Just how bad is the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense?
Nov 16, 2013, 12:56 AM
The Jacksonville Jaguars are bad. Historically bad.
They’re one of only two teams in the National Football League with only one win. They haven’t scored a touchdown in their home stadium in almost a calendar year. Deadspin.com published a piece Friday called “The Historic Suck of the Jacksonville Jaguars.” (Note: comments contain adult language.)
The offense has been the biggest issue for this year’s Jaguars. Jacksonville ranks dead last in total yardage (278.4 yards per game) and second-to-last in rushing yards (65.0 yards per contest.)
How bad has it been for Jacksonville’s offense?
• The Jaguars have a total of nine offensive touchdowns in nine games; there are already seven players with nine or more touchdowns in the league this season.
• The Denver Broncos scored their ninth offensive touchdown with 8:58 left in the third quarter of their second game of the season, a 41-23 win over the New York Giants.
• The Jags have had more drives end in turnovers on downs (10) than touchdowns.
• They’ve had nearly twice as many drives end in a turnover (17) as touchdowns.
• Their 54 punts are tied for the fourth-most in all of football.
• Jacksonville has had only 10 runs of more than 10 yards in 209 carries — the lowest number in the NFL. In contrast, Seattle has 54 rushes of 10+ yards in 330 carries.
Here are the horrible numbers broken down by drives.
Total Drives: 109
Drives Ending in TD: 9 (8.3%)
Drives Ending in FG: 12 (11%)
Drives Ending in Punt: 54 (49.5%)
Drives Ending in Turnover on Downs: 10 (9.2%)
Drives Ending in End of Half/Game: 7 (6.4%)
Drives Ending in Turnover: 17 (15.6%)
And it’s not like the Jaguars are playing the league’s best defenses on a weekly basis. Yes, they have played against Kansas City, Seattle and San Francisco, who all rank in the top ten. But they’ve also had games against Indianapolis, St. Louis, Denver and San Diego, who are all ranked 20th or lower in defense.
The big picture? If the Cardinals stick to their formula of strong defense and solid special teams, their offense should need only have a marginal performance to beat Jacksonville Sunday and come back to the desert with their second road win of the season.
