Back -to-back losses to start the season. It is tough to make sense of that but we will try here are my Four Cents from Sunday’s 18-13 loss to the Browns.
Offense has issues
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This team has problems and I’m pointing the figure at the offense. For back-to-back weeks, the Jags defense has held the Dolphins (20) and Browns (18) in check. So, you mean to tell me the offense couldn’t score 20 or more points? The NFL average last season was 21.8 points per game so that makes the Jags offense below average. That is a problem. It becomes a bigger problem when you run promotions like TrEverBank Stadium. That just seems a little tone deaf.
They were coming off an ugly loss in Week 1 where Trevor Lawrence and the offense didn’t play well. I get it, the idea for the promo was probably in the works well before the start of the season but all it did was give the Browns extra bulletin board material, because yes, they heard about it. Myles Garrett even said as much after the game. There are already different levels of expectation for Lawrence because he is the face of the franchise with a big contract to go with it. So, you put the guys name on the side of the building for the day and then at halftime, he had 16 yards passing.
No, I didn’t get confused by his number. He only had 16 yards passing at the break. That’s it. Total. And that wasn’t because the running game was dominating or anything. That was just because the Jags offense was basically nonexistent.
How do they fix it?
The simple answer is just to play better. That is easy to say but it isn’t just that easy. If it was, they would have just done that during the game. The defense will say things like they need to force turnovers and yes, that would be great, the defense has done enough. The work needs to be done on the offense.
I hear the fan base asking about play calling, but honestly who is calling plays doesn’t move me because there is enough blame to go around for both Press Taylor and Doug Pederson. What does this Jags offense do well? I’m asking you because I don’t know. They are a team with no identity.
So, how do they fix it? First, Brian Thomas Jr. has to bigger part of the offense. He dropped a pass against the Browns but there has to be more of a focal point of getting him involved. He is a walking spark for a team that needs a spark. But to take those shots, the offensive line has to give Lawrence time and that doesn’t happen very often.
OL isn’t all at fault
The Jags gambled and ran it back with basically the same O-line as last year, plus Mitch Morse, and right now that gamble isn’t paying off . Watching these games, I don’t think the blame is on them. According to NextGen stats, Lawrence has an average of 2.79 seconds to throw each play; that is about the middle of the pack for the league and is more time than Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow get. You starting to see where I’m going with this? It is easy to point the finger at the guy in the trenches but make the guy throwing the ball with the huge contract take more of the blame.
Make Trevor show he‘s the guy
You have to ask yourself in Week 1 with the game on the line why did Lawrence hardly throw the ball in the second half? Pederson is a former QB and has been known for getting pass-happy. Instead, he took the ball out of Trevor’s hands? This week, 16 yards passing at halftime! He should get 16 yards on one play.
The guy that needs to play better for the Jags to get on the right track is the guy who had his name of the side of the stadium. It is really that simple. He is paid to be the guy and right now he is playing like just A guy. And he can’t do that if the Jags are going to be successful.