Hey, look, the Jacksonville Jaguars won!
Jacksonville’s 10-6 win Sunday over the hated Tennessee Titans snapped a five-game losing skid by the Jags and officially eliminated the Titans from playoff contention. It was by no means a fun game to watch, but it was a win nonetheless. Rejoice.
Mac Jones earned his first win as the team’s quarterback fill-in for Trevor Lawrence and a handful of players stepped up to give Duval a dub. Did the Jags need to win? Probably not, but at least it came over a rival.
WINNERS
The Jaguars
It has been a while since the Jags and their fans have been able to celebrate a Victory Monday. It was the team’s first true road victory of the year and came against the one team this franchise wants to beat the most. The victory also came in a one-score game, which the Jags had previously lost four straight such contests heading into Sunday. The Titans are probably drafting a quarterback in April and are even worse than the Jags but the win does feel nice at the very least, even if watching that game took years off of our lives.
Jarrian Jones
What a day to have a day for the FSU rookie. Jarrian Jones recorded his first sack of his career with a real defensive lineman-esque move and then had a PBU on the same drive to force a late punt because the hit forced the Titans out of field goal range. The Jags followed that punt up with the game’s only touchdown, and there is a lot of thanks to be given to Jones. The rook finished with one of the team’s two sacks and with two total pass breakups. Jones has garnered a lot of favor on this team with his play and his ejection for standing up for Lawrence. Trent Baalke might have gotten this third-round draft pick very right.
Brian Thomas Jr
Joining fellow rookie Jones, Brian Thomas Jr had an awesome day. He is a mainstay on the winner’s side of things for good reason. While it has been a struggle for the Jags to pass and really do anything offensively with Mac Jones under center, Thomas is still playing well. He finished with a game-high 86 yards receiving on eight catches. He also had an eye-popping 12 total targets during the game. Both his total catches and targets were career-highs putting the former LSU standout at 54 catches and 851 yards. If the Jones pick can be seen as a win, drafting Thomas can be seen as a slam dunk.
Tank Bigsby
Passing offense has been hard to come by for the Jags since Jones came in but running the ball has been a struggle all year. It was again on Sunday until Tank Bigsby broke through and scored the game’s only touchdown. Bigsby had a pedestrian day in terms of total statage, leading the team with 18 carries for 55 yards but no play was bigger than his eight-yard rushing score. He handled over 80% of the running duties which was the highest mark of his tenure when playing alongside fellow running back Travis Etienne. The Jags are likely headed to a Bigsby-first offense moving forward this year and beyond and it is not terribly hard to see why.
LOSERS
Calvin Ridley
It’s the Titans so let’s dogpile a bit. At the time, it seemed like the Jags fumbled the Calvin Ridley extension. When the Titans gave him almost $100 million, it seemed a bit better. After seeing what Thomas can do for a fraction of the price it all makes perfect sense. Ridley has struggled with Tennessee largely due to their own quarterback problems and he had another quiet day on Sunday. He led his team with seven catches for 59 yards on 12 targets. Those are not the type of numbers you want from your veteran star player against your rival. Ridley even got popped off his feet by none other than Jones. The Jags don’t make very many good moves. But they got this one exactly right and it was evident for both fan bases to see Sunday.