Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Los Angeles Chargers: Week 14 sack analysis

The Jacksonville Jaguars sure did suck on Sunday.

There’s really no other way to describe their performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. They managed 4.4 yards per pass while giving up more than three times that on defense. Their ground game was, once again, ineffective — running backs managed just 57 yards all game. They didn’t score a touchdown until the game was well out of reach. They allowed Tyrod Freaking Taylor to throw as many touchdowns as Gardner Minshew.

I’m going to take a deep breath.

But they only allowed two sacks and four quarterback hits on 37 pass attempts.

Who was responsible for those two sacks? Let’s take a look.

Sack #1: 3rd & 3 at JAX 38, 12:16 in 2Q

(Shotgun) G. Minshew II sacked at JAX 34 for -4 yards (J. Bosa).

Will Richardson only played a handful of snaps at right guard last weekend and he’s still partly at fault for a sack along with left tackle Cam Robinson. Gardner Minshew had just under three seconds to throw and probably should have gotten the ball to eighth string tight end Nick O’Leary over the middle, but... whatever.

Fault: Will Richardson and Cam Robinson

Sack #2: 2nd & 3 at JAX 39, 8:16 in 4Q

(Shotgun) G. Minshew II sacked at JAX 36 for -3 yards (J. Bosa).

I like Gardner Minshew’s pocket presence here, sensing Joey Bosa taking the long way around the edge and making a move to get away from it. But on a short third down, it really shouldn’t have come to that.

Look at the sideline view below:

This time, Minshew wants to go to Nick O’Leary, but he stares him down, allowing the safety to cheat up and hone in on him. It’s an easy first down (admittedly down a million touchdowns) if he looks off either of the outside receivers.

Fault: Gardner Minshew

Summary

Like I said, two sacks (only one of which was on the offensive line) and four quarterback hits isn’t bad for 37 pass attempts. But this team needs to figure it out or losing by multiple scores will be a trend for the final three games.

Up next: The Oakland Raiders!