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The Jaguars have gone from The Good Place to Breaking Bad in a hurry this season. And that's not what Blake Bortles or the quarterback for a replacement can fix quickly.
Just three weeks ago, Jacksonville was 3-1 with a big win ahead of the Patriots. Bortles lifted the team while half-star general Leonard Fournette was absent with a hamstring. The defense looked more dominant than it was during his escape last season.
After Week 7, however, the Jaguars are 3-4 and were outpaced by a 90-28 record in a series of three consecutive losses. once 0-3 Texans.
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Coach Doug Marrone had no choice but to beat Bortles in the second quarter on Sunday, as QB's last fumbles literally gave the match. The relief Cody Kessler provided temporary relief before killing any chances of returning the Jaguars with an ugly interception.
"I've done it literally to try to create a spark of this football team, to let everyone know they need to concentrate and that they play better," he said. Marrone to the press after the match against Bortles. "It's not fair for the quarterback, but that's how this business is."
Worse than losing another match, however: Marrone begins to lose the team.
According to some reports, frustrations have appeared in the post-match dressing room in the form of competing and disputing players. This is not unusual for a team with the burden of winning based on defense. The fact that the faces of "Sacksonville", concluded Yannick Ngakoue and Calais Campbell, were central figures is not a surprise. It is the leaders who try to prevent everything from separating.
Cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who had nothing to say after the Jags' defeat against the Cowboys last week, was again silenced Sunday on the pitch in the middle of a season in which his match cover did not match his big name.
Ramsey is a microcosm of what's wrong with Jacksonville: the bluster and the total imposition of a physical will against the opponents have disappeared.
The absence of Fournette caused an identity crisis for the Jaguars' offense. With their offensive line has not helped T.J. Yeldon run as well as possible, they are too dependent on Bortles. The QB can be a playmaker only when he is no longer a keeper. He must launch in addition to the threat of the race to power, because when Jacksonville becomes predictable with a one-dimensional pass, he can not stand the pressure.
The Jaguars showed their desperation for Fournette (or someone like him) in their trade for Carlos Hyde last week. As admirable as Yeldon was as a substitute, he is not designed to obtain the means of transportation necessary to wear a defense. The result is a mediocre complementary football, which brings us back to the defense of the Jaguars.
Jacksonville needs to control the clock and play with leads. Due to the offense riddled by the Jags, opponents were able to remain balanced and patient in their fight against a penetrable defense. These opponents have also been able to exploit the weaknesses of the back cover at nickel back, safety and linebacker, weaknesses much more prevalent this season.
"We will have to fight and dig hard," linebacker Telvin Smith said after the match. "We dug ourselves in a hole and it will take a long time to get out of it."
Something will have to yield when the Jaguars play against the 3-4 Eagles in the 8th week. Philadelphia, who scored 17-0 in the fourth quarter against Carolina, has its own problems with a dysfunctional marriage between offensive and defense. Perhaps a game against the troubled Super Bowl champions will prompt the Jaguars to regain some of their decreasing intensity. At least, they will be forced to get up earlier with a send-off at 9:30 am London time in London.
Marrone and her coordinators, Nathaniel Hackett and Todd Wash, will have their work cut out for the ninth well-deserved week. At this point, they hope that Fournette will be completely cured or that Hyde will be able to fully immerse herself in the offense. With a favorable schedule in the second half, all is not yet lost for the Jaguars of the weakest division of the NFL.
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But it was supposed to be the team to beat in the AFC after this game in New England, not a lame playoff team. At best, the Jaguars are considering a playoff game at home against one of the best wild card teams, probably the Chargers or the Chiefs. In the worst case, Marrone will squander one of the most talented young players in the league because of a lack of fit and motivation.
Injuries and marasins occur, but this one is on Marrone. As fragile as Bortles was, a one-quarter adjustment does not have the effect of suddenly resolving all other problems.
The Jaguars must stay with Bortles and go ahead with what everyone is supposed to be. It's not a team with a scapegoat like Bortles, and Fournette can not be the only savior.
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