4 takeaways from Jaguars 24-18 loss Eagles

Jacksonville drops to 3-5 on the season after losing 4th straight game

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LONDON – The Jaguars lost in London for the first time in four years, dropping their fourth straight game of the season, 24-18 to the Philadelphia Eagles. At 3-5, the Jaguars now move into their bye week. Here are my four biggest takeaways from Sunday's game:

1. With all of the strife this past week—the quarterback question, the injuries, a three-game losing streak and Jaguars players being detained after a disputed bar bill early Saturday morning in London-the team put up a good fight. While the offense was not particularly explosive, the defense made game changing plays and the kicking game excelled. The Jaguars made a good accounting of themselves Sunday, but they are too late in the season and have too high of expectations to care about moral victories. 

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2. Keelan Cole needs the bye week as much as anyone. At the end of the first half the second-year receiver fumbled the ball after a reception that would have been a first down in field goal range. That led to an Eagles scored. Then, in the third quarter, he dropped a ball that was in his hands. The Jaguars are not a team that can overcome multiple mistakes at this point. It’s better to be reliable than explosive. Cole did not return to he field after being pulled early in the third quarter.

3. Blake Bortles showed some heart, but didn’t get enough help. He attempted only two passes in the first quarter and completed six of seven passes in the first half. He was accurate, but didn’t get much help. After he got in a groove, the Jaguars altered the game plan, putting more of the offensive load on Bortles, despite the lack of consistent pass protection. In the fourth quarter, trailing by six, the Jaguars put the game completely on Bortles’ shoulders.

4. What does the loss mean for the second half of the Jaguars season? The Jaguars are now 3-5 and will have to go 7-1 in the second half of the season to match their record from a year ago.  They now enter the bye week with more questions than they have had since Doug Marrone took over as head coach. You can very easily see the season sliding from this point if the Jaguars leaders don’t pull the team together. This season reminds me of the 2000 season when the Jaguars were coming off the AFC championship game, then were beset with injuries and missed the playoffs. Two seasons later, the Jaguars changed leadership. I’m not suggesting the time has come for that, but for the Jaguars, the next two weeks are a reckoning.