Blake Bortles' 1st Comeback Thwarted by Special Teams, but He Spurs Future Hope

Quarterback Blake Bortles' debut in Jacksonville has seen the rookie's ability wasted on an offensive line with no prayer of protecting him and, up until today, a lack of rapport with his receivers. 

Jacksonville's 16-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans didn't have the walkoff ending that Bortles deserved. After safety Michael Griffin flubbed an onside kick, handing the ball back to the Jaguars, kicker Josh Scobee saw his game-winning 55-yard attempt blocked by defensive lineman Sammie Lee Hill. The Jaguars, for the second-straight season, fell to 0-6.

Head coach Gus Bradley took responsibility for the Jaguars not having any timeouts remaining at such a critical time, per John Oehser of Jaguars.com:

But, unlike the other games on their schedule, this was one where Bortles and the Jaguars showed they were competitive, giving them something to build on going forward. 

Jacksonville outgained the Titans in total yardage 379-290, with only six sacks helping to set the Jaguars up for failure in the passing game. Indeed, in the second half, the Jaguars focused mainly on screens and short throws. Bortles is a mobile and athletic quarterback, but he has not shown the ability to overcome his circumstances yet. 

Special teams was an issue for Jacksonville on Sunday even before the blocked field goal. Up until Jacksonville's recovered onside kick, the Jaguars hadn't started beyond their own 20-yard-line on any of their 10 drives. Bortles was asked to overcome a terrible run game, a bogus offensive line and awful starting positions. That he nearly did it is a testament to his talent. 

Drive Time	Starting Position	Plays	Yards	Result
15:00/1st	JAX 20	7	80	Touchdown
9:42/1st	JAX 16	6	17	Punt
0:44/1st	JAX 20	8	36	Punt
9:39/2nd	JAX 20	7	16	Punt
1:04/2nd	JAX 20	3	-7	Punt
8:52/3rd	JAX 10	14	61	Interception
14:49/4th	JAX 20	6	3	Punt
10:24/4th	JAX 6	4	5	Punt
7:12/4th	JAX 20	7	70	Fumble
2:43/4th	JAX 17	9	83	Touchdown
0:37/4th	JAX 42	5	21	Missed FG

What the Jaguars can look forward to building over the rest of the season is the development of their young pieces in the passing game. With Allen Hurns, Marqise Lee, Allen Robinson and Cecil Shorts III, Jacksonville has created one of the deepest and youngest receiver sets in the NFL. 

While none of these players have really announced their presence in the league as a star receiver yet, that comes with the territory of playing for the Jaguars. It's hard to catch deep balls when your offense doesn't even give you a chance.

Only Hurns has pulled off those kinds of big plays this season, and his overall value is hurt by his inconsistency catching the ball to this point—he had just a 46 percent catch rate coming into the game, per Football Outsiders. 

Player	Draft Pick	Age	Targets	PFF Rating	DVOA
Marquise Lee	2014: 2nd/39	23	14	-1.7	-29.5%
Allen Robinson	2014: 2nd/61	21	37	-1.4	-9.3%
Allen Hurns	UDFA	23	35	-3.3	-12.0%
Cecil Shorts	2011: 4th/169	26	14	-0.2	-5.3%

But this game, Bortles did an excellent job of mixing and matching his receivers. He went back to the well in finding Clay Harbor on the weaker members of the Tennessee secondary. Bortles was able to show enough chemistry with Allen Robinson to create a solid possession receiver, as Robinson caught eight of nine targets for 68 yards. Mark Long of The Associated Press provided a comparison between Blaine Gabbert and Bortles as it relates to reaching 300 yards passing:

That doesn't mean it's going to be pretty in the short term. The Jacksonville passing game still has a lot to overcome between the offensive line and the running game.

But this was a promising start for the unit, and that'll at least give Jacksonville something to look forward to in the future as this season continues to fade into the abyss.

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Three-Cone Drill podcast. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.