Titans 37, Jaguars 19: Fourth-Down Execution Falters as Jaguars Lose 20th Consecutive Game
The more things change, the more they stay the same for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After a wild week was followed by an even wilder game at TIAA Bank Field, the Jaguars brought some consistency on Sunday, losing their 20th game in a row in a ____ loss to the Titans.
For all of the talk all week of the Jaguars potentially being distracted by head coach Urban Meyer's off-field actions, the Jaguars looked like a team out of sorts at the biggest moments of the game. And for the second week in a row, an unlucky Jaguars team looked ill-prepared when it came to punching the ball in from a yard.
Just 10 days after a failed 4th-and-inches attempt at the goal line doomed the Jaguars' offense at the end of the first half, the Jaguars once again saw back-to-back fourth downs ruin any chance they had at winning on Sunday. And once again, the Jaguars looked like a team who wasn't ready to get that one extra yard.
With 10:20 remaining and the Jaguars trailing only 31-19, the Jaguars had a 3rd-and-5 from the Titans' five-yard line, the result of a 58-yard catch-and-run by Laviska Shenault and some lucky breaks in terms of penalties.
Just like they did a few drives previously, the Jaguars trusted Lawrence to use his legs in the red-zone. The athletic rookie quarterback scored on a four-yard quarterback draw with 9:55 left in the third-quarter, his second rushing score of the year.
But on 3rd-and-5, Lawrence's improvsional scramble turned out to be just short, with the No. 1 overall pick fighting to cross the goal line, but with the replay overturning the touchdown and forcing the Jaguars into yet another 4th-down attempt.
And just like in Week 4, the Jaguars left their best player on the sidelines. On 4th-and-inches and with James Robinson averaging 8.5 yards per carry with over 100 rushing yards at the time, the Jaguars handed the ball to Carlos Hyde. Hyde would get stuffed at the line, leading to a three-yard loss and sending things spiraling for the Jaguars.
"I trust my teammates. I was hoping they were going to get in. I thought Trevor [Lawrence] got in, honestly. Like Shaq[uill Griffin] said, nine times out of ten he's going to get in. But I have to go with the play called, and whoever is in there just has to execute," Robinson said after the game.
"I just met with Bev (OC Darrell Bevell) and we talked about it. I don't micromanage who's in the game. I should have -- James is running really hard, but so is Carlos. I've got to go find out if something was dinged up with James on that situation," Meyer said after the game.
"And the quarterback sneak, he's not quite comfortable with that yet. We've been practicing that. I know that might sound silly, but when you've never done it, it's something that we need to continue to make that, so you can make that call in that critical situation."
Things started as poorly as they possibly could for the young and scrappy Jaguars' squad, too, with the Jaguars only looking competent in the middle of the contest. On the third play from regulation, the Jaguars saw the shine come off from Dan Arnold for the first time since acquiring him last week. After a throw to Arnold that wouldn't have been a first-down if caught, Arnold was sandwiched between two defenders and lost possession of the ball.
Just like that, with the Jaguars barely dropping sweat and with not even all of the fans in their seats, things began to go downhill.
With the ball flopped on the ground, All-Pro Titans safety Kevin Byard scooped it up and took it 30 yards into the end-zone, stunning the entire stadium and the Jaguars' sideline.
It was the only turnover by the Jaguars that wasn't on downs, though they would turn the ball over twice on fourth-down in the final quarter after failing to convert. But despite the Jaguars' message that points and wins would come when the negative plays and interceptions and fumbles stopped, that didn't happen on Sunday.
The Jaguars, to their credit, didn't just mail it in after a disastrous start. Following the Arnold fumble, the Jaguars pushed their own way into the game, with a 58-yard James Robinson run eventually being followed by a Robinson rushing touchdown, his fourth over the last two weeks. Robinson finished the game with a career-high 149 yards on 18 carries (8.3 yards per carry).
While Robinson had one of the best games of his career, the Jaguars' defense couldn't quite stop Derrick Henry from having a stellar outing of his own. The Jaguars' defense threw everything they had at the bruising back, but Henry finished the game with a hat trick, scoring three touchdowns on the ground and rushing for 130 yards on 29 carries. It was death by a thousand paper cuts, too, with Henry never rushing for more than 15 yards on a play.
Aside from missed opportunities from the Jaguars, a few phantom calls and non-calls will also likely be examined. The Jaguars allowed one big 3rd-down conversion due to a Chris Claybrooks pass interference, but that call was questionable at best. Later in the game, K'Lavon Chaisson forced a strip-sack of Ryan Tannehill that was recovered and returned for a big gain, but the officials ruled it incomplete and let the call on the field stand.
The Jaguars had their chances to win on Sunday. They had their chances to change the narrative, put the distractions behind them, and win a game.
Instead, just like the 19 previous game days, the Jaguars lost. The more things change, the more they stay the same indeed.
"Desperate for a win, desperate for the way they go to work each day, each week. Desperate for a win. But we can't worry about the past, worry about the future, and a trip to London and try to get a win," Meyer said after the game.
"Some guys are playing their tails off. But, yeah, we're desperate for a win.
