars on offense. As head coach Doug Marrone said after the game, it is hard to place blame on any one unit when things go this bad; and he is right. The entire unit underperformed on Sunday.
Defense
Hill: There is some benefit of the doubt when playing Lamar Jackson…but not much, considering the Jaguars are fielding a team of professional players as well. Jackson finished 17-22 for 243 yards, three touchdowns and an interception through the air while adding 35 yards on 10 rushes and a touchdown on the ground. The Ravens slashed the Jags on the ground all day for that matter, 159 rushing yards and 11 of their 26 first downs coming via the run.
Joe Schobert led both teams with 12 tackles with one for loss, proving again the duo of he and Myles Jack—who had 10 tackles and a pass breakup— in the middle of the field is one of the few dependable position groups on the defensive side of the ball. The team around them is young, but perhaps as the Jaguars finish off this season and build for next year, they can continue to give experience to those first and second-year players, building a future around the nucleus of Schobert and Jack.
Shipley: Josh Jones made a nice play on the ball to record his first interception of the season and Myles Jack was making tackles all over the place, but there is no individual performance from the defense today that is truly deserving of a game ball. The Jaguars allowed 40 points, their most allowed points all season long, and Lamar Jackson was able to sit on the bench and watch his backup quarterback take snaps for the last several possessions o the game, an embarrassing indictment of the Jaguars' defensive performance.
The Ravens had the ball 10 different times and scored on six of those drives. Of the four drives they didn't score on, one was the end of game drive in which the time was running out, one drive featured a miss field goal, and one drive turned over on downs past midfield.
Special Teams
Hill: Logan Cooke had to stay back in Jacksonville due to illness…and thus proved just how valuable he is to this Jaguars team. Kicker Aldrick Rosas—who is not a punter—had to handle the duties after the Cooke news came through. It's not totally on Rosas considering he was put in this new position unexpectedly, late Saturday. Rosas punted away three times for an average of 36.7 yards with a long of 44. None were touchbacks or inside the 20-yard line. Then there was this, which is best summed up by the box score play-by-play:
A.Rosas to JAX 10 for -14 yards. FUMBLES, and recovers at JAX 2. A.Rosas punts 32 yards to BLT 44. J.Proche to BLT 47 for 3 yards (D.Middleton). PENALTY on JAX-A.Wingard, Ineligible Downfield Kick, 5 yards, enforced at BLT 47.
On average, the Ravens took over from punts on their own 40-yard line.
Bring back Cooke.
Shipley: Well, special teams wasn't exactly a bright spot for the Jaguars on Sunday, but I am going to go ahead and give Aldrick Rosas the nod for the game ball anyway. Sure, he fumbled on the aforementioned gaffe, but he punted for the first time since his high school days on Sunday on just one days notice. He only averaged 36.7 yards per punt, but there is a reason he is a kicker and not a punter.
