JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars failed to score in the first half for the third straight game, a franchise first. With a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the AFC South, Jacksonville turned in a game that included turnovers, mistakes and the benching of quarterback Blake Bortles. Here are my four biggest takeaways from the game:
The quarterback question
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What will the Jaguars do with Blake Bortles? He was benched in favor of Cody Kessler in the third quarter after going 6/12 for 61 yards and fumbling twice. The decision to bench Bortles tells me a lot about how head coach Doug Marrone truly sees his quarterback. Even if the move was mostly motivated by a hope to find a spark for the offense, there are plenty of teams that would never bench their starter in such a desperation move. Would the Patriots bench Tom Brady? Heck, would the Texans bench DeShaun Watson? No. Of course not. Bortles’ most vocal critics will say that they saw this all along and that the games against the Patriots and Jets were aberrations. With Super Bowl expectations this year, will the Jaguars stick with Kessler as the starter this week?
Where has the defense gone?
The defense wasn’t horrible, but the big plays continue to be missing. There were opportunities for big plays. In the first quarter, Yannick Ngakoue, Marcell Dareus and Calais Campbell converged on Watson, but they wiped each other out, allowing Watson to scramble away. In the second quarter, Tashaun Gipson dropped a clear interception in the end zone. The Texans took advantage by scoring their first touchdown on the following play. The Jaguars gave up just 20 points, but the defense needed to make a bigger impact for the Jaguars to have a chance to win.
QUOTABLE | What the Jaguars players and coach said after the loss
Slow starts continue to lead to nothing
See also, the quarterback question, above. Sunday was another example of the Jaguars, and Bortles, starting slow and never getting the offense going. Bortles has played like a man with shaken confidence the past three weeks. Regardless of who is under center next week, the Jaguars have to find a way to get some points early.
Jaguars could use the bye week right now, but they’ll have to wait
Of course, the injured players would benefit from another week to recuperate, but more than that, the Jaguars could use another week to figure out the offense and who will play quarterback. If it’s Kessler, he could use more time to prepare mentally. Instead, it’s a crash course before a flight to London on Thursday evening.