How the Jaguars Defense Can Fix Their Fatal Flaw

There are many reasons why the Jacksonville Jaguars struggled over the last two seasons.

They suffered numerous injuries to critical players on both sides of the ball. They could have used a better coaching staff and better play from all players on the field. Specifically, the Jaguars' defense could have played much better this season, leaving much to be desired after even one of the unit's best players accused teammates of quitting at one point during the season.

Jacksonville needs better players on their roster, especially on the defensive side of the ball. It would have to be one of the team's most pressing issues this offseason.

However, there is also something the current Jaguars defenders could do better to help the team: create more turnovers. The Jaguars finished last in the National Football League in forced turnovers this season. New Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile believes forcing turnovers is an art the Jaguars' defense must learn.

“I could probably answer it better by saying the reason, in my opinion, for turnovers," Campanile said. "I think a lot of that comes from vision on the ball. If you look at it statistically over the years in the NFL, a lot of takeaways occur with vision on the ball. I think like some of those happen in the Super Bowl, like you just think about some of the playoff games, some of the games that you've watched most recently. When you have vision on the ball, you have a better opportunity to create takeaways."

Campanile noted a few traits that help a defense excel at forcing turnovers. He plans to help the unit improve in arguably the most important facet of the game: turnovers. While the Jaguars need better players, turnovers can be a defense's equalizer.

"I also think that the guys that have great ball awareness and the guys that strain that as a team, the units that really strain that, you go back and look at it, how many attempts are you making on the ball, whether that's punching the ball, right? Whether that's violent contact on the ball, how I'm clamping on a tackle," Campanile said.

"All those things can factor into takeaways, and to me, you have to do a really, really good job studying that and presenting that information visually to the players. Get as many great visuals for them, knowing how people carry the ball, right? Is a guy late to the tuck after he catches the ball? Does he carry the ball on his inside arm, near his sideline? Is he a guy that switches the ball on traffic? Is the ball off his body? Is he an elbow-out runner? Those are the guys that you want to target, and you want to target them in specific ways. So, to me, there is a little bit of—I don't want to say a science to that, but certainly a technique and a coaching philosophy to that.”

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