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Looking at the good, the bad and the ugly from Jacksonville Jaguars' 18-13 loss to Cleveland
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- Looking at the good, the bad and the ugly from Jacksonville Jaguars' 18-13 loss to Cleveland
Taking look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the Jaguars ' 18-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns Sunday at EverBank Stadium in this Up-Down drill:
Down: Ongoing Trevor slump
Hard as it might be to believe, this was the seventh consecutive game lost by quarterback Trevor Lawrence , whose average margin of defeat in those contests is 8.1 points. He hasn't won a start since Week 12 of last season when the Jaguars beat the Houston Texans 24-21, the deciding moment coming when kicker Matt Ammendola 's 58-yard field goal attempt hit the crossbar with 34 seconds remaining.
Due to the ongoing struggles of the offense, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback was forced to launch a Hail Mary on the last play of the game to the end zone, where tight end Brenton Strange wasn't able to haul it in during an 18-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
Up: Other AFC South misery
Not that it's much of a consolation with an 0-2 start, but at least the Jaguars have some division company in their misery. The winless Indianapolis Colts lost 16-10 to the Green Bay Packers as Anthony Richardson threw three interceptions, while the Tennessee Titans fell again, 24-17, to the New York Jets despite getting two touchdowns from ex-Jaguar Calvin Ridley . Unfortunately, division favorite Houston stayed perfect at 2-0 with a 19-13 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football.
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Down: Chaotic offense
For the second week in a row, the Jaguars struggled for long stretches to find rhythm on offense, and it proved costly. A Lawrence-led offense did next to nothing in the first half (81 total yards, 19 plays) and spent the rest of the game valiantly trying to overcome a 13-3 deficit that quickly became 16-3. The Jaguars were sabotaged by an assortment of self-inflicted errors. They spent two first-half timeouts to avoid delay-of-game flags, had an illegal shift penalty cost them a go-ahead touchdown (with good PAT), and failed to get a TD on two first-and-goal situations. This shouldn't be happening in the third year of coach Doug Pederson's system. The Jaguars deserved all the boos they were subjected to walking off the field at halftime.
Down: Losing valuable weapon
It was one of those fluke things that ended up being a huge blow when Jaguars starting tight end Evan Engram sustained a hamstring injury during warmups, forcing him to sit out the game. Since the mishap occurred right as the Jaguars were declaring inactives for the game, they couldn't activate one of the six players they had already deactivated for the contest. Not having Engram, a high-percentage target, was a factor in the loss as Lawrence completed only 14 of 30 passes.
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Up: Engram's replacement
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Brenton Strange (85) hauls in a reception during the fourth quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Browns defeated the Jaguars 18-13. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
The loss of Engram was minimized to a degree by a respectable showing from backup Brenton Strange . The 2023 second-round draft pick caught three passes for 65 yards, easily the most productive game of his 19-game career. On the final play, Strange managed to get a hand on Lawrence's Hail Mary pass in the end zone from 33 yards away, but couldn't haul it in as he battled two Browns' defenders for the ball.
Down: Third-down woes
The Jaguars' failures on third down is a big reason why they've lost both games, converting just 5 of 19. In that situation, Lawrence is 3 of 14 for 70 yards, two sacks and also has a 33-yard scramble for one of the conversions.
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Up: Montaric Brown
With Tyson Campbell on injured reserve, the third-year cornerback went in for his eighth career start. Though he got targeted several times by Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson , he more than held his own. Brown wasn't victimized on any big pass plays and led all players with 11 tackles, including two for a loss.
Down: Where are turnovers?
The Jaguars' defense has held two opponents to a respectable scoring average of 19.0 points, but has one glaring omission: no turnovers. The Jaguars almost broke the drought against Cleveland, but a potential interception went through Ronald Darby 's hands for a completion. The Jaguars almost had one when linebacker Foye Oluokun sacked Deshaun Watson and it looked like the ball might come out, but the Browns' quarterback managed to hang on.
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Up: National anthem
Paul Wane of "Duval County Line," who performed the national anthem Sunday on his acoustic guitar, also did it in the last regular-season game of the 2022 season against the Tennessee Titans.
Paul Wane, the lead guitarist for "Duval County Line," performed another spectacular version of the "Star-Spangled Banner" on his electric guitar. The Jaguars should enlist Wane to do play the anthem at least once a year because his version is spectacular and a fan favorite.
Down: Offensive line
It was hardly a convincing answer by head coach Doug Pederson when asked if his offensive line was good enough to execute properly. He paused, then said: "I believe they are, yes." Lawrence was sacked four times, including in the end zone for a safety when Alex Wright overpowered center Mitch Morse and blew by left guard Ezra Cleveland to put him on the ground. Myles Garrett also had a strip-sack fumble of Lawrence that running back D'Ernest Johnson recovered. Besides the sacks, Garrett had five other tackles for losses.
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Up: BT bomber
One of the bright spots amidst a terrible start is rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr. , who ran down a 66-yard bomb from Lawrence while beating cornerback Greg Newsome to set up the Jaguars' only touchdown, a 4-yard run by Travis Etienne . For the season, Thomas has six catches on eight targets for 141 yards and a touchdown. It might be a good idea for Lawrence to target him a little more often.
Down: Watson has Jaguars' number
Though Deshaun Watson has struggled mightily during his time in Cleveland, the Browns' quarterback usually finds his rhythm against the Jaguars. Sunday's win improved his record to 7-0 as a starter facing Jacksonville , dating back to the 2018 season with the Houston Texans. In those seven games, Watson has completed 141 of 217 passes for 1,549 yards, throwing eight touchdowns and two interceptions for a QB rating of 94.42. The only time Watson lost to the Jaguars was in his NFL debut in 2017 when he replaced starter Tom Savage in the second half of a 29-7 Texans' loss, a game that was pretty much over at halftime. Watson is 30-30 against the rest of the NFL as a starter.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Double downer: Jaguars can't get out of their own way in losing to Browns
