JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — How fast can the tides turn in the ever-changing world of the NFL? Two weeks ago, the Jaguars were in the thick of the AFC playoff race, coming off of an impressive win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. One fortnight later, the Jags are now limping into the bye after a couple ugly losses to the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams.
Let’s look over some key takeaways, stats from Jacksonville through Week 7.
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Offense
The tale of the Jaguars’ season continues. The team just can’t seem to get out of its own. They are their own worst enemy. And lately, they’ve had a tough time managing to beat their weekly opponent and themselves the same week.
The Jaguars are not up to 20 drops, 20 sacks, and 65 penalties on the season. The majority of those penalties have come on the offensive side of the ball as well. The Jaguars had a couple
solid games with minimal drops before reverting to their old selves this week, posting four costly drops, per Pro Football Focus. They still lead the NFL and many came on key down and distances.
A few weeks ago, the Jaguars were the least sacked team in the NFL. How quickly that can change. After the last three weeks of three, seven, and seven sacks respectively, the Jaguars now are T-8th most sacks allowed in the NFL this season with 20.
The league-leading penalties are also killing the Jags ability to move the ball. The Jaguars are forcing themselves to convert closer to 15 yards every set of downs, while opponents just have to manage the standard ten. It’s a big reason the Jaguars have felt the need to seemingly abandon the run-game, always facing long down and distances while trailing.
When the Jaguars did manage to get into scoring position, the team turned the ball over four times on downs, in addition to a missed field goal. Cam Little has now missed a kick in four of his last five games. Yesterday, it seemed Travis Hunter was the Jaguars’ only saving grace, posting eight catches for 101 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
Defense
The Jaguars’ defense would have looked far better against the Rams if not for those three early scores, where it looked as though the Rams could do no wrong. The unit has allowed big chunk plays all season, offsetting them with timely turnovers. Unfortunately, it seems the turnover luck has run dry as they have managed just one takeaway over the last three games.
Without the turnovers, this defense is far more average than many initially thought to be the case. The pass-rush has been nearly non-existent following the injury to Travon Walker, who only played a total of 18 snaps. The Jaguars now rank dead last in sacks, tied with the Baltimore Ravens, with just eight.
The lack of a pass-rush has likely adversely affected the team’s ability to create takeaways. The team’s pressure rate has dropped all the way down to just 30.0%, 27th in the NFL. When not blitzing, it falls even further to 24,5%, 28th best.
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