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The Jacksonville Jaguars just had the most Jacksonville Jaguars game of all time. One side of the ball played well enough to win, the other side of the ball consistently made mistakes, and the game was won on an untimed down.
A 53-YARD FIELD GOAL ON AN UNTIMED DOWN AFTER A RAVENS FACEMASK ON BLAKE BORTLES.
A 53-YARD FIELD GOAL AFTER HE MISSED A 25-YARDER EARLIER.
Retweet if this is the kick that got your team to within one game of the AFC South lead. https://t.co/vV0iAQzKLi
— Big Cat Country (@BigCatCountry) November 15, 2015
The defense forced three turnovers -- two interceptions by Davon House and one forced fumble by Abry Jones that was picked up by fullback Tyson Alualu. (Yes, the Ravens had four total turnovers, but one was on a muffed punt on a fair catch.)
The offense? Well, that was a different story.
So, what did we learn today?
1. Cut Jason Myers immediately
I don't care how hard it is to get a new kicker ready between now and Thursday Night Football this week. I really don't. Cut Jason Myers tonight HAHAHAHAHA NOPE NOT ANYMORE.
2. Blake Bortles isn't there yet
Bortles just hasn't progressed to where the Jaguars need him right now. Yes, he made some good throws. Yes, those touchdowns to Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson were very good. But his mistakes allowed the Ravens to stay in it in a game where their offense gave up three turnovers.
This was a game where I thought the Jaguars needed to pass to set up the run. It would have worked really well. But Bortles made bad throw after bad throw. Yeah, yeah, yeah... high variance quarterback he'll make mistakes his ceiling is high blah blah blah I don't care. Bortles was under 50% completion percentage and even with a number of drops from Bryan Walters, Julius Thomas, Denard Robinson, and Marqise Lee, it was a bad, bad game. But more than that, he missed wide open guys in critical situations. He played like ass today and he's the biggest reason we almost lost.
3. The defense played a hell of a game
There is no way to explain how our defense is keeping us in these games, but they are. Three forced turnovers -- two interceptions by Davon House DA GAWD and one forced fumble by Abry Jones -- were just a few of the highlights. Fourth-down stops, tackles for losses, and more were on full display. There were three blown coverages all game, all by different players (Telvin Smith, Dwayne Gratz, and Sergio Brown) of which two will probably be replaced next year doesn't worry me. The end result was only 20 points given up and stops when the offense needed them. The Jaguars should have won this handedly.
4. The offensive play-calling was atrocious
The Ravens are one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to giving up yards and points. Why all the horizontal play calls? Why all the screens? Why the quick lateral passes? Bortles is a big, strong-armed quarterback and he has one of the best wide receiver tandems in the league in Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson. You've got big, tall, athletic (sort of) tight ends in Marcedes Lewis and Julius Thomas. Nearly all of Bortles' passes were nine yards or less in the air. Why?
Oh, and that red zone series where we called pass on first and second down and then run on third down? What?
That last drive, where Bortles was playing loose and we had threw over the middle of the field for passes of 10 or more yards -- CALL THOSE PLAYS MORE OFTEN, GREG.