I’m not one who believes in moral victories or a “good” loss in the NFL, but the game Sunday between the Jaguars and Titans proved more about the visiting team’s fight as the team suffered its first loss of the season.
No, I am not happy with the 33-30 loss that could have easily been the second victory in as many games for Jacksonville. But as a fan, I see the sum of the parts that make up this roster and can also see much improvement on the offensive side of the football. While the defense did what it was tasked to do – slow down Titans running back Derrick Henry, it was Ryan Tannehill’s arm, and two errors on special teams, that proved to be the difference in the contest.
The Jaguars have scored 57 points in two games. Quarterback Gardner Minshew has shown improvement as a pocket passer and a game manager. The plan offensive coordinator Jay Gruden has installed is better than the team has had in the previous two seasons. It also works to the strengths of the weapons at the team’s disposal.
“We made some mistakes throughout but did some good things,” Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said after the game. “At the end of the day, we fell short. There are some things that I think we can improve upon and obviously we will. Credit to Tennessee, they were able to make some plays and we weren’t able to make a play to get us over the top.”
This is a still a young team finding its footing in the AFC South. First impressions mean a lot as the Jaguars and the other 31 teams try to establish themselves as contenders and pretenders this season. And if everyone is honest here, the Jaguars are still one of those teams NFL pundits expect to fall on their face this season.
Seeing the offense once again fight back after tailing multiple times on Sunday games me, the fan, hope for a better outcome than we have all been led to believe.
Once again, it was Minshew who led the comeback, although stopped short on an interception of a tipped pass. His growth, more than anything in two games, may help put the talk of the organization’s need for a new signal caller next season. I did not buy into the idea of this team searching for a new quarterback in 2021 based on the moves made this offseason. I bought into the idea that change was needed for this team to escape two years of disastrous front office mistakes.
“I felt really good going into that last drive,” Minshew said via Jacksonville.com. “I got a few completions and that’s always good to get started the right away. The last one [interception] sucks. I felt I had Keelan underneath and the ball got tipped up in the air and it’s a bad way to lose.”
But it was also a lesson learned.
Expect the Jaguars to not only be favored for the Thursday night tilt with the Miami Dolphins, but for the team to win. That’s something many wouldn’t not have said three weeks ago as there was still plenty of questions about this roster and the coaching staff. Improved play means improved expectations. And for an intra-state game with a lot of emotion this early in the season, the home team can make a statement with three games in 11 days.
