The Jacksonville Jaguars have gained ground in the AFC South despite persistent problems in the red zone.
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The Titans scored on their opening possession against the Jaguars on Thursday night in Jacksonville, going 10 plays and settling for a field goal, then held the Jaguars to a three-and-out on their first possession. But defense and special teams did just enough down the stretch and one five-yard pass from Bortles to Thomas was all they needed from the offense to close it out.
Nickel linebacker Zach Brown’s interception of Bortles in the fourth quarter on a poor throw to the right sideline intended for Thomas was giant for the Titans, as the Jaguars’ previous play was a leaping 28-yard reception by Allen Robinson that got the Jags to the Titans 23-yard line.
Walters, who caught two passes for 35 yards, including a 31-yarder, wasn’t cleared from the concussion program until last Saturday.
Special teams finally delivered with a massive punt return by Rashad Greene (more on that later), Bryan Anger booted time-efficient punts and Jason Myers went 4-of-4 on field goals against the Titans.
“We’re learning how to win”, defensive end Jared Odrick said.
Marcus Mariota’s pass was just behind Dorial Green-Beckham as Titans looked to step up the pressure in a disjointed first half, and the visitors had to settle for a 49-yard kick from Succop to retake the lead by just three when in a good position to threaten a touchdown. Running back Antonio Andrews ran well for much of the evening, especially after scatback Dexter McCluster was lost to injury. However, Jacksonville does have one more game against the Titans this season on December 6th. No wonder the Jaguars have one rushing touchdown all season. After all, Bortles threw an ill-timed pick in plus-territory and fumbled on a quarterback sneak where you couldn’t really justify reaching for it because, away from the goalline, even a first down wouldn’t have guaranteed that the ball was dead.
“My fault on that play”, Supernaw said.
The front four produced three of the Jaguars four sacks in Week 11. After falling behind 13-6 on a third quarter touchdown run by Marcus Mariota, the Jacksonville defense locked in and kept the Titans off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
First of all, it was obvious because without those two rushing there was nearly no pass rush from the outside.
Defenses dominated at Everbank Field with host Jacksonville claiming a 19-13 win over Tennessee.
But with Jacksonville and Tennessee sporting records of 3-6 and 4-5, respectively, this is more an indictment of how bad the Luck-less Colts have been than it is an indication of how well either of these division rivals have fared. It was their longest punt return since Mike Thomas ran 78 yards for a touchdown against Indianapolis in 2010. His top target once again was tight end Delanie Walker, who finished with 109 yards on eight receptions.
Never say never, but have we seen anything to indicate that the Dallas Cowboys are capable of putting together a seven-game winning streak even with quarterback Tony Romo slated to return this Sunday? With a Jaguars offense that was struggling to get to the end zone, Greene provided a huge lift by returning a Tennessee punt to the 5-yard line.
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With division games being all-important in weak AFC South, a victory over the Titans will be crucial to securing a postseason opportunity. We’re pretty darn good.
