Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Jaguars' Full Report Card Grades
The Jacksonville Jaguars suffered yet another frustrating loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Week 9 to the score of 33-23.
For most of the game, the Jaguars were blown out and continued to suffer from their own mistakes.
On defense, the Jaguars continued to struggle with missed tackles and allowed 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns in this matchup. With the exception of an interception by J.T. Thomas and two sacks forced by Sen’Derrick Marks (one sack), Ryan Davis (.5 sack) and Chris Smith (.5 sack), it was a relatively quiet day from this defensive unit.
On offense, the Jaguars had a slow day until they started stretching the field in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Blake Bortles had a decent finish (two touchdowns), and running back Denard Robinson continued to impress (104 total yards, one touchdown). Overall, the offense put up a respectable 365 total yards despite the slow start.
In the end, the Jaguars' late-game surge and scoring total will hide some of their imperfections. The truth is that this team continues to be mediocre at best and is most effective in garbage time.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Jaguars coaching staff will have a lot of work if it hopes to improve on last year’s win total.
Let’s take a look at which units need the most work.
Quarterback
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It was a tale of two halves for Blake Bortles. In the first half, Bortles was timid and overprotective with the ball. In the second half, he was a gunslinger who had no fear.
It’s my belief that offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch was trying to protect Bortles by implementing a dink-and-dunk passing attack in this matchup. This strategy doesn’t make sense to me because I view Bortles as a gunslinger in the mold of Brett Favre and Tony Romo.
When Bortles got the green light to stretch the field, the Jaguars offense looked substantially more competent. I would love to see what Bortles could do with 60 minutes of aggressive play-calling.
In the end, it was a good day for Bortles, who finished 22-of-33 for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Bortles is definitely growing, but he needs to continue to work on his decision-making.
Nevertheless, Bortles is a franchise-caliber quarterback who has a bright future in Jacksonville.
Grade: B-
Running Back
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Running back Denard Robinson has been a breath of fresh air on a team that doesn’t get many.
After back-to-back 100-yard games for Robinson, his third performance was equally impressive as he posted a 94-yard two-touchdown game. Robinson continues to prove he’s more than a flashy runner; he consistently runs with power between the tackles and lowers his shoulder to finish runs.
I’m just going to be candid: I love Denard Robinson. It’s nice when you get a good story like this for a guy who deserves it. Robinson has a real shot at having a bright future in Jacksonville.
Grade: A-
Wide Receiver
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It's about time we got to witness what this group is capable of. Together they amassed a decent total of 247 yards and two touchdowns, but away from the stats we really saw some progression with these young guys.
Let’s start with rookie Allen Hurns. Hurns came out today and fought for contested catches all game. Considering that we’re just a few weeks removed from Hurns bobbling every catch, it was awesome to see him break out with 112 yards and two touchdowns over a quality defense.
Next, I want to talk about rookie Allen Robinson. Robinson didn’t have a fantastic day on the stat sheet, but he was another player who displayed some great progression.
A few years ago, there were “possession receivers” in the league. These players specialized in making catches in traffic and moving the chains. Robinson is showing he can be one of these types—he can control his length and make tough, contested catches. There is no doubt he’s going to be a superstar in this league.
Overall, it was a really impressive effort from a group that continues to grow.
Grade: A-
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Tight End
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It was a relatively quiet day from the tight end position. Clay Harbor saw most of the work and was targeted twice by quarterback Blake Bortles. Unfortunately for Harbor, he wasn't able to snag a reception.
If I'm the coaching staff, I'm really evaluating this position. Harbor has regressed a bit over the past two weeks, and I don't even consider him a viable option as a receiver at this point.
The Jaguars are going to want to have their scouting department check on tight ends for this year's draft. That's the only way they're going to improve this inconsistent unit.
Grade: F
Offensive Line
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From a statistical perspective, it wasn’t a bad day for the offensive line. It managed to only allow two sacks, and the running game was explosive. Yet, a closer look will show a different story.
Time and time again against the Bengals, I saw the offensive line completely miss blocks. There were also multiple times when Blake Bortles was hurried or unnecessarily hit.
I understand this is a young unit that is still growing. However, at some point I’d like to see these guys put together the kind of performance they're capable of. There is a lot of potential here, and they’ve been stagnant more than they’ve progressed.
Overall, it was a modest performance but certainly not their best.
Grade: C
Defensive Line
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It was a pretty disappointing effort from a unit that has easily been the team’s most consistent. If anything has gone right for the Jaguars this season, it’s been their ability to get the quarterback. Unfortunately, Sunday's effort was subpar.
Besides a sack from defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks and half sacks by defensive ends Ryan Davis and Chris Smith, the defensive line struggled to get pressure.
The Jaguars’ defensive line is stacked with talented pass-rushers. When those rushers can’t consistently generate pressure on the quarterback, there has to be some concern.
Grade: C-
Linebacker
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I must say that I really like this young group of linebackers. J.T. Thomas (eight tackles, one interception) and Telvin Smith (eight tackles) show flashes of being franchise-caliber linebackers with their athleticism and ability to make plays.
Unfortunately, Sunday was a regression for the group as a whole. As was the case two weeks ago, the linebackers struggled making tackles and maintaining cutback lanes all day. On multiple occasions, missed tackles kept drives alive and ultimately kept the Jaguars from scoring opportunities.
The frustrating part is that form tackling is a basic football fundamental. At this level, you should never see a defense struggle to make easy tackles like you do with this team. The result is allowing a rookie running back to beat you for 156 yards and two touchdowns, one of which went for 60 yards.
Grade: C+
Secondary
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Despite allowing two receiving touchdowns, I really was impressed with most of the secondary in this game.
Most impressive was Dwayne Gratz (six tackles), who had a few plays where he stuck stride-for-stride with A.J. Green and earned some tough pass breakups. Gratz has really improved in terms of awareness and physicality. It’s been a slow season from him, but I expect him to grow rapidly over the final slate of games.
Overall, the Jaguars secondary was able to keep a very explosive Bengals pass attack to just 233 yards. Considering the way it's surrendered yards in the past, it was encouraging to see the secondary step up on Sunday.
Grade: B-
Special Teams
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Sure, there were some good special teams plays—a strong tackle here, a nice return there—but it’s hard to ignore the fact that this unit allowed two blocked punts.
This is the second week where the special teams units have looked suspect. I don’t know why they’re struggling so much protecting their kicker/punter, but it’s alarming. These are the mistakes that cost your team points.
The coaching staff needs to get this fixed quickly.
Grade: F
Coaching
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A late surge by the Jaguars shouldn’t cover the gigantic mistakes made by this coaching staff. For much of this game the Jaguars were outperformed, outcoached and outscored.
I honestly don’t understand why it took offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch so long open up the passing game. It seems like every week he tries to execute a dink-and-dunk offensive strategy that puts the Jaguars in a hole early. Then when they come out in the second half the Jaguars try to stretch the field and find success.
While Bortles has had his issues, he’s a gunslinger. I highly doubt the Jaguars brought him in to manage a game with shot passes. The more Fisch tries to micromanage Bortles, the less chance the team will have to win.
Grade: F
Cumulative Grade
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| Quarterback | B- |
| Running Back | A- |
| Wide Receiver | A- |
| Tight End | F |
| Offensive Line | C |
| Defensive Line | C- |
| Linebacker | C+ |
| Secondary | B- |
| Special Teams | F |
| Coaching | F |
For the first time in a while, I felt like I saw some growth in the offense. Despite the slow start, you really got a feeling that this offense could develop into something dangerous over time with Blake Bortles at the helm.
At this point, I’m solely watching the Jaguars to see how they improve week in and week out. That being said, I’m really impressed with some of these young players. While the team’s performance on Sunday was far from perfect (and NFL-worthy), I felt like I got a glimpse of a successful future.
Grade: C
*All stats courtesy of NFL.com.
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