5 Observations on Jaguars' Blowout Week 15 Loss to Texans

The Jaguars couldn't get out of their own way against the Houston Texans in Week 15. What does it mean moving forward?

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost their sixth straight game on Sunday, dropping the 2-12 Jaguars to the very bottom of the NFL's standings for the second year in a row. 

Whether the Jaguars change that over the next three weeks remains to be seen, but Sunday's 30-16 loss to the lowly 3-11 Houston Texans made it clear the Jaguars are currently the worst the NFL has to offer. 

What did Week 15 show us and what does it mean moving forward? We break it down below. 

Darrell Bevell's candidacy as potential head coach should be over after one game 

Darrell Bevell is a respected offensive mind, play-caller, and person within the Jaguars' building. If there is any coach the Jaguars should have handed the keys to for the final month of the season, it should have been Bevell. With that said, any even minor thought of support for Bevell as the Jaguars' next head coach -- no matter how minor -- should be out the window after the Jaguars' series of decisions against the Texans. 

First, the Jaguars had a bizarre string of play-calls on their first red-zone trip. A 3rd-and-10 run by James Robinson earned seven yards and gave the Jaguars a manageable 4th-and-3, which seemingly was the entire point of Robinson even getting a carry. Bevell first kept the offense on the field, but eventually called a timeout and opted for a chip-shot field goal. For an offense and quarterback that needs touchdowns to find some confidence, playing it safe was the wrong call.

Then after a Houston holding gave the Jaguars the ball at Houston's 47 with 1:34 left, Bevell called three ones and only one pass. This bled off over a minute of the clock and the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs, looking completely unserious about moving the ball downfield for a late-half score. The offense was not only slow and ineffective, but calling multiple short-yardage runs was a failure on Bevell's part. 

Finally, Bevell's decision to punt on 4th-and-2 from the Jaguars' 42 at the end of the third-quarter was an odd call for a team still trying to fight its way back into the game. The Jaguars never got closer to midfield again on a drive outside of the post-Tyson Campbell interception one, and punting at that point was more or less waving the white flag.

Bevell is a good coach and a good leader, but the Jaguars need to move in a different direction in 2022 and beyond, at least when it comes to head coach. This was already the case, but Sunday solidified this.

The Jaguars are worse off than in Week 1, showing the harm this season has done 

Don't think for a second that Urban Meyer only harmed the Jaguars in the short-term. What Meyer did was waste an entire year of development for the Jaguars and their entire roster, rendering the final month mostly pointless as the Jaguars' healthy players flounder under a coaching staff that is unlikely to return. But more importantly, Meyer's complete demolition of the Jaguars' roster and morale showed itself on Sunday as the Jaguars failed to be competitive against a bad Texans team that is worse now than when they blew the Jaguars out in Week 1. 

In short, 2021 was a year completely wasted for the Jaguars and their pieces. From Trevor Lawrence to James Robinson to Josh Allen, the Jaguars spent a whole year of the prime of some potentially long and productive careers on one of the worst products the Jaguars have ever fielded. No matter how much the Jaguars improve in 2022, they could have been even better had 2021 not become a completely unmitigated disaster. Sunday showed just how bad this Jaguars team is.

Trevor Lawrence was mostly fine against the Texans, but fine can't score points in this offense

There is no arguing that nine touchdown passes in 14 games is bad. It is Blaine Gabbert levels of bad and is on pace to break franchise records for the fewest touchdown passes. Lawrence once again went an entire four quarters on Sunday without throwing a single touchdown despite the Jaguars having more than a few chances in the red zone. Still, though, one can't help but go back over the game and think that Lawrence was largely fine outside of two misses to Laquon Treadwell (a high pass on the James Robinson touchdown drive and a low miss to an open Treadwell on 3rd-and-8 at the end of the game).

Overall Lawrence was largely middle of the road as the Jaguars failed to find the end zone throughout the day, but there were few decisions or even throws that were eggrecious. Overall Lawrence's process was adequate and he was able to execute the Jaguars' early script well, but the entire offense is just unable to be consistent. Lawrence was better in the first-half, but it was clear the Jaguars' five drops and lack of a plan in the two-minute drill helped matters. Lawrence wasn't good against the Texans, but he wasn't as bad as the lack of touchdowns suggests, either.

Joe Cullen and his defensive staff are on the clock and Sunday wasn't a great start 

The Jaguars' defense wasn't awful against Houston, allowing 4.9 yards per play and 23 points as opposed to 30 due to the Jaguars' special teams touchdown allowed. With that said, these last four games are a true audition for Joe Cullen and his unit for the next coaching staff, and I am not sure one can say they impressed on Sunday, either. Against a Texans team missing multiple starting offensive linemen and with two receivers even the Jaguars thought were not good enough to be on the roster (Chris Conley and Phillip Dorsett), the Texans put together several scoring drives, complete multiple passes of over 20 yards, and stay on the field in key moments.

Cullen doesn't deserve blame for the defensive performance considering the lack of scoring from the Jaguars' offense and the overall talent on defense is lacking, but the Jaguars simply looked like their defense was chasing the Texans' offensive scheme all day instead of attacking. The blitz didn't really hit home and the Texans' rookie quarterback didn't look truly uncomfortable all game long. The Jaguars' defense has simply struggled to make plays over the last month, and Sunday was another example of it. If Cullen and the defensive staff want to come back, they will need to find some way to increase the sacks, turnovers, and negative plays.

Tyson Campbell is here to stay

Tyson Campbell turned in another strong performance on Sunday, one that nearly saw him have his first-ever multi-interception game. His late-game interception of Mills was the best play any Jaguar made yesterday, showing great instincts and recognition from the No. 33 overall pick. Sunday's game went a long way toward reinforcing the fact that Campbell's recent hot streak is more indicative of actual development from the rookie instead of a flash in the pan hot streak like we have seen with rookies in the past (i.e. K'Lavon Chaisson in 2020). 

Campbell, instead, is here to stay. After a game in which Shaquill Griffin struggled to contain the Texans' speed threats, there is a chance one could say that Campbell is the Jaguars' best cornerback today. At the very least, he has played like it. The change to a zone scheme helped Campbell in a huge way, but he has made plays when they have come his way. The fact he keeps stacking good days like Sunday is a good sign of things to come for the rookie cornerback.