Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Tennessee Titans: Breaking Down the Jaguars Game Plan

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be looking to break their five-game losing streak this week as they take on the Tennessee Titans. Both teams are coming off close losses but they each have a very different mentality coming out of each loss. The Jaguars were truly competitive and had a shot to win the game late for the first time this season. The Titans, on the other hand, blew a 25-point lead to lose to the Cleveland Browns. 

For Jaguars players and fans alike, the loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers gives them a lot of hope. It was a game they very easily could have won in the late stages. The defense played its best game of the season so far while finally showing some life. 

Of course there are still numerous areas the Jaguars need to improve upon but last Sunday's game was a good start. They face a Titans team that is reeling after such a demoralizing loss and the Jaguars are looking primed for their first win of the season. So let's take a look at what it is the Jaguars need to do to get their first win.

On Offense

After two-and-a-half good games by Blake Bortles, the rookie wall finally came in and smacked him upside the head. Bortles struggled against Dick LeBeau's defense, which is 17-2 against rookie quarterbacks. After completing 78 percent of his passes against San Diego, Bortles fell back to earth, completing 61 percent of his passes for 195 yards and two interceptions. The final interception sealed the fate of the game as it was returned for a touchdown.

Bortles and the rest of the passing offense can turn things around this week against the Titans. While they do have the 13th-ranked pass defense, they have allowed 10 touchdowns so far this season, tied for fourth-most in the league. The Titans have struggled to replace Alterraun Verner, who left in free agency. His successor, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, is currently rated the worst corner out of 102 qualifying corners, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), with a minus-10.3 rating.

One boost the Jaguars may get this weekend is the return of Marqise Lee. The shifty receiver out of USC has missed the past three games with a hamstring injury but could return to practice on Wednesday. Prior to the injury, he was one of Chad Henne's favorite targets, having eight receptions in the first two games. Bortles will likely get more out of Lee's catch-and-run ability on underneath routes.

What the passing offense really needs to work on is their deep game.  The following chart is a breakdown of their pass attempts:

Range (Through Air)	Passes Attempted	Passes Completed	Completion Percentage	Yards	INT	QB Rating
Short (0-5)	14	12	85	77	0	89.5
Medium (6-14)	17	9	52	95	1	44.9
Deep (15+)*	5	2	40	36	1	25.8

*Includes 21-yard completion to Allen Hurns that was nullified due to offensive holding penalty.

The Jaguars failed to attack the Steelers defense deep, which allowed the Steelers to sit on routes and crowd the short-to-intermediate area of the field. The Jaguars receivers averaged a paltry 1.6 yards-after-the-catch. They couldn't stretch the field which limited what they could do in both the run and passing game.

They need to be able to attack this secondary in order to make them play more conservatively. They must find a way to take advantage of the size mismatch that both Hurns and Allen Robinson give them. 

The run game proved just how enigmatic it is this past week with the slight emergence of Storm Johnson. The seventh-round rookie got his first action of the season and promptly rushed for 20 yards on his first official carry (an earlier carry was negated due to holding). It is the longest run on the season by a Jaguars running back.

However, that was the highlight of the running game. Johnson carried the ball three more times for seven additional yards. Toby Gerhart had four carries for nine yards and Denard Robinson had three carries for six yards. All in all, this running game is woefully underwhelming.

They must find a way to liven up their running attack. Johnson showed he can contribute and turn this running back tandem into a three-headed monster. Unfortunately, with how little touches the running backs are getting, this three-headed monster is doomed to be less scary than Casper the Friendly Ghost. 

Still, this running back group does have potential, even more so now with Johnson added to the mix. Head coach Gus Bradley said after the game, per Ryan Day of Big Cat Country:

"

Yeah I would say [there is open competition at the running back position]. How can you argue the fact that Storm and the little plays that he had that he showed up and did some good things? It’s not surprising to me, I mentioned two weeks ago he had a good practice, last week he had a good week and it’s that trust and he’s building trust. For him to go in there and perform and really capture his opportunity was pretty cool to see. Then he came out, he hurt his ankle so I think with Storm it’s that process where he’s continuing to build trust with his teammates. But the runs he had were very impressive.

"

Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch has to find more effective ways to run the ball. Giving your running backs only 11 carries is putting way too much pressure on a rookie quarterback. The offensive line must also work on its run blocking in order to open up more holes. 

Keys to Success

1. Be more aggressive through the air. Attack the deep part of the field more often.
2. Take the pressure off Bortles by giving the running backs 20-25 touches. 

On Defense

While the offense struggled, the defense played its best game of the season so far.

The league's best pass rush heading into the week tallied four sacks and constantly harassed Ben Roethlisberger all day. They made some big plays, including a strip-sack by Abry Jones inside the Jaguars' 15-yard line. The pass rush should be able to find success this week, especially attacking the middle of the line. Tennessee's two guards and center have combined for four sacks, two QB hits and 19 QB hurries. 

The run defense played better than expected as well. Coming into this game, they allowed an average of 130 yards-per-game. Playing against the fourth-ranked Steelers rushing offense, that number was expected to rise. However, they held Le'Veon Bell to 82 yards and the rushing attack as a whole to 110 yards.

This week is not quite as tall a task as the Titans have a middle-of-the-pack rushing attack. Bishop Sankey and Shonn Greene have combined for 340 yards yet have only a pair of touchdowns total. One player who could surprise the Jaguars is jitterbug-runner Dexter McCluster. He hasn't been quite the impact player the Titans had hoped for this season but he possesses enough speed to outrun almost every player on Jacksonville's defense.

The Jaguars have to make sure they present a strong presence in the middle and on the right side of the offensive line. The Titans like running the ball up the middle behind their center and right guard as well as off the right tackle, logging 13 carries for 46 yards against the Browns. The Steelers found success running at these same spots, having 11 carries for 53 yards against the Jaguars. This is an area the Jaguars must work on in order to disrupt the Titans run game.

The much-maligned secondary stepped up as well, holding Big Ben to 273 yards after giving up back-to-back 370-yard games. This is the second-fewest yards given up this season and they did it without starting corner Dwayne Gratz, who was out with a concussion. They will need to duplicate this success as Gratz is not expected to play this week.

The area that has improved the most in coverage has been against tight ends. Through the first three games, the Jaguars gave up a staggering 22 receptions for 283 yards and four touchdowns to tight ends. Since then, they have all but shutdown two very good tight ends in Antonio Gates and Heath Miller. The two veterans combined for a meager six receptions for 76 yards. They will need to continue this good string of coverage against Delanie Walker, who is currently Tennessee's top receiver. 

Keys to Success

1. Get pressure up the middle of the line with the defensive tackles.
2. Shore up the right side of their defensive line against the run.

Conclusion

The football gods may finally smile upon the Jaguars this week. With Titans quarterback Jake Locker still a question mark for the game, there is a good chance the Jaguars will have to defend Charlie Whitehurst, who isn't nearly as much of a threat as Locker is. This combined with the demoralizing loss for the Titans and it gives the Jaguars their best shot at a win this season so far. All they have to do is play to the ability we all know they can and it should result in the win.