'We gotta figure this out right now': Jaguars drop another close one, lose 23-17 to Giants

It happened again, and the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) are tired of it.

The Jaguars left TIAA Bank Field with their heads down low for a fourth straight game, losing to the New York Giants (6-1), 23-17. It was the same song and dance that has been said for a month now, the team simply doesn't have any finishing ability to make a play when needed in order to win a game.

It was also the 19th-straight game the team lost to an NFC opponent.

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With five seconds remaining in the contest, Jacksonville had one last shot to take the lead. They fell short by a single yard on a throw from Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence to receiver Christian Kirk.

No time remained, that was it and Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen is not satisfied with the way the team, including himself, has performed over the past month.

"We come up short too many times and we got to stop it. We got to stop it now. We got to figure something out right now on how to get it. We gotta figure it out," Allen said in the locker room after the game Sunday. "It's not a 'we're gonna be aight.' 'We're gonna be good.' 'We gotta move forward.' It's, we gotta figure this s--- out right now.

Jaguars don't shake off early defensive gaffes

The Jaguars had plenty of time to correct some of their early mistakes, but they put themselves in a consistent battle of doing so almost from the onset of the contest.

Two costly penalties by Allen early in the contest cost the Jaguars opportunities to stop the Giants. The first penalty came on first-and-10 from the Giants' 25-yard-line. Jacksonville stopped Giants quarterback Daniel Jones for a two-yard gain, but a defensive holding penalty by Allen gave the team a new set of downs.

On third-and-eight during the same possession, Allen negated his own strip-sack by jumping offside.

"Having those two penalties early was unacceptable, shouldn't happen, we were off the field. Plays like that cannot happen," Allen said during his opening remarks in the locker room. "I don't want to say that started something, but it was a bad start to something that we could have been doing great."

Jacksonville's defense ultimately held the Giants to zero points on that drive, but the Jacksonville defense as a whole accounted for seven penalties during the contest, their most through seven games this season.

Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun was visibly frustrated in the team's postgame locker room. When he got to the podium, he didn't mince words about his own mistake.

The Giants had the ball with 8:02 remaining in the third quarter at the Jacksonville 22-yard-line down 17-13. Rookie linebacker Devin Lloyd picked off Jones at the Jacksonville 17-yard-line, but the turnover was called back due to a roughing the passer penalty by Oluokun.

"I messed up, I let the team down there," Oluokun said in the locker room after the game. "I got my hands up, tried to get some contact and it was my head [that hit Jones], so that's the call. I didn't hit him hard, but that's the call."

That continued in the fourth quarter with the same score. Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell was called for a pass interference penalty in the Giants' end zone. Immediately following that, the Jaguars were called for two more defensive penalties. First, a "too many men on the field" penalty, and next an encroachment penalty.

Essentially, that allowed the Giants to move the ball an inch and score with Jones on a quarterback sneak, giving them a 20-17 lead, one they wouldn't let slip through their hands.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said following the game that the team has to continue to work in order to stop beating themselves in games.

"We just have to keep working," Pederson said in postgame.

"You got to keep showing them. It's not for lack of conversation and talking to them about it and stuff like that. I still want them to play hard and aggressive and all of that. I don't want to take any of that away from them at all, but you get in the heat of the battle sometimes, man, you just have to be cooler heads and just understand your role."

The Jaguars' defense wasn't bad the entire game, though. The team held running back Saquon Barkley to just nine carries and 18 yards through the first half of the game. Through three quarters, Barkley had just 38 yards on 14 carries.

Jones, though, ran the ball 11 times for 107 yards and an aforementioned touchdown.

Doug Pederson wants further clarification on pivotal late-game play

During the early portion of the fourth quarter, the Jaguars had the ball at the Giants' 25-yard-line on second-and-5. Kirk got the ball on an end-around. The refs called Kirk down at the Giants' 20-yard-line, giving Jacksonville a third-and-1 opportunity.

Immediately following the second-down play, though, Pederson was seen visibly upset when speaking to the refs just before and after the team's third-down play, presumingly because he felt Kirk made the line to gain.

After the game, Pederson stated that he will have to take a look once the tape comes out, but that was what the confusion was concerning.

"But, again, naked eye, we thought — I think it was Christian [Kirk] was well past the down marker," Pederson said after the game. "But, look, we've got to check it out tomorrow try to sort through all that before we make a decision on anything."

Amidst the confusion, Pederson did not throw the challenge flag. At worst, he said, the team had a third-and-one opportunity. Jacksonville, however, turned the ball over on downs after running two-straight plays for no gains.

In general, Jacksonville's offense didn't play poorly. They totaled 452 net yards. Still, the team was unable to score in the red zone, going two of five in that territory. It was a step back after the team went three for three last week.

Lawrence finished completing 22 out 43 passes for 310 yards. Jaguars running back Travis Etienne totaled 119 all-purpose yards and a touchdown, rushing at 8.1 yards per attempt. Kirk caught seven passes for 96 yards. All of it was for naught, though, and they couldn't figure out how to win, just like the four other losses the team has this season.

"We just have to keep working. You got to keep showing them," Pederson said.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars mistakes cost them again in loss to NY Giants