The Jaguars went on the road and beat the Texans 24-21 on Sunday at NRG Stadium. These are Jamal St. Cyr’s Four Cents analysis from the game.
Mistakes need to be cleaned up
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This game shouldn’t have been that close. Missed opportunities were all over the field for the Jaguars.
A dropped touchdown pass and that blown play at the goal line right before the half were the biggest offenders. The Jaguars are good and they are good enough that they can make up for those mistakes in games like this, but those sure let the game be closer than it needed to be.
But that is starting to be the book on this team — they leave opportunities on the field every week. There are more than a few games this season that should have been blowouts, but mistakes made it a closer ball game than it needed to be. Right now, the Jaguars are making those mistakes and still winning, but it has got to get cleaned up before the playoffs because that gets you beat in January.
Stars step up
What gets you wins in January is a popular cliche — big-time players making big-time plays in big-time games. The Jaguars had their stars step up against Houston. Josh Allen had another multi-sack day. Jacksonville should just go ahead and pay Allen right now. Teams know he is Jacksonville’s best pass rusher and they can’t stop him. Trevor Lawrence has had some critics this season, but I can’t hear them right now. Lawrence has put his two best games of the year together the last two weeks as the Jaguars start to find their groove on offense.
Patience pays off on offense
I kept saying it ... just have a little patience with the offense. Eventually, it would figure it out. They had too much talent not to figure it out. In the second half of the season, they are finding that footing and starting to roll. This is the perfect time of year to do it. That is the perfect recipe. Gut-out wins early in the year, get hot and start cooking late in the year. Then, go into the playoffs rolling full speed. The Jaguars aren’t quite up to full speed yet but it sure seems like they are getting there.
Ridley is key to growth
You honestly don’t have to look much further than how Calvin Ridley has been involved the last two weeks to see that the needle is moving on the Jaguars offense. The team is finally thinking players not plays. It is finding ways to get Ridley involved and it is working. I know you all were a little worried there for a while but getting Ridley involved was never optional, it was always a must.
Well, that is if the Jaguars want to make a run deep into the playoffs. The Jaguars have shown the last two weeks that Ridley is a big-time player. And like I said earlier, you know exactly what those big-time players do. And the more big-time players you have in the playoffs, the better off the Jaguars will be.