Hays Carlyon's Jaguars Blog

Jaguars Fumble Away Game as Eagles Storm Back

todayOctober 2, 2022

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By Hays Carlyon

PHILADELPHIA – You’ve got a good football team, Jacksonville.

Yes, I’m saying that after the Jaguars lost 29-21 to the Eagles Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

You’ve got a team that had a chance to tie undefeated Philadelphia down eight points with 1:54 to play despite committing four turnovers. The Jaguars were minus-three in turnover margin at that point.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence fumbled again, getting strip sacked on the first play and the game was over.

Five turnovers, including four lost fumbles.

Inexcusable. Also, a total fluke.

Sunday’s game was played in some of the worst conditions you could imagine. The sideways rain was constant from the opening kickoff to the final snap.

Yes, Lawrence and the Jaguars need to do better. Certainly, Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Eagles deserve credit for how they handled the ball.

But this wasn’t normal weather, especially for an early October game. You can’t, and would never, simulate these conditions in practice.

The Jaguars were minus-four in turnover margin and lost to an undefeated team by eight points on the road.

This would’ve been a 30-point loss in most seasons over the last decade.

The Jaguars (2-2) remain in first place in the AFC South ahead of Tennessee (2-2) because of the conference tiebreaker.

Lawrence needs to learn from the experience and get more accustomed to handling a wet ball. His first fumble he simply lost the grip on while scrambling. Another he didn’t handle the snap from center Luke Fortner on a sneak on third-and-1.

Lawrence then got strip sacked twice.

His lone interception really stung as well. The Jaguars were down 20-14, but had a second-and-7 situation with 4:24 left in the third quarter from the Eagles 16 when Lawrence put too much loft on a ball to receiver Christian Kirk. Philadelphia cornerback James Bradberry picked it off.

The turnovers were too much for the Jaguars sound run defense to withstand. Philadelphia’s mammoth offensive line wore the Jaguars down, as the Eagles ran for 210 yards on a stunning 50 carries. The Eagles held the ball for 39:51 of the game.

The Jaguars entered the contest tops in the NFL in run defense and held a 34:35-25:25 average time of possession advantage. That wasn’t a mirage.

I think the Eagles are elite. I picked them to win the NFC in the preseason and feel better about the selection four games into the season.

I think the Jaguars are good. To hang around with an elite team in their house with all the mistakes tells me this is a quality club with a strong chance at a winning season and possible division title.

This was just a weird game.

I would love to see these teams play in better conditions, but that’s football.

The Jaguars lost. I think it was more of a fluke than anything else that disturbs me in the long-term about this team.

(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @HaysCarlyon).

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