Jurrell Casey: ‘That was our game plan coming in; give the game to Bortles’

The Tennessee Titans’ defensive game plan wasn’t complex — put the game in Blake Bortles’ hands. They thought that if they shut down the run, they’d win.

And they were right.

After the game, defensive end Jurrell Casey was blunt in describing the team’s mindset coming into TIAA Bank Field.

“The biggest thing was stopping the run and we knew they were going to try and pound it,” Casey said after the game. “Once we showed them they couldn’t run the ball, they started to throw the ball more and we did a good job in coverage ... We knew to put the game in Bortles’ hands and that was our game plan coming in; give the game to Bortles. We found ways to get to him and last year they did a good job protecting him and picking up blitzes. We wanted to keep Bortles in the pocket and we knew he likes to scramble.”

Blake Bortles had 42 opportunities to pass the ball — 34 attempts, five scrambles, and three sacks — compared to just 14 rush attempts for the running backs. And the Jaguars had their lowest offensive output since, well, the last time we played the Titans when the offense scored just three points in Week 17 of the 2017 season.

And now I’m sad.