Jaguar Report

Week 4 Jaguars Report Card: Defense Falters While Offense Flashes Vs. Bengals

The Jaguars are now 1-3 after an unfortunate 33-25 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but who should be the units facing the most blame?
John Shipley|
Week 4 Jaguars Report Card: Defense Falters While Offense Flashes Vs. Bengals
Week 4 Jaguars Report Card: Defense Falters While Offense Flashes Vs. Bengals

For the third week in a row, the Jacksonville Jaguars dropped a game and fell behind the lead teams in the AFC South. This time it was the result of a frustrating 33-25 loss to the 1-2-1 Cincinnati Bengals, a game in which the Jaguars led at halftime. 

What was the reason for the second-half collapse, and what units were standouts in the otherwise disappointing game? We review in this week's report card.

QB: C

In terms of pure volume stats, Gardner Minshew II had a solid game against the Bengals. He set a season-high in yards (351) and yards per attempt (8.78) while completing 27-of-40 passes (67.5%) with two touchdowns and an interception. He led the Jaguars on a key scoring drive at the end of halftime and to get the Jaguars within eight points in the fourth quarter. With that said, Minshew missed a few situational plays. The Jaguars were 2-for-10 on third-down in large part due to Minshew struggling with pocket prescence or reading the field, the latter of which an issue Minshew himself admitted on Wednesday. He was far from bad, but there is a lot of room for improvement. With that said, his best pass was dropped by Tyler Eifert, and he once again performed well in the red zone. 

RB: A

In what is quickly becoming a pattern for the Jaguars, the running backs were once again a highlight on Sunday. James Robinson had another solid game, rushing 17 times for 75 yards (4.41 yards per carry) and catching four passes for 32 yards, giving him 107 yards on 21 touches. Robinson's day would have been even better if he didn't have a 40-yard carry negated by a James O'Shaughnessy holding penalty. Robinson also got just six carries in the second half due to the Jaguars trailing by as much as they did. But when Robinson was given chances, he made things happen as both a running and pass-catcher. He broke tackles, showed great vision and balance, and once again proved he is a bright spot of the offense.

WR: A

While Minshew was hit-or-miss in terms of execution, his wide receivers were winning their matchups more often than not. DJ Chark was uncoverable, even for the normally solid William Jackson. He caught all but one target, and the one target he didn't catch was an out of bounds pass by Minshew. Each of his touchdowns were difficult plays, with his first score being a play in which he had to keep his balance in the back of the end zone, while on the second touchdown he had to keep the ball in his frame to prevent an interception. Meanwhile, Laviska Shenault dominated in the first half by recording five catches for 86 yards in the first two quarters. Keelan Cole and Chris Conley combined for seven catches for 90 yards, with Conley's 33-yard catch-and-run in the second half being Jacksonville's biggest play of the day.

TE: D-

No matter what Tyler Eifert and James O'Shaughnessy did well on Sunday afternoon, the two each made fatal mistakes that contributed to Jacksonville's loss in a big way. Eifert dropped a perfect Minshew pass near the two-yard line and eventually forced the Jaguars to kick a field goal. Had Eifert held onto the pass, the Jaguars likely could have made it a 27-20 ballgame instead of the 27-16 affair the field goal would turn it into. Meanwhile, O'Shaughnessy's holding penalty negated Jacksonville's biggest play of the day and forced Jacksonville's offense into a spiral that they wouldn't get out of for the next two series. 

OL: B-

Jacksonville's offensive line may have allowed a tad bit more pressure on Sunday than usual (10 pressures allowed in 49 drop backs according to Pro Football Focus), but they were still much more good than bad. The offensive line wasn't directly responsible for any sacks and they bought Minshew more than enough time in more cases than not. The Bengals' have a few long-limbed defensive linemen who can disrupt passing lanes, which is exactly what happened on Sunday, but the Jaguars ultimately held their ground. As a run-blocking unit, Andrew Norwell and A.J. Cann had fantastic days. Tyler Shatley had a bit of a step back, but the Jaguars' front was more than adequate in Week 5.

DL: F

What is there to say about the defensive line this week? Despite playing against arguably the worst offensive line in the league, the Jaguars' defensive line recorded just 11 pressures and four quarterback hits according to PFF. The Jaguars moved Burrow off of his spot on a few occasions but they were never able to truly disrupt him, with the only sack being due to Joe Burrow scrambling and getting tackled near the line of scrimmage. K'Lavon Chaisson has a particularly rough day, getting zero pressures on 40 defensive snaps. He was mostly dominated by left tackle and former first-round pick Jonah Williams. Then when it comes to the run defense, the front wasn't much better. The defensive line was pushed around and washed out of run plays more often than not, resulting in Joe Mixon having a career day as he rushed for 151 yards and two touchdowns on just 25 carries.

LB: C-

Myles Jack is the only reason this grade is as high as it is. Otherwise, Jacksonville's linebackers struggled in a big way. Jack was once again dominant, making several run stops against the Bengals that were the product of him sniffing out the play and exploding toward the line of scrimmage. Add in his incredible interception of Joe Burrow in the end zone to prevent a touchdown, which is one of the best plays any defender has made in 2020, and it is hard not to think Jack is the league's best linebacker this year.

Despite this, Joe Schobert and Dakota Allen each struggled a great bit. Jack left the game with an ankle injury in the second half, leading to Allen stepping in at weak side linebacker. Allen missed several tackles though, including a missed sack of Joe Burrow on a blitz in which he had a free shot at the quarterback. As for Schobert, he continues to look lost in pass coverage while also making little impact against the run. He has had a rough last few weeks and his play needs to improve a great bit to justify the investment the Jaguars made in him.

CB: D+

In what has seemed like a reoccurring theme this season, the Jaguars' cornerbacks were not beat for any huge plays on Sunday, but they were consistently beat for moderately solid gains. Tre Herndon drew a few different penalties, while D.J. Hayden once again struggled, specifically with making tackles while coming downhill in the flats. In terms of pass coverage, the Jaguars' cornerbacks did nothing truly egregious. But when it comes to defending the run, the cornerback position was directly responsible for a Joe Mixon touchdown run when rookie cornerback Chris Claybrooks failed to set the edge. Claybrooks and Sidney Jones did each have impressive pass deflections, however. 

S: D

Jacksonville gets a boost from an 'F' here because Andrew Wingard made several nice plays in coverage, but Josh Jones had his worst game of the season. Jones was frequently a step late in coverage when in zone, and he couldn't keep up with Tyler Boyd when matched up with him in coverage. Add in a bad missed tackle by Jones on Mixon at the second level on his second touchdown run, and the safety position hurt the Jaguars more than it helped them on Sunday. 

ST: C-

The only person really worth grading here is Aldrick Rosas. Logan Cooke punted just twice and the Jaguars recorded zero returns. Rosas made each of his two extra points and made three field goals (20, 30, 32, 50). With that said, a few of his made field goals looked shaky at best, and he did miss a 48-yard field goal in the first quarter, knocking his grade down a bit. 

Published
John Shipley
JOHN SHIPLEY

John Shipley has been covering the Jacksonville Jaguars as a beat reporter and publisher of Jaguar Report since 2019. Previously, he covered UCF's undefeated season as a beat reporter for NSM.Today, covered high school prep sports in Central Florida, and covered local sports and news for the Palatka Daily News. Follow John Shipley on Twitter at @_john_shipley.

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