Jaguars Report Card: Jacksonville gets both an F and A grade in maddening loss to Colts
Sports columnist Gene Frenette grades the Jaguars’ performance against the Indianapolis Colts based on execution, effort and game circumstances.
Offense: A-minus
After last week’s abominable showing against the Houston Texans, the Jaguars’ offense had one of its better days as it ran for 243 yards — the most ever in defeat — and quarterback Trevor Lawrence misfired on just two passes (20 of 22, 163 yards, 1 TD, 112.7 rating).
That’s usually a recipe for victory, but the Jaguars’ defense couldn’t close out the game after Lawrence led the first fourth-quarter TD drive of his career that was a go-ahead score.
The Jaguars took the lead on a creative, play-fake, 4-yard TD pass to Christian Kirk — an 18-play, 84-yard drive that took 10:03 off the clock — with 2:48 remaining, but it was a short-lived celebration.
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The offensive line had a monster day in the run game, opening up huge holes for Travis Etienne (10 carries, 86 yards) and JaMycal Hasty, who burst through a massive opening on the right side for a 61-yard score and his first career TD.
The only downer was Lawrence getting sacked four times, including a 15-yarder given up by left tackle Cam Robinson that took the Jaguars out of field goal range.
Defense: F
No better example of the NFL being a week-to-week league than the Jaguars' No. 9-ranked unit allowing the Colts to just about double their yardage output (218 yards to 434 yards) from their last meeting.
Mike Caldwell’s unit had a hard time adjusting to Indy quarterback Matt Ryan getting the ball out quickly, constantly hitting his targets on crossing routes.
Starting receivers Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce, who missed the 24-0 loss last month due to injuries, combined for 16 catches and 183 yards. Pierce applied the dagger on third-and-13, beating cornerback Shaq Griffin (he also had two pass interference penalties) badly on the game-winning, 32-yard TD catch with 17 seconds remaining.
Ryan consistently targeted guys Griffin was covering. After the Jaguars failed to extend a 14-3 lead, the last five Colts’ possessions went touchdown, field goal, TD, TD and TD.
That's inexcusable against the league’s No. 24-ranked offense that didn’t have bell-cow running back Jonathan Taylor (high ankle sprain). The Jaguars also failed to get a sack against the most sacked QB in the league entering the game -- Ryan was sacked 21 times in the first five games -- the first time they failed to put a quarterback on the ground all season.
Special teams: C-minus
The Jaguars missed a huge opportunity for a turnover in the second quarter when Colts’ returner Keke Coutee mishandled Logan Cooke’s punt and the ball bounced backwards along the sideline. Isaiah Rodgers went back to pick it up, reversed his field, and ended up going 19 yards to the Indy 46. That ended up leading to a Colts’ touchdown.
The Jaguars picked a bad time to have mediocre coverage on their last kickoff, allowing Rodgers a 34-yard return that preceded the Colts’ game-winning touchdown drive.
With Jamal Agnew out for the second half with a knee injury, Chris Claybrooks was largely ineffective on three kick returns that averaged just 18.3 yards. Cooke averaged 50.3 yards on three punts, with a long of 61 yards.
Coaching: C-minus
This was a mixed bag game for Doug Pederson all around, with the plus being that his offense generated a respectable 377 yards and converted all three red-zone opportunities into touchdowns.
He got awfully creative on back-to-plays on the Jaguars’ first TD drive, resulting in a 22-yard run off a screen pass to Etienne and a nifty Agnew reverse (after Lawrence faked a handoff to Etienne) for another 19 yards.
A critical decision on fourth-and-1 to have Lawrence run a read-option and pitching to Etienne backfired, though it was a play that opponents hadn’t seen much on film. They just didn’t execute well from a blocking standpoint.
But since this was a division opponent the Jaguars handled so easily just four week ago, it’s hard to give a good grade when a defense that pitched a shutout the last time against the Colts has such a miserable day.
Gene Frenette Sports columnist at Florida Times-Union, follow him on Twitter @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' grades a mixed bag in Week 6 loss vs. Colts
