Jacksonville Jaguars Week 9 Report

Fans and QB Jake Luton alike may have prematurely celebrated a victory, as the Jaguars fell to the Houston Texans on a failed 2 point conversion. This came after Luton ran the ball in for an impressive rushing TD from the 6’6” 6th round rookie on a drive that featured some impressive flashes of potential, like his beautiful 20 yard throw to WR DJ Chark, who also had a career day hauling in 7 receptions for 146 yards. The duo shined on Sunday and got things going early with a 73 yard Luton TD lob to Chark on just the third play of the game and second pass attempt of his career, marking the first opening drive TD for the Jaguars this season.

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After a hot start, the Jaguars offense leaned on the likes of rookie RB James Robinson who showed again why he has become the undisputed starter, with another solid day racking up 99 rushing yards on 25 carries. In the process Robinson, broke Denver Broncos RB Phillip Lindsay’s record for most yards from scrimmage by an undrafted rookie from 2018. Robinson now has seven total touchdowns this season and 805 total yards from scrimmage, proving he’s a complete package at the RB position excelling at rushing as well as receiving. A run first approach gave Robinson far more touches than the measly 15 per game that he averaged heading into the game, and set up the successful play action for Luton to pick apart the Texans offense.

The Jaguars were able to stay in the game despite the defense giving up a long TD of their own on only the second play of The Texans’ first drive. On the verge of breaking an age old record , the Jaguars defense had one of their better games of the season, as they avoided their seventh straight loss of 30 or more points. While still giving up 27 points, the Jaguars and especially HC Doug Marrone are probably still shaking their heads over the referees missed a very blatant delay of game call of at least 3-5 seconds and allowed a 77 yard TD pass to Texans WR Will Fuller V. Calling more blitzes them were used to seeing from DC Todd Wash, the Jaguars were able to actually generate some pressure to bother Texans QB Deshaun Watson, recording 2 sacks on the day and a fumble. LB Myles Jack, who forced the fumble had another incredible game on his return from injury. No doubt, this defense will continue to struggle mightily, but if they can trend in the same positive direction and build on some of the solid work put in this past Sunday to make the games fans want them to lose at least a little bit more interesting and fun to watch.

With the performance of QB Jake Luton this past Sunday, throwing for 304 yards 1 TD and 1 INT, as well as the injury to QB Gardner Minshew, Jaguars fans have some hope as coaches evaluate the talent that they have for the rest of the season. While not a proven upgrade over Minshew at this point, Luton stood tall in the pocket, even when he faced heavy duress, which has arguably been Minshew’s biggest criticism this season. Luton showed off a bit of his mobility and hit on some big time throws that kept the Jaguars exciting and in contention to win the game the entire time. After only one game Luton, will have to show some consistency to alleviate worries about his accuracy, as he threw about four passes that could have been intercepted by the opposing defense that were luckily dropped. Luton will be fun to watch, but faces no easy task in the very difficult schedule that lies ahead, with even less help as K Josh Lambo reaggravated his hip injury, sending him to IR for the rest of the season, as the Jaguars bad luck at the kicking position continues.

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Looking ahead, the Jaguars coaching staff are playing for wins facing an uphill climb. Until management has been fired they will act accordingly and operate like they will have their positions next year, evaluating talent in line with the injuries and circumstances they are dealt, with no guarantees that owner Shad Khan pulls the plug next season. With the next game at the (6-2) Green Bay Packers, the Jaguars will try to answer as many questions as they can, while fans bite at their nails worrying about the team’s draft position and missing out on potential prospects with an upset win.