Jaguars fade in the 2nd half, lose to Giants 24-20

During the first half, everything went right for the Jaguars. The Giants made two trips deep in Jacksonville territory, only to end up with field goals. On the other hand, Jacksonville ran the ball practically at will. On the Jaguars last offensive play of the half, David Garrard made one of his best plays as a Jaguar, scrambling for a touchdown to put the team up 17-6.

It seemed that the Jaguars would roll to 7-4. Then the 2nd half kicked off.

The half started off with David Garrard being intercepted on a deflected pass. Yet the defense still managed to hold for a field goal. The offense then would putter around for most of the 2nd half, only managing a field goal.

It was the defense that would end up costing the Jaguars the lead. On two of the Giants final three possessions, Giants wide outs ran all over the field. Mario Manningham and Kevin Boss both caught touchdowns and averaged over 20 yards a catch.

However, I'm not going to lay the blame for this one at the defense. Instead, this one goes right on the shoulders of offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. The Jaguars ran the ball for 201 yards on 34 attempts, or 6.1 yards per attempt, on Sunday. For the most part the Jaguars ran the ball at will vs the Giants run defense. And then in the 2nd half, particularly in the 2nd quarter, they didn't even try.

Koetter has gotten a reputation as getting pass happy, but the 2nd half play calling was easily the worst example. Despite the Jaguars facing a pass rush that has put 5 QBs out of a game with injuries and without both starting tackles, the Jaguars proceeded to keep throwing the ball in the 2nd half.

The Jaguars didn't run the ball on one play during the last 7 minutes of the 4th quarter. After the Jaguars were given a gift penalty by the Giants, it would've been the perfect opportunity. With 3 time outs and inside the Giants 30, throwing from the shotgun on every play wasn't a necessity. Instead, the Jaguars played right into the Giants hands and Garrard was sacked on every play.