Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Washington Redskins: Full Report-Card Grades for Jags
The Jacksonville Jaguars walked out of FedEx Field the victims of a devastating loss on Sunday. The Washington Redskins manhandled the Jaguars to the tune of 41-10.
The Jaguars were abysmal in every facet of the game. They allowed 449 total offensive yards and only mustered 148 of their own. Also of note, the Jaguars allowed 10 sacks by the Redskins defense.
The Jaguars offense was led by quarterback Chad Henne, who finished 14-of-28 for 193 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Henne was under fire all day by an aggressive Redskins defense and received no help from his running backs.
The Jacksonville defense was repeatedly gashed by a Washington rushing attack that took advantage of overpursuing linebackers and finished with 191 yards. On numerous occasions Jaguars defenders found themselves out of position and not finishing plays—a recipe for disaster.
It wasn’t pretty, but I did my best to grade each unit for the Jaguars after the blowout loss.
Let’s take a look.
Quarterback
1 of 11
My mother always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
(Silence)
Set aside the flaws on the offensive line and just look at Henne from a passing perspective. He rarely, if ever, went through any progressions during his attempts. On more than half of his throws, he stared his intended receiver down and threw into double coverage.
Henne finished the day 14-of-28 for 193 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 17 yards.
For a veteran who was supposed to provide steady leadership, he is a big reason why this offense is floundering. Until he learns to make the appropriate pre-snap reads and the right offensive adjustments, this team will continue to play into the hands of opponents.
Grade: D+
Running Back
2 of 11
It was another abysmal performance from a rushing perspective, and I’m starting to wonder if this is what we can expect all year.
When the Jaguars brought in Toby Gerhart, I thought his toughness would help the offense increase its efficiency. Yet, since the season started, the team is hovering around three yards per carry and is struggling to make any impact.
This week the Jaguars only rushed the ball 10 times and averaged a mere 2.5 yards per carry. The real issue here is vision—on a few attempts I saw Gerhart miss wide-open lanes. At this point the Jacksonville rushing attack is non-existent.
Grade: D-
Wide Receiver
3 of 11
The first Chad Henne pass attempt was a drop by Allen Hurns, who would have scored on the play.
We didn’t know it then, but that would set the pace for the game.
As a group, the wide receivers accounted for 99 of the team's 193 receiving yards. A lot of this had to do with Henne’s inability to work through his progressions, but there were a few key drops (I’m looking at you, Mike Brown) that had to be caught.
One positive to take away from this group was rookie receiver Allen Robinson. He played a lot of snaps this game and made it count, racking up 75 yards on four receptions.
The Jaguars have some promising talent at the position, but until Henne can get the receivers the ball in space, it will be a rough season for all them.
Grade: C+
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Tight End
4 of 11
Marcedes Lewis continues to be the most consistent weapon for this team. He’s a quality blocker and knows how to get open in the passing game.
The best play of the game came on a 63-yard touchdown reception to Lewis, who made a beautiful leaping catch and powered through defenders on his way to the score.
If Lewis can continue to contribute at this level as an all-around tight end, the Jaguars will have to make him a bigger part of the game plan moving forward.
Grade: B+
Offensive Line
5 of 11
Offensive line stats: 10 sacks, 2.5 yards per carry, 18 quarterback hits.
Need I say more?
The offensive line was consistently beaten by an aggressive, swarming Redskins defense. At no time did the linemen make any adjustments to even try to protect Chad Henne.
This is a young unit that needs time together, but at the same time the line needs to be able to win some of the snaps. They were manhandled on almost every play, and the offense wasn’t able to establish a rhythm because of it.
The biggest issue came on the edges. The Jaguars replaced Cameron Bradfield with Sam Young late in the second half, which seemed to help a little. Watch for the Jaguars to move some pieces around to find the best five guys possible moving forward.
Grades: F
Defensive Line
6 of 11
The defensive line continues to be the strength of the Jaguars defense. Second-year player Ryan Davis has been a pleasant surprise and now has three sacks on the season after another one on Sunday.
Even with this group's success in rushing the passer (three sacks on Sunday), the linemen really need to improve their run defense. Defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks is showing the athleticism to make plays as both in pass rushing and run-stopping situations, but he’s the only one.
The Jaguars like to rotate players, and after a seven tackles from Tyson Alualu, I wonder if the team would consider shuffling the deck to improve the potential of the rotation.
Grade: B-
Linebacker
7 of 11
This unit put on a performance that exactly replicates what it did last week. Time and time again they broke assignment, took bad angles in pursuit and missed tackles.
Alfred Morris made a mockery of this linebacker group, racking up two touchdowns. For the most part, this group has struggled all season in run defense and containing tight ends in the passing game. If this continues, it will be a long season on defense.
The only positive here was rookie Telvin Smith, who came up with some explosive plays including a big sack in the fourth quarter.
Grade: C-
Secondary
8 of 11
The secondary sorely missed Johnathan Cyprien on Sunday.
The defensive backs are a lot like the receivers in that they’re very young with a lot of potential but are susceptible to some really bad weeks.
This week was one of the bad ones, as they allowed 288 passing yards and two touchdowns. In the end, the cornerbacks struggled to carry receivers upfield and finish plays. Meanwhile, the safeties were caught in bad position on deep passes too often and essentially gave the Redskins everything they wanted down the middle.
The most concerning thing has been the safeties' inability to carry tight ends in the passing game. Niles Paul, a second string tight end, roasted the Jaguars defense consistently and finished with 99 yards and a touchdown.
Grade: D+
Special Teams
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Jaguars punter Bryan Anger got extensive work, punting the ball eight times for 383 yards. He had a pretty productive day, averaging 47.9 yards and nailing two within the 20-yard line.
On the offensive side, the Jaguars were only in the Redskins territory once, which resulted in a 36-yard field goal by Josh Scobee.
Overall, it was a good day by the Jaguars' most consistent unit.
Grade: B+
Coaching
10 of 11
Last week the Jaguars coaches struggled to adjust to the offensive attack of the Philadelphia Eagles. I thought for sure that they had learned a valuable lesson from that Week 1 conundrum.
Apparently, they didn’t.
The Jaguars struggled from the onset of the game and were unable to adjust to the playing style of Kirk Cousins and the Redskins’ dangerous running game.
This coaching staff is young and inexperienced, but at some point it will have to take these tough lessons and apply them to future situations. Hopefully, the coaches figure it out sooner rather than later.
Grade: C-
Cumulative Grade
11 of 11
| Quarterback | D+ |
| Running Back | D- |
| Wide Receiver | C+ |
| Tight End | B+ |
| Offensive Line | F |
| Defensive Line | B- |
| Linebacker | C- |
| Secondary | D+ |
| Special Teams | B+ |
| Coaching | C- |
Overall, it was a putrid performance from a team that is capable of so much more. The media and fans will only be able to blame the youth of this team for so long. Eventually, the Jaguars need to start stacking good games and wins together.
Overall Grade: C-
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