Not a lot went right for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday’s loss to the LA Rams. But in the midst of all that went wrong, one major underlying issue continues to be prevalent — penalties.
The Jaguars were penalized a whopping 13 times for 119 yards in this game.
Now, if those figures are cut in half, is the outcome any different? Maybe not, but what we do know is that so many self-inflicted errors, especially against good teams, are in most instances going to be too much to overcome.
This outing, unfortunately, isn’t a one-off performance for the Jaguars when it comes to penalties. Following this Week 7 game, Jacksonville is averaging 9.3 penalties per game, the most in the NFL.
“It’s definitely frustrating, but just like everybody else in there, you’ve got to look inward first,” Liam Coen said, via ESPN. “Like, what am I doing as the head football coach that’s not clear right now? How am I communicating these things? How am I and how are we practicing these things? That’s what I’ve got to look at, right?”
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Winning in the NFL isn’t easy. But doing so while committing a littany of penalties makes the already difficult task more challenging.
On offense and special teams, penalties can wipe out big plays and put the offense either behind the sticks or swing the field position battle. On defense, they can extend drives, keeping the opponent on the field.
Along with the penalties, it was an overall disjointed performance by the offense, with dropped passes, off-target throws, and miscommunications all contributing to the issues we saw on Sunday.
“I’ve got to look at the whole thing, ultimately, but not going to stand up here and blame these players,” Coen said. “It starts with me.”