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The Jaguars (2-8) came into today’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers (5-5) as a team in desperate need of some stability as a team, and particularly on offense. It would be the first time since 2005 that the 49ers came into Jacksonville to play the Jaguars. The Jaguars won the contest 10-9.
Today’s matchup didn’t go as planned as Jacksonville suffered easily its worst loss of the season, completely outmatched, outcoached and outplayed by the 49ers, losing 30-10.
In pregame, it looked like a sea of red as 49ers fans locally, and perhaps some from the west coast made the trip to TIAA Bank Field to see their team play against the Jaguars. With a 2-7 record, Jaguars fans have become pessimistic, understandably following a 1-15 season in 2020.
— Demetrius Harvey (@Demetrius82) November 21, 2021
The last time the two games squared off would come during the Jaguars’ AFC Championship Game run in 2017. The 49ers won the contest, in San Francisco, 44-33, though the game wouldn’t be as close as the scoreboard indicated.
Jacksonville’s biggest issue coming into today’s game has been its inability to find success on offense with the guidance of rookie QB Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence has struggled, but the team’s issues go beyond Lawrence’s ability as a QB. The receiving corp has consistently dropped passes, and the offense as a whole hasn’t been able to execute.
Out of the team’s first four drives of the game, two of them resulted in a three-and-out, and one resulted in a fumble. The other, a field goal. It wasn’t a great offensive effort for Jacksonville, and it would be the third-straight week of poor play they’ve experienced.
The team’s first, first down wouldn’t come until their third drive of the game, a scramble by Lawrence and a gain of 10. That would come about midway through the second quarter following the 49ers 17 unanswered points to start the contest.
Defensively, the Jaguars came into today’s game with plenty of momentum, relentlessly getting after the QB and limiting its opponents. Entering the day, the Jaguars limited the Buffalo Bills to just six points, while overcoming a 17-0 deficit in the first quarter of last week’s contest against the Indianapolis Colts to hold the team to just six in the second half.
In today’s game, Jacksonville’s defense was tasked with overcoming a difficult opening drive by the 49ers offense, one that took up 20 plays, 87 yards and 13:05 taken off the clock. The 49ers were forced to settle for a field goal, and it would set the tone moving forward for the game.
The next scoring drive for the 49ers would come on a 7-play, 80-yard scoring drive after 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel took a handoff and ran 25 yards for the score.
The next score would occur following a Jaguars WR Laviska Shenault fumble, resulting in a short field and an easy, quick score from 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo to WR Brandon Aiyuk for a six-yard score. The drive would be just seven plays, traveling 35 yards.
During the first half, Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins was ejected after punching 49ers WR Jauan Jennings, second-year safety Daniel Thomas would replace him.
Jaguars FS Rayshawn Jenkins becomes the 7th player ejected this season, for throwing a punch at 49ers WR Jauan Jennings pic.twitter.com/IsAl7YeETV
— Fᴏᴏᴛʙᴀʟʟ Zᴇʙʀᴀs (@footballzebras) November 21, 2021
On the team’s best drive of the first half, Lawrence would go 4 for 5 for 48 yards, connecting with multiple receivers, including Shenault and Tavon Austin. Jacksonville was forced to settle for a field goal, cutting the 49ers lead to 14, down 17-3 withy 1:53 remaining in the first half.
To extend their lead back to 17, the 49ers would drive down the field just before halftime, capping off their drive with a 48-yard FG to bring the score to 20-3 coming out of the second half. Defensively, the Jaguars wouldn’t force the 49ers to punt until 2:51 remained in the third quarter.
Completely routed, the second half wouldn’t be any better for Jacksonville, they couldn’t get anything going amid a blow-out loss, their worst of the season. Jacksonville would finish with just 200 yards, while Lawrence completed 16 out of 25 of his passes for 158 yards on the day.
The Jaguars would score in garbage time with a bit over three minutes remaining in the contest. A one-yard touchdown run by RB James Robinson. They finished with just 14 first downs, the third-straight week with under 20 first downs on the day.
As for the 49ers, they totaled 336 yards, scoring 30 points, while Garpololo completed 16 out of 22 of his passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
It would be one of the worst losses of the season for Jacksonville, looking very similar to the team’s 31-7 loss against the Seattle Seahawks a few weeks ago.
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