Jaguars vs. Panthers: What We Learned from Jacksonville's 16-10 Loss

It was wet, it was slick, it was odd and it was a loss.

After looking at the future and seeing that the Jaguars made the right decision in giving Blaine Gabbert his first professional start in a regular season game, Jacksonville took a lead into the fourth quarter, only to squander it and fall to the Carolina Panthers 16-10.

The Jaguars has been one of the NFL's fire pits of controversy this year, having released starting quarterback David Garrard the week of the start of the NFL season, and going through two starting quarterbacks this season in Luke McCown already three weeks into 2011.

It appears, through flashes of play this past weekend, Jacksonville has made the right choice.

There were times when the Jaguars, 1-2 on the season, looked like they were totally dominated and then there were times when it looked like the rookie quarterback would rally this team to a win.

Either way, there are still questions left to be answered now that the football universe has seen Gabbert through four quarters.

Here are things we learned from today's game.

The Running Game Is Very Good

Once he got going, Maurice Jones-Drew proved again that he is still an elite running back.

It looked at first that he was not going to get the ball rolling, when he could not move through the Panthers' defensive line.

Toward the end of the first half and into the second half, Jones-Drew took command of the ground, finishing with 122 yards on 24 carries and ran through the middle of the Carolina defense.

Blaine Gabbert Is the Future of This Team

At times, he played like a rookie. He took a sack for a safety and made some poor decisions during the game, including an interception.

But Blaine Gabbert is the future of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Gabbert looked poised during most of the game and found targets in spots that Luke McCown or David Garrard may not have found.

The Secondary Still Needs Help

The secondary let the team down at the end of the game when Greg Olsen scored the game winning touchdown.

Olsen finished with 7 catches for 57 yards and a score.

He scored on a 16-yard pass play with 4:20 left in the contest.

Special Teams Hurt the Jaguars

The ball slipped out of punter's Matt Turk's hands, which to a turnover on downs.

This is the second week in a row that specials teams play has hampered the Jaguars.

The Jaguars Still Need a Go to Receiver

Mike Thomas had 4 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown, but he did drop a few key passes.

The Jaguars still need more consistency from their receiving corps.

More Points Need to Be Scored

Three games, 29 points.

You cannot win football games in this league with those stats.

The Jaguars' offense is still "boring" and cannot win games with teams that are pass-oriented if they cannot put points on the board themselves.

Cam Newton Seemed Mortal

The top pick in the draft played a decent game and caused problems for the Jaguars with his size and mobility.

He was able to make things happen on offense but was not the dominant player he had been in the first two games of the season.

Still, when a rookie engineers a win in come from behind fashion, it speaks about your team needing to do more to control the opposition's offense.

The Jaguars Get the High-Octane Saints Next Week

The Jaguars will put Gabbert and his arm on display next week against the New Orleans Saints.

New Orleans came from behind to win this week 40-33.

If the Saints, who have scored 30 points or more in each other their first three games, score like they have this season next week at EverBank Field, it will be a long day for the Jaguars and there will be more talk of how long before Jack Del Rio's job may be in jeopardy.