The Jacksonville Jaguars took care of business against the lowly Titans on Sunday, taking it to their AFC rivals 25-3.
While the Jags haven’t won a lot of games convincingly, this win felt as convincing as any. The defensive line got sacks and the offense took care of business against a team the Jags should have beaten 10 times out of 10.
The win also planted the Jags atop the AFC South leaderboards ahead of this weekend’s matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, one that could very well dictate the outcome of the conference.
Outside of some injuries and Logan Cooke deciding he wants to kill people everything went pretty well over the weekend. The real test now comes to Jacksonville.
Someone woke up ready to pop some pads against the Titans. Who would have guessed it would be the punter, though?
If anyone on the Jags knows about the rivalry between the two teams, it’s longtime team captain and eight-year veteran Cooke. He was not about to let his teammates get hit and apparently was about to make a hit of his own, according to Julius Chestnut.
When he wasn’t starting beef, Cooke had some solid punts, including a 63-yarder, one of his seven total attempts on the day. With Ross Matiscik getting nicked up during the game, Cooke also had to catch long snaps from defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton which he handled well.
It was a strange day for Cooke who should probably never be getting this much attention, but a fun day nonetheless. I wonder how much the No Fun League will fine Cooke for his actions.
Also, vote Cooke to the Pro Bowl. Why not?
Someone who kept his tackling more within the rules of the game was Josh Hines-Allen.
JHA hasn’t had the season in totality that many would have hoped for – myself very much included – but he has ramped things up in a big way recently. Without Travon Walker again and without Arik Armstead, JHA had his first two-sack day of the year. In the past four games, Hines-Allen has four sacks and has 5.5 sacks in his past five games. Another veteran Jag who certainly loves beating the Titans, Hines-Allen also racked up three TFLs and three quarterback hits.
In the absence of two defensive linemen, it wouldn’t be hard to understand if JHA had a quiet day in Nashville. He had just the opposite, heating up at the exact right time the Jags may need to make their playoff push. Also, vote Hines-Allen for the Pro Bowl.
The Trevor Lawrence + Jakobi Meyers Connection
So clearly, the quarterback likes his new wide receiver.
Since joining the Jags, Jakobi Meyers has been a ginormous boost to the offense which was previously sputtering a bit. Injuries across the offensive line and certainly to the skill players were a lot to blame, but Meyers has done a solid job of lifting the load off of Trevor Lawrence.
For example, Meyers led the Jags in receiving, catching all six of his targets for 90 yards Sunday afternoon.
Since joining Jacksonville, Meyers has 18 catches on 21 targets. In all four games, he has gone for over 12 yards per catch. He has touchdowns in two straight games, after scoring on Sunday.
Meyers was brought in because he is known for his sure hands, amidst a pass-dropping epidemic that was plaguing the offense. So far, the returns are incredible. The Raiders are also winless since dealing Meyers across the country.
Our final “Hey This Guy Really Wanted to Beat the Titans Award” goes to Dewey Wingard.
Another Jag who knows all too well the rivalry between Nashville and the River City, Wingard had a pretty good day in the office while also getting in on the extracurriculars.
Wingard led the team with two pass breakups and actually made some noise in the backfield (outside of that one time he got crushed). He was an impact player, leading the team overall in PFF grade.
Last week, Wingard helped make the game-sealing play in overtime against the Cardinals. This week, statistically speaking, he was the best player on the field. He may not be the best safety in the world but he has at least played well these past couple of weeks. Good for him.
Outside of being a bit critical of Hines-Allen, I have been critical of head coach Liam Coen at times throughout the year. It’s certainly still frustrating to see how many penalties this team still incurs (13 on Sunday, NFL-high 130 total) but at least the Jags were never in doubt of losing the game. And that is why Coen is a winner this week.
Jacksonville was/is the better team and was going to win no matter what. The team clearly was gassed up from the onset, never coming close to giving the Titans room to breathe.
Coen had the Jags ready to play. He, along with offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, was in sync and firing on all cylinders. The Jags have eight wins and are in first place in the division under a first-year head coach. That is highly impressive. In theory, things will only get cleaner as he gets more experience.
Jacksonville had the right gameplan and executed. Coen deserves some credit.
This offensive line group is getting beaten up. We talk about it every week. But man, it seems like this group can hardly take more hits.
Walker Little suffered a concussion and had to leave Sunday’s game. Chuma Edoga and Patrick Mekari were already hurt. With how much shuffling has gone on up front, the Jags did give up three sacks. Three sacks isn’t the end of the world, but the sack numbers are creeping up there for Lawrence.
Sacks are not only on the linemen, but that is back-to-back games with three sacks given up. The Jags have given up six different three-sack games while also giving up 12 total sacks across the five games played in November.
It feels like the Losers section is always saved for injuries across the O-line but it is hard not to notice how shaky things seem up front at times.
The flip side of this, however, if you are a Little denier, isthat the Jags might at times be better with him out. Either way, the more bodies the better. The team is simply running low on bodies.
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