Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Denver Broncos: Week 4 sack analysis

The Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line did a stellar job in pass protection last week, blanking Tennessee Titans defenders for zero sacks on Thursday Night Football?

Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

Yikes

Let’s dive into each and see who was at fault!

Sack #1: 1st & 10 at JAX 31, 2:12 left in 1Q

G. Minshew sacked at JAX 24 for -7 yards (V. Miller)

Sweet Christ. Gardner Minshew needs more than three seconds in the pocket, especially if it’s a play action. We’ll see that sacks on play action passes were a problem all day for the offensive line.

Fault: Jawaan Taylor

Sack #2: 3rd & 5 at 50, 9:46 left in 2Q

(Shotgun) G. Minshew sacked at JAX 43 for -7 yards (B. Chubb)

The wide split that Cam Robinson takes at left tackle allows Bradley Chubb to make a quick stutter to the outside and then attack inside. I think there is partial responsibility here by Gardner Minshew to get rid of it just a bit sooner, but escaping a quick pass rusher coming inside is going to be tough for any quarterback, much less a rookie.

Fault: Cam Robinson

Sack #3: 1st & 10 at JAX 25, 4:16 left in 2Q

(Shotgun) G. Minshew sacked at JAX 23 for -2 yards (V. Miller).

Jawaan Taylor has got to be better here and not feint out to the right so much, creating an easy inside lane for Von Miller to punch through. But so does Gardner Minshew — he needs to get the ball out quicker.

Fault: Jawaan Taylor and Gardner Mins

Sack #4: 2nd & 10 at DEN 39, 10:27 left in 3Q

(Shotgun) G. Minshew sacked at DEN 43 for -4 yards (D. Walker).

Another play action, another sack — this time up the middle because of A.J. Cann’s failure to react quickly to DeMarcus Walker’s stutter move. Any time an offensive lineman’s back is turned towards his quarterback as he’s being sacked, it’s not a good sign.

Fault: A.J. Cann

Sack #5: 3rd & 16 at JAX 32, 12:08 left in 4Q

(Shotgun) G. Minshew sacked at JAX 25 for -7 yards (M. Reed)

I don’t blame Gardner Minshew from getting spooked around the left side. Cam Robinson had his man, but Minshew felt the need to scramble up into the pocket instead of simply plant and (at worse) dumb off to James O’Shaughnessy in the flat on the right side. Easily correctable and a better outcome than trying to force a throw that could have been intercepted.

Fault: Gardner Minshew

Summary

All but one of the Broncos’ sacks on Sunday came on four man fronts. Only the fifth and final sack needed extra blitzers — and that’s not a good sign. If an offensive line is beat up for a few sacks on a day because of five, six, or seven defenders coming at them, then either your quarterback or offensive coordinator needs to adjust to that. But that wasn’t the case on Sunday and that’s a cause for concern.

Up next: The Carolina Panthers!