A Tie? A Tie? I mean, the wins and losses don’t matter, but how you get there does, and this was a much better ride for the Jaguars.
Not perfect, but better.
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Even if the ending was rough, everyone should feel better now.
Honestly, it’s truly the journey, not the destination, and this journey was much better for the Jaguars.
Not perfect, but better.
The Jaguars’ starting offense, rolling without Chuma Edoga, Anton Harrison, Travis Hunter, and Dyami Brown, had no problems marching up and down the field.
They converted third downs, the O-Line gave Trevor Lawrence plenty of time to throw, and opened up a running lane.
AND... no pre-snap penalties. Just clean play.
Not perfect, but clean.
There was still a dropped pass, and the first drive ended in a turnover after Ezra Clevland stepped on Trevor’s foot, and the handoff got botched.
But just like Liam Coen said on Friday, the goal isn’t to peak now, it’s to be ready to peak in time for Week 1. And he is right, it’s about continuing to make progress, and you could really see a lot of progress from Preseason Game 1 to Game 2.
That was even without a long list of players who were held out of the game because of injuries.
The offense was good, but the defense was better in my opinion. Maybe it was their progress from Game 1 to Game 2, but the defense took care of business.
In that first game, the defense looked a little lifeless. Well, this week they woke up, and so did the pass rush. This was the sort of bounce back they needed to have.
Now, the one caveat to all of this is that the Saints are supposed to be AWFUL this season. So, how much of a measuring stick is this really? Only time will tell.
With preseason winding down and a joint practice with the Dolphins a few days away, that will likely be the last big test for this team before the regular season rolls around.
If the Jags go down to Miami on Thursday and dominate on the practice field, that will mean a lot more than anything we have seen during these preseason games so far. But the opposite is true also. If the Jags get worked by the Dolphins, who got worked in joint practices with the Lions, then that would also speak volumes.
Worth watching
Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne both looked explosive. The O-Line opened things up for the duo, but they took advantage. This 1-2 punch could be good in Coen’s offense.
Hunter Long has made some big catches during training camp, but dropped a pass in the first preseason game. He bounced back by making a hell of a catch in this game.
The star of training camp has been Parker Washington. P-Dub took advantage of the extra snaps in this game, making a pair of catches and breaking a tackle to get into the endzone.
Fred Johnson got the start at right tackle, and he looked good. I’m not sure he has enough juice to unseat Anton there, but Johnson looked good enough that I wouldn’t be concerned if he saw the field.
