Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans: Week 9 sack analysis

The Jacksonville Jaguars had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day against the Houston Texans last Sunday in London. If there’s a team that needs a bye week and a chance to hit the reset button, it’s them.

Aside from always being down in the score after the first possession and never getting a rhythm going in either the passing or running game, they gave up four sacks — three to Gardner Minshew and one on a botched field goal attempt.

So who was responsible for those sacks? Let’s take a look.

Sack #1: 4th & 14 at HOU 31, 9:03 in 3Q

Mishandled snap prevents Field Goal Attempt. (Field Goal formation) L. Cooke sacked at HST 43 for -12 yards (B. Boddy-Calhoun). FUMBLES (B. Boddy-Calhoun) [K.Crossen], recovered by JAX-J. Lambo at 50. J.Lambo to 50 for no gain (B. Boddy-Calhoun).

There’s not much to break down here. It was a slightly high snap from undrafted free agent long snapper Matt Orzech but holder Logan Cooke got it down. Josh Lambo probably could have kicked it, but the timing was all off. And it resulted in Cooke getting absolutely rocked.

Fault: Team

Sack #2: 1st & 10 at JAX 25, 0:31 in 3Q

(Shotgun) G. Minshew II sacked at JAX 22 for -3 yards (C. Watkins).

Gardner Minshew had a nice pocket for a couple of seconds, but the route combination is kind of strange here if you look at the sideline view.

None of the receivers really get any separation against Houston’s zone defense. It looks as though Keelan Cole up on the far sideline is his first read, but Minshew hesitates and then his inside run lane is cut off by Carlos Watkins.

Fault: Gardner Minshew

Sack #3: 1st & 10 at HOU 35, 12:47 in 4Q

(No Huddle, Shotgun) G. Minshew II sacked at HST 40 for -5 yards (B. Scarlett).

Again, a nice pocket for a couple of seconds. A look at the sideline view is gonna help us on this one too.

The first read is a pump fake to DJ Chark along the far sideline. He then looks to Chris Conley along the near sideline, possibly in an effort to get the safety to cheat away from Chark a little bit so he can throw it up for a one-on-one jump ball. Both his reads are downfield but if he had just stuck with Chark for a half second more, I think he would have had a chance. As it stands, Cole is the safety valve over the middle and he has an opening running lane up the middle. A few yards on first down is a better result than the five-yard sack that happened.

Fault: Gardner Minshew

Sack #4: 1st & 10 at HOU 30, 0:01 in 4Q

(No Huddle, Shotgun) G. Minshew II sacked at HST 32 for -2 yards (B. Scarlett). FUMBLES (B. Scarlett), RECOVERED by HST-D. Cole at HST 21. D. Cole to HST 48 for 27 yards (J. Taylor).

Just a clusterf*ck of a play. Minshew is trying to make something happen on the final play of the game and the Texans get to him. To add insult to injury, it’s another fumble lost to the young quarterback’s stat line. Ugh.

Fault: Gardner Minshew

Summary

The offensive line will bear the brunt of having four sacks to their name in the box score, but when you look at the film, none of the four sacks are really their fault.

Up next: The bye week!