Jaguars safety Antonio Johnson said the message for the defense was to finish
The Jacksonville Jaguars defense made a remarkable comeback from last week’s loss to Houston in beating the L.A. Chargers 35-6.
The Jaguars’ defense pressured Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on over 41% of his drop-backs, contributing to a dominant 35-6 victory.Running back Bhayshul Tuten had a season-high 74 rushing yards, complementing Travis Etienne in a strong ground attack.The 29-point win over the Chargers was the Jaguars’ largest margin of victory since December 2017.
One week, Cole Van Lanen is the Jacksonville Jaguars’ jumbo tight end, reporting eligible to the referee every time he steps on the field, running in motion and blocking linebackers. One week, he is the starting left guard. And one week, he’s the starting right tackle.
And that’s just in the last three games.
Van Lanen epitomizes the “It Takes Everybody To Win” mindset required to compete for a playoff spot.
Against Houston on Nov. 9, he started in place for Ezra Cleveland (knee/ankle) at left guard.
And in the Jaguars’ 35-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 16, Van Lanen started in place of Anton Harrison (knee/ankle) at right tackle.
Van Lanen played all 71 offensive snaps against the Chargers and exited with a clean sheet (no “bad” run plays, no pass-rush disruptions allowed and no penalties).
“Tackle is something I’ve done the last couple of years so the switch inside (to guard) was more of a challenge than coming back outside,” Van Lanen said. “I was ready to go at tackle.”
The Jaguars allowed no sacks and rushed 47 times for 192 yards.
“When we run the ball like we did, those are the drives that defenses don’t love,” Van Lanen said. “It’s an awesome feeling when you can roll it all the way down the field and into the end zone.”
Here are 10 other thoughts from the Jaguars’ rout of the Chargers:
1. Disrupting Justin Herbert
Per my charting, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert had 24 true drop-backs (including plays negated by penalty) and was pressured on 10 plays (disruption rate of 41.8%).
For the game, the Jaguars had a disruption rate of 43.8% against Herbert/Trey Lance. The Jaguars totaled two sacks, one knockdown and 10 pressures.
The sacks: Danny Striggow/Josh Hines-Allen (3.95 seconds), Hines-Allen (4.21 seconds) and Arik Armstead (6.03 seconds).
The Jaguars rushed five or more on only two of 32 drop-backs.
2. Bhayshul Tuten’s edge
When I covered the Washington now-Commanders back in the day, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams once said of safety LaRon Landry: “He gets to the football fast and he gets there in a bad mood.”
Watching Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten play reminds me of that quote. Angry. Violent. Productive.
Tuten posted season-highs in attempts (15) and rushing yards (74). He bounced off Chargers defenders and seemingly got something when nothing appeared available. On fourth-and-1 from the Chargers’ 36 in the second quarter, Tuten received the pitch and was hit by linebacker Daiyan Henley behind the line of scrimmage, but powered ahead for a 4-yard gain.
“Overall, my best game,” Tuten said. “I just cleared my mind and just focused on what I have to do on that play. … We want to run the ball. That’s the goal and we accomplished that.”
Travis Etienne carried 19 times for 73 yards and that tandem approach should be the way to go moving forward.
3. Rout long time coming
The Jaguars’ 29-point margin of victory was the 13th-largest in team history (10th-largest at home) and largest since their 45-7 win over the Houston Texans on Dec. 17, 2017, that clinched the first playoff berth of the Shad Khan Era.
The full list — 48 points (48-0 over Cleveland, December 2000), 41 (41-0 over the New York Jets, October 2006), 38 (the aforementioned Houston game and 49-11 over the Raiders in December 2007), 37 (44-7 over Baltimore in London, September 2017), 34 (44-10 over Arizona, December 2000), 31 (37-6 over Carolina, December 2007 and 41-10 at Cincinnati, October 1999), 30 (37-7 over Tennessee, November 2006 and 33-3 at Minnesota, December 2001) and the 35-6 win over the Chargers.
4. Setting the edge
Jaguars cornerback Greg Newsome departed after six snaps with a right ankle injury sustained when he set the edge on a Chargers run play and was blocked/wedged into the turf by left tackle Trevor Penning.
“I’d do it again,” Newsome said of sacrificing his body to funnel the running back inside to pursuing Jaguars teammates.
Newsome had his ankle taped and tested it out behind the bench, but did not return.
“Not any concern (for the Arizona game on Nov. 23),” he said. “It was just a little pain trying to start and stop so they told me to prepare for next week.”
5. Phasing out Dyami Brown
The phasing out of receiver Dyami Brown continued against the Chargers. Brown played only 19 of 71 snaps (29%), trailing Parker Washington (54), Jakobi Meyers (46) and Tim Patrick (41) and just ahead of Austin Trammell (15).
I would keep Brian Thomas, Jr., out the last two games with an ankle injury, on the shelf (scratched) or a limited participant (if active) so long as Washington, Meyers and Patrick keep playing well.
Meyers caught five of his six targets for 64 yards and Patrick had a touchdown catch and drew an end-zone penalty that led to another touchdown.
6. Playoff picture for Jaguars
The Jaguars remain in the AFC’s No. 7 (final) playoff spot, and have two key tiebreakers in their favor with head-to-head wins over the Chargers (7-4, No. 6 seed) and Kansas City (5-5, No. 9 seed).
The Jaguars’ next two games are at 3-7 Arizona and 1-9 Tennessee.
7. Travis Hunter drama
Wednesday, Nov. 12: Coen said it is “very premature,” to assume injured rookie Travis Hunter (torn right lateral collateral ligament) would be the Jaguars’ Nos. 1 cornerback/receiver in the future. “
Sunday, Nov. 15: NFL Network, citing sources, reported Hunter, which it deemed a “transcendent two-way player,” (he isn’t yet) would continue to be a two-way player.
My guess is Hunter’s camp wasn’t happy with Coen’s accurate, honest and wait-and-see approach to No. 12’s future so they decided to publicly knee-cap Coen on the morning of the season’s biggest game. Pathetic.
8. Rare feats
The Jaguars had only their second game in franchise history with no punts or field goal attempts (Oct. 20, 1996 at the St. Louis Rams in a 17-14 loss)
Ironically, that was the only other game in which the Jaguars had at least 30 first downs and allowed eight or fewer (30-8 edge over the Chargers and a 36-8 edge over the Rams).
So how did the Jaguars lose to the Rams that day? The Jaguars had six turnovers, including a 92-yard interception return touchdown by the Rams’ Anthony Parker, and lost despite outgaining the Rams 538-204.
9. Numbers of note
The Jaguars totaled 192 rushing yards and allowed 135 total yards, only the fourth time they have achieved that standard in franchise history (3-1 record). They lost 24-17 at Tennessee in December 2006 despite 193 yards rushing and allowing 98 total yards). … The Chargers gained 58 of their 135 yards on two plays (receptions of 28 and 30 yards). … Rookie guard Wyatt Milum saw his first snaps on offense this season (eight). … One item from the Week 10 loss at Houston: Defensive end Travon Walker was fined $17,389 for his “body weight,” sack of Texans quarterback Davis Mills. Texans S Kamari Lassiter was fined $11,382 for taunting Tuten.
10. Ups & downs
Ups: It took until Game 10 for the Jaguars to play with team-wide discipline. Their one penalty for five yards were both season lows; they entered the game averaging 9.2 penalties for 77.6 yards. … Hat tip to Cleveland, who returned after missing the Houston game and played 69 of 71 snaps and labored to get off the turf on multiple plays. Tough guy.
Downs: The officiating crew for penalizing rookie defensive end B.J. Green for unnecessary roughness on his negated sack of Herbert. Guess hitting a player hard and legal isn’t really legal. … Have we seen the last of veteran safety Eric Murray (neck) this season? The Jaguars signed veteran safety Juan Thornhill to their practice squad on Monday, Nov. 17. Thornhill played nine games for Pittsburgh this season and was cut Nov. 10.