Jaguars Up-Down Drill: Scouting the good, the bad, the ugly from Las Vegas Raiders game
The good, the bad and the ugly from the Jaguars’ 27-20 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday at TIAA Bank Field.
Up: Jubilant exorcism
Saddled with a five-game losing streak, a 17-point deficit and the season threatening to come undone, the Jaguars couldn’t wait one week longer to snap out of it.
They had to give themselves and a frustrated fan base some legitimate hope not to start eyeing the 2023 draft.
The second largest comeback win in franchise history, at least for now, served that purpose.
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Down/Up: Wakeup call
Mike Caldwell’s defense looked completely out of sync after getting a three-and-out on the game’s first possession.
The Raiders followed with three scores in less than nine minutes to go up 17-0. But when things looked darkest, the Jaguars’ defense awakened and pitched a second-half shutout.
It put the clamps on star receiver Davante Adams, who bewildered cornerback Tyson Campbell in the first half (9 catches, 146 yards) and caught just one pass on eight targets in the second half.
Down/Up: Wakeup call II
The offense was also in a funk early, fumbling away one promising drive on Trevor Lawrence’s awkward pitch on an end-around for RB JaMycal Hasty.
“Not a good pitch there,” said the Jaguars QB.
That was followed by two three-and-outs. But what transpired in the last 40 minutes was a 180-degree turnaround as the offense put up 24 points on the next four possessions, capped by a 12-play, 80-yard TD drive that ended with a Travis Etienne 5-yard run on third-and-1.
The Jaguars converted 8 of their last 12 third downs.
Up: Clemson 1-2 punch
The two biggest reasons why the Jaguars overcame a 17-point deficit are also why this franchise has legitimate hope for the future: Lawrence and Etienne.
The team’s two most important weapons and 2021 first-round picks are the same ones who helped put Clemson football on the national map with a national championship in 2018.
Lawrence completed 18 of 19 passes for 183 yards and a TD to Christian Kirk, plus two third-down scrambles of 18 and 24 yards when the Jaguars ran off those 24 points on four consecutive series.
Etienne had 56 of his 109 rushing yards in the fourth quarter to help seal the outcome.
This was his fifth consecutive game where he accounted for at least 100 yards from scrimmage.
Up: Loot for Smoot
Though he hasn’t started a game all season, Dawuane Smoot is suddenly the Jaguars’ hottest pass-rusher as he got the team’s only two sacks Sunday and is well on his way to a career-best season.
Smoot’s 3.5 sacks in his last two games gives him the team lead with 5.0 sacks. It’s perfect timing for the 2017 third-round pick.
After signing a two-year extension for $10 million in 2021, the 27-year-old is a free agent after this season and is due a big raise from somebody.
Jaguars GM Trent Baalke should lock him up as soon as possible and don’t let him walk into free agency come March.
Down: Dropping the ball
This time, it wasn’t any of the Jaguars receivers who had the day’s biggest drop. That distinction goes to safety Andre Cisco.
With the Jaguars trailing 20-17 in the third quarter, Cisco had a Derek Carr pass down the middle go right into his stomach, only to drop it at the Jacksonville 41 when he had plenty of room to run for possibly a touchdown.
Luckily, the Jaguars scored their last TD on the ensuing possession for a 24-20 lead.
Up: Jamal Agnew
After being inactive the last two games with a knee injury, the Jaguars were glad to have their return specialist back.
Agnew provided the biggest special team play of the day to start the second half, taking the kickoff back 52 yards down a wide open left side to the Raiders’ 45.
That set up the Jaguars’ shortest TD drive (47 yards) of the day, capped by a 7-yard pass to Christian Kirk.
Down: Fumbling idiot
With 6:30 left in the game and the Jaguars in the process of fielding a punt, an attention-seeking, 20-something male forced stoppage in play by deciding that was a good time to run on the field with a football in his hand.
As security officials tackled him at the Raiders’ 16-yard-line, he appropriately fumbled the ball before being led off the field in handcuffs. On Monday, the Jaguars announced they had permanently banned the foolhardy fan and two of his accomplices that were also arrested from attending any future events at TIAA Bank Field and Daily's Place.
Up: Catching some breaks
Just as the Jaguars were plagued by some misfortune in five consecutive one-score losses, they caught a huge break in the second half when Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr had one of the worst performances ever of any opposing QB, completing just 5 of 15 passes for 33 yards after lighting it up in the first half with a 141.6 rating.
With the Raiders trailing 24-20 midway through the fourth quarter, Carr missed a wide open Davante Adams waving his arm behind the Jaguars' secondary. He instead threw a short pass to Josh Jacobs that gained only 3 yards.
On the play before Daniel Carlson made his 41st consecutive field goal to give the Raiders a 20-7 lead in the final minute of the first half, Carr underthrew running back Ameer Abdullah in the end zone after he got behind linebacker Chad Muma, who was lucky to not get flagged for pass interference. Those kind of breaks didn't go the Jaguars' way in October.
Carr's 33 yards passing was the lowest second-half output against the Jaguars since Alex Smith went 3 of 12 for 22 yards for the San Francisco 49ers in 2005, a 10-9 home win for the Jaguars.
Down/Up: Life of Riley
After making 11 consecutive field goals since a Week 1 doink off the right upright against the Washington Commanders, kicker Riley Patterson did it again with 3:03 remaining when his 41-yarder clanged off the right upright to keep the Jaguars’ lead at 24-20.
Fortunately, it didn’t come back to bite the Jaguars. After the defense forced a turnover on downs, Patterson redeemed himself by making a 48-yarder that squeezed in just inside the same upright.
Up: Trevor’s accuracy
After completing just 57.8 percent of his passes during a five-game losing streak, Lawrence connected on 25 of 31 passes and looked like a Pro Bowler on a couple of them.
On the go-ahead drive for a 24-20 lead, Lawrence took a big shot from defensive end Clelin Farrell while hooking up with tight end Dan Arnold on a 19-yard pickup.
On second-and-11 from his own 8 in the fourth quarter, Lawrence sidestepped an end zone sack attempt by blitzing linebacker Denzel Perryman, kept his eyes looking downfield, and hit Marvin Jones for 12 yards along the sideline.
It was an important first down for the sake of better field position.
Up: Closing the Titans’ gap
The 3-6 Jaguars had to wait long after getting home to find out if they would gain some ground on the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans.
It looked like Tennessee might offset the Jaguars’ win by nearly knocking off the Kansas City Chiefs on the road.
Fortunately, the Titans let KC and QB Patrick Mahomes back in the game by allowing a game-tying drive, which ended with the Chiefs winning 20-17 in overtime.
After losing so much ground in the past month, the Jaguars needed to pick up a game on the Titans (5-3), who still have two games left with the Jaguars.
Gene Frenette Sports columnist at Florida Times-Union, follow him on Twitter @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Looking at the good, the bad and ugly from Jaguars-Las Vegas Raiders game
