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Jaguars Up-Down Drill: More downs than ups as New York Giants stave off Jacksonville

gene frenette, florida times-union
·5 min read
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The good, the bad and the ugly from the Jaguars’ 23-17 loss to the New York Giants at TIAA Bank Field.

Up/Down: Travis Etienne

The Jaguars are clearly transitioning from James Robinson to Etienne as their starting back. His numbers against the Giants (14 carries, 114 yards) were exactly what this team needs to win games.

Unfortunately, the second-year back from Clemson also had two forgettable plays that contributed to the loss.

The first was a fumble at the Giants’ 4-yard-line resulting in a second-quarter touchback. He later failed to make 1 yard to gain a crucial first down in the fourth quarter when the Jaguars were trying to extend a 17-13 lead.

Down: October swoon

Since outscoring the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Chargers by a combined 62-10 margin in September, the Jaguars have lost by 8, 7, 7 and 6 points.

It marks only the third time in franchise history (also happened in 2016 and ‘18) the Jaguars have lost four successive games in a season by just one score.

The last three defeats came in a stretch of their schedule, as well as next week’s game against the Denver Broncos in London, that appeared to be the easiest of the season.

More coverage from the game:

The Jaguars head to London this weekend.
The Jaguars head to London this weekend.

Up: First/third quarters

The Jaguars continued a season-long trend of getting off on positive notes in the first and third quarters, where they have outscored opponents 42-14 and 44-9, respectively.

A 7-yard touchdown run by Etienne, followed by his 2-point PAT run after a Giants’ penalty during the PAT kick put the ball at the 1-yard-line, on the first Jaguars’ possession gave them an 8-7 lead.

A Trevor Lawrence 1-yard TD run on the opening series of the third quarter put the Jaguars up 17-13.

Down: Griffin’s absence

While many Jaguars’ fans called for the benching of cornerback Shaquill Griffin after his shaky coverage in last week’s loss to the Colts, not having him out there against the Giants due to a back injury didn’t help matters.

His replacement, Tre Herndon, was beaten badly by Giants’ backup receiver Darious Slayton on a 32-yard TD catch on the game’s opening possession.

Down: Run defense

What is going on with the NFL’s previously No. 3-ranked run defense? The unit completely melted down in the fourth quarter against the Giants, allowing 130 yards on 17 carries.

The Jaguars had contained Saquon Barkley through the first three quarters (14 carries, 38 yards), but he squashed them for 72 yards on 10 rushes in the last 15 minutes.

Giants QB Daniel Jones repeatedly befuddled the Jaguars on read options, finishing with 11 carries for 107 yards. The Giants finished with 236 rushing yards, the most by Jaguars’ opponent since the New York Jets rumbled for 273 yards last December in a 26-21 victory.

Down: Giants fan presence

It's nothing new when a heritage franchise like the Pittsburgh Steelers comes to TIAA Bank Field and you see black-and-gold clad fans throughout the stadium. But the numbers in which Giants’ fans came to Jacksonville and appeared to easily fill at least half the seats made it feel like a Georgia-Florida game where it’s always a 50-50 split.

After the game, loud cheers of “Let’s Go Giants” were heard reverberating outside the West gates.

Up: Christian Kirk

After being limited to just five catches for 35 yards in his last two games, the Jaguars’ free-agent WR acquisition made the front office look more justified in its $72 million investment.

He had seven receptions in 10 targets for 96 yards. Unfortunately, Kirk’s final 16-yard catch was stopped at the Giants’ 1 yard-line as time expired. He couldn’t push his way into the end zone with three defenders there to keep him from getting the necessary yard to tie the game.

Down: Pass rush

The Giants entered the game as the second-worst passing attack in the NFL, but QB Daniel Jones was a respectable 19 of 30 for 202 yards and a touchdown for a 94.0 rating.

Part of the reason Jones had a fairly clean game is the Jaguars’ got minimal pressure, hitting him just three times and registering only one sack by Travan Walker.

Even worse, the Jaguars couldn’t take advantage of the Giants losing two starting O-linemen (tackle Evan Neal, guard Ben Bredeson) to injuries in the first half.

The Jaguars have only two sacks in the past three games and haven’t forced a turnover since Andre Cisco’s pick-6 on the first series of the Philadelphia Eagles game in Week 4.

Up/Down: Pederson decision-making

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson had mixed results with his strategy. When the Giants had a formation penalty on a PAT after a Travis Etienne touchdown run, Pederson elected to take the penalty and go for two points with the ball placed at the 1-yard line.

Etienne easily got the two-pointer by walking into the end zone. Pederson also chose to go for it on fourth-and-1 — passing up a 37-yard Riley Patterson field goal attempt to potentially take a 20-13 lead — but the Jaguars’ offensive line didn’t block well enough for Lawrence to make one yard on a QB sneak.

Down: NFC exorcism wanted

It's hard to imagine this could happen to any NFL team, but the Jaguars have now lost 19 consecutive games to NFC opponents.

The streak began after defeating these same New York Giants 20-19 on the road in the 2018 season opener.

Losing to the Giants means the Jaguars have lost to every NFC team during that losing streak. The only chance the Jaguars have left to end that futility this season is against the Dallas Cowboys at home on December 18.

gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540 

Gene Frenette Sports columnist at Florida Times-Union, follow him on Twitter @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars Up-Down Drill: More downs than ups from fourth straight loss