Packers hold on against Jaguars, 27-23

The Jacksonville Jaguars had the mighty Green Bay Packers on the ropes, but in the end, Green Bay ducked the knockout punch and escaped with a 27-23 victory Sunday at Everbank Field.

We don’t blame Ramsey for being proud of the way he played against a tough passing attack in his first career game, but there’s nothing more selfish than bragging about your individual performance after a loss. Well, the Packers couldn’t get off the field on fourth down. After a Jacksonville penalty, the Packers had a first down from the 6 yard line. If the Packers can do that, they can score enough to win this game. Green Bay would make it 7-0 on the ensuing drive on quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ six-yard touchdown scramble.

The back and forth continued with Jacksonville retaking the lead on a Julius Thomas touchdown over Quinten Rollins.

Fellow receiver Marqise Lee placed the blame elsewhere. TE Richard Rodgers also made a cameo appearance with a diving 22-yard catch to set up by a first-and-goal in the third quarter that ended in a field goal. And that was the big thing. “Throw my way if you want to”. Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson averaged less than 10 yards per catch. It was obvious, at times, that he was not an All-Pro like Josh Sitton, but he held his own against a very good defensive end in Malik Jackson. “We kind of had an idea that they are a really good combination”.

“We made a decision to go with more of a controlled pass rush”, Bradley said Monday, a day after a 27-23 loss to the Packers at EverBank Field.

The Jags are off to San Diego next week, facing a team that took a brutal hit on Sunday, losing star wide receiver Keenan Allen to a suspected ACL tear, beginning a series of unfortunate events that led to a 33-27 overtime loss at Kansas City.

The Jaguars have plenty to clean up this week, most notably finding a way to run the ball better and generate more pass rush. They defeated the Washington Redskins to get passed the Wild Card round. They played phenomenally well for most of the game, too, with Rodgers making some throws that no one else in the league can.

He will need to play like an MVP candidate all season, especially given how the rest of Week One played out in the NFC North.

While the offense was not as efficient as some would have liked, they got the win. The final one was the biggest of the day, though.

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Bortles, as he did during a breakout season past year, was able to hit several big plays in the game. Most spectacularly, he showed his strength by firing in a 29-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams with 13 seconds remaining in the opening half, all while a defender firmly tugged on his jersey. The interception was the product of a bad throw and a bad attempt to catch the ball by Marqise Lee. He is a player that needs to step up throughout the season. Previously, an apparent miscommunication between Rodgers and the offensive line on third-and-goal from the 2 saw the line pass-blocking while Rodgers handed off to Starks, who got stuffed.