The Jaguars slim playoff hopes coming into this game were hanging by a thread.  The thread got cut today with the loss.  My thoughts.

 

1.  I have been saying for most of the past two seasons that special teams cost us some winnable games.  The kick coverage teams were good.  The kick return teams were good.  However, the difference in the game was that Myers missed two (2) extra points.  Even though they were moved back to 33 yard kicks as opposed to the traditional 19 yard kicks, that is inexcusable.  Why was the first extra point not lined up in the middle, but instead on the left hash?  He has now missed FIVE extra points in 12 games.  It is hard to justify to keep him.

 

2.  It is a shame that stellar performances by Bortles (5 TDs and ZERO INTs, Jaguars record for TDs passes in a game and TD passes in a single season) and Robinson (160+ yards, 3 TDs, first Jaguars WR to surpass 1000 yards in a season) were wasted by Myers misses, Wiz's bad snap, and porous run defense independent of the Mariota run.  What was with all of the missed tackles?

 

3.  The irony and sad part about that long Mariota scramble is it actually looked like a pretty good blitz was called on the play.  The team got pretty good pressure on him.  Nevertheless, that drive exemplified the Jaguars defense all year-get teams backed up in poor field position and remain unable to keep them pinned down.

 

4.  Nice to see the team run a little more, though they still need to be more effective in that area.  Robinson looked better than Yeldon, though Yeldon had a great catch and run late.

 

5.  I think we need another LB as athletic as Telvin Smith to cover TEs..  What is it with that position that so mystifies this team?

 

6.  I thought Bortles actually got pretty good protection today, and the offense performed great in the red zone.  The defense seems to be taking the rest of the season off.

 

7.  Bottom line:  Even though we got a little help from Buff[BAD WORD REMOVED], bad defense and placekicking doomed this team to another .500 at best season.  We'll see if this team quits down the stretch...and we'll see how the young guys continue to develop.

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