Texans 37, Jaguars 17: 5 Observations on Week 3 Loss
The Jacksonville Jaguars' somber locker room said it all. You could hear a pin drop, with the silence serving as the loudest remember yet that the Jaguars, so far, have not lived up to a single expectation set for them this year.
Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun sat at his locker in full pads -- the only player still doing so -- still soaking in the 37-17 loss and a 1-2 start the Jaguars weren't supposed to have. Not this year.
Offensive coordinator Press Taylor visited the lockers of several offensive starters, ranging from Trevor Lawrence to Evan Engram to the offensive line, speaking with a unit that has scored just two touchdowns in the last eight quarters under his watch.
The Jaguars' locker room looked like one that was looking for answers. So far, they haven't found them.
"Frustrated, disappointed. I don’t think there’s room for anyone to be surprised," Jaguars tight end Evan Engram said. "We know we’re better.”
On Sunday, the Jaguars weren't. Why is that, though? We break it down below.
The Jaguars' offense looked exponentially different in the second half
If the Jaguars' special teams had even an average day, they would have had six points at halftime. That is still unacceptable for an offense that many proclaimed would be one of the best in the entire NFL. Sunday's scoreless first half saw the Jaguars go six quarters without a touchdown, dating back to last week's four quarters without a score against the Chiefs. In their first-half drives, the Jaguars punted twice, missed a field goal, had a field goal blocked, and fumbled a first-down conversion.
Things looked slightly better in the second half, with the Jaguars scoring on three of their first four drives. One reason for that is the Jaguars began to funnel their offense through Christian Kirk and Evan Engram, with the duo combining for 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown on 13 targets after the pair saw just one target in the entire first half.
Anyone who watched the Jaguars on Sunday can tell you that the offense simply flowed better in the second-half. The passing windows were wider. The explosive plays were there on the ground and in the air. Everything that was missing in the first half was there in the second half. Whether that means a change in the Jaguars' play-caller or strategy at halftime remains to be seen, but it is a pattern that can't be ignored.
"I think grabbing their attention at halftime and just letting them know that the first 30 minutes was unacceptable. It's not up to what our standards are and our expectations, including my expectations for this football team," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the game.
"I say we’re too good, we've got the pieces, but we're not playing well. So, they came out, they executed extremely well. We got it back to that 17-10 mark and then the kickoff return happened. Those are just the moments that, right now, are just keeping us from pushing through this wall, getting over this hump, right? Those are the things, those are the moments that every man in there takes ownership and accountability. We just can't let those happen.”
Jacksonville has a pass-rush problem -- one that everyone saw coming
In one of the more obvious outcomes of any Jaguars storyline in recent memory, it has become clear the Jaguars have a pass-rush problem. Despite the Texans missing four starters on the offensive line and starting a rookie quarterback, the Jaguars simply never made things hard on C.J. Stroud. They finished the game with just four quarterback hits and zero sacks, with Josh Allen recording three of the quarterback hits. Allen was the only defensive lineman or outside linebacker with more than one pressure, which is baffling considering the Texans' offensive line has been hammered for teach of the previous two weeks.
Pederson didn't have the public answers after the game, either, which means he realizes the answer to the issue is something he can't say at a post-game podium. It would be conceding that someone -- whether that be Mike Caldwell, Bill Shuey, Brentson Buckner, Trent Baalke, or Travon Walker -- is failing. When it comes to the pass-rush, though, they are.
Primarily, the Jaguars are getting next to nothing from Walker as a pass-rusher. He has two pressures and zero quarterback hits over the last two weeks and registered a sub-5% pass-rush win rate on Sunday despite facing backup offensive tackles.
The Jaguars lost Arden Key in free-agency and re-signed an injured Dawuane Smoot, which led to anyone and everyone shouting about their lack of pass-rush depth. Now, the Jaguars will be relying on a recovering Smoot to save the unit, which is an unfair ask.
“You can maybe point to several things. But we have to do better, it starts upfront. It starts with the offensive line on offense, starts with the defensive line on defense," Pederson said. "It starts right there. I'm going to say this again; we need to coach better. We need to play better. We need to execute better. Whether we are reading our press clippings, we need to get out of our own way right now. We need to evaluate ourselves, beginning with me. And we got to figure out how to win a game."
Jaguars have poured too much into special teams to have that kind of production
The Jaguars could hang their hat on their special teams play in each of the first two weeks. The coverage units were brilliant, they were ripping off big returns, and Brandon McManus was flawless. On Sunday, though, special teams arguably played the biggest role in the Jaguars loss.
A missed 48-yard field goal from McManus took points off the board on the Jaguars' first drive and gave the Texans the ball at their own 38, which led to a short field on an eventual touchdown drive. Later in the half, McManus' next field goal attempt was blocked by Will Anderson, leading to another short field for the Texans and, surprise, surprise, a touchdown drive.
Then there was the returned kickoff for a touchdown, which saw the Jaguars miss five tackles. It was beyond bad for the special teams unit. 20-point home losses to an injured divisional rival occur because of doomsday performances like what we saw from the unit on Sunday.
“Missed tackles. I mean, just those type of things are unacceptable," Pederson said about the return.
"I mean, you know, it was a great kick, whatever we wanted it to be. The ball was on the ground. Just poor execution. We couldn't get them on the ground. Great play by them, just failed execution.”
Things get no easier in Week 4 and Week 5
The Jaguars sure set themselves up to struggle over the next month. The Jaguars were lucky to get two home games before their two-week London trip, even if one of those home games was vs. the Chiefs. Now, they have to lick their wounds and head across the Atlantic for two weeks before coming back for a divisional home game.
In short, the reinforcements aren't coming. Things are going to get only tougher for the Jaguars over the next two to three weeks. The Falcons are a stingy team and the Buffalo Bills look like a team that has played a different sport than the Jaguars thus far. Then drawing the Colts at home after spending two weeks overseas will be far from an easy win.
"I've been around this game too long to know that you can't live in the past or you're going to fail in the future," Pederson said.
"We just got to focus one day at a time. We got to get better each day and can't worry about next week or the week after. We can't worry about the London trip coming up. We just got to focus in on the week at hand. That part of it starts with me, in making sure that the guys are hearing that message loud and clear from me. We’ll make sure that they get that message.”
Did the Jaguars buy into their own hype?
Are the Jaguars falling victims to their own hype? Doug Pederson alluded to that in the post-game press conference and then doubled down when he spoke with Bucky Brooks after the game. Even if the Jaguars' locker room will never say that they bought into their own hype too early and too hard, it is clear the head coach believes this was a case.
"I don't know if we're, as a team, kind of buying into the hype, maybe the preseason hype just a little bit. You're reading your press clippings, you know, as sometimes we talk about. And this is the NFL, man. The NFL," Pederson told Brooks.
"And you know, I felt like our guys were ready to go today. They had a good week of preparation. I felt like they were in a great spot, the quarterback was in a good spot. But we just can't get out of our own way. We're bogging down when I know we are good enough. And we just have to -- obviously, we have to own it, right. We have to be accountable for it. Starts with me. Starts with the coaches putting the right plans together, obviously and making sure we are putting our guys in positions to make plays. And then the players have to play."
The Jaguars knew at the end of last year that they could overcome ugly first halves. They almost did it this week, too. They brought the score to within 17-10 and had all of the momentum. But the Jaguars can't bank on last year's magic showing up again because, today, it didn't.
"See, this is the thing. We’re hanging on too much about last year. That’s over," Engram said after the game.
"It’s a long football season, we have a lot of work to do. That’s all we know right now. We’re going to put our head down and get to work.”
