JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – They needed this win and they needed it bad. Here are Jamal St. Cyr’s Four Cents from Sunday’s 26-0 win over the Panthers.
Jaguars overcoming issues
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Look, this win doesn’t change any of the issues that exist with the team but it does put them back to problems that you think about in the offseason. The Jaguars are back on the winning track and could win the AFC South next week. So, those issues are problems for Jacksonville’s future selves. Right now, they have business to take care of.
Just do the basic football things
This year has basically been a copy and paste of last year, just flip the early and late season. And it all comes down to a game against the Titans. This time the game is in Nashville. The Jaguars have won their last three games against the Titans. A win in Week 18 would give them four straight wins against Tennessee, something they haven’t done since they were the Tennessee Oilers. To get the win, all the Jaguars have to do is follow the same formula that worked against the Panthers, and the same formula that tends to work at most levels of football.
Don’t turn the ball over. Force turnovers. Run the ball. Tackle. Those are just basic football things. That is it. Kind of that simple. The Jaguars just had forgotten how to do some of those things over the course of December.
Weak spots shine on Sunday
A few things helped get them back on track; a shake up on the offensive line and the pass rush throwing a sack party. The offensive line has been in rough shape for weeks. This week, Cam Robinson got back on the field and the team is now 7-1 with him this year. Robinson said in the locker room after the game he doesn’t like that stat because he just does his job.
But Robinson is a big part of the Jaguars. So, too, is Tyler Shatley. The Jaguars moved him back into the starting lineup at guard against Carolina. Shatley is the guy that just keeps coming back. The Jaguars keep trying to replace him in the stating lineup but all roads keep leading back to Shatley. The Jaguars line is just better with Robinson and Shatley on the field.
Pass rush comes alive
As for the pass rush, Josh Allen had three sacks and set the new single-season sack record for the Jaguars. And Travon Walker had the first two-sack game of his career. Walker now has nine sacks on the season, just one away from double digits. All I’mm going to say is Walker has more sacks than Aidan Hutchinson this year. Yes, the Jaguars picked Walker over Hutchinson. Before the season, the question I aksed everyone was if Allen and Walker both got double digit sacks this year, would that mean the Jaguars were in the running for a trip to Vegas for the Super Bowl. Everyone I posed the question to before the year said “yes.” Don’t look now, but Walker is just a sack away from making it happen. So maybe the Jaguars will have a fun end of the season