2023 Jaguars Week Three Slay or Bomb

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Houston Texans in embarrassing fashion, 37 to 17. A lot of embarrassing performances were had around the NFL, and the Jaguars week three performance is up there amongst the worst.

If it weren’t for the onslaught the Dolphins executed against the Broncos, the Cowboys losing to the Cardinals for the season’s biggest upset, and the Bears continuing their week from hell, the Jaguars would’ve been at the forefront of storylines heading into week four.

The Jaguars week three performance was their worst of the season, and it was the whole team contributing to an embarrassing loss. The offense continues its mind-numbing struggle, the defense collapses and gets zero pressure, and special teams have a back-breaking return touchdown to a fullback. It’s every phase of the game, and there was not much that went right for the Jaguars.

It’s safe to say the Jaguars didn’t right the ship; they created more holes, sinking even faster.

The offense deserves its deep dive on their struggles to get the ball down the field. But, in the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the performances from Jaguars week three and who slayed or bombed on Sunday (and here’s a hint: there are a lot of bombs).

Jaguars Week Three: Slay

Travis Etienne Jr.

Before we look at the players who bombed (there are a lot of them), it’s worth looking at who played well enough to earn a Slay in the Jaguars week three matchup against the Texans. The first player worth mentioning is Travis Etienne Jr., in his best game running the ball of the 2023 season.

While Etienne didn’t score a touchdown as he did in week one, Etienne had a solid day contributing on the ground, and if the game script was any better, there’s a good chance that Etienne would’ve got over 100 yards rushing. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry and had multiple big runs on the Jaguars’ first drive in the second half. He started with a carry for 11 yards, then 16, another five, and followed it up with a 17-yard reception on second down.

Travis Etienne Jr. had a final line of 19 carries for 88 yards, to go with four receptions on five targets for 50 yards. A solid outing amidst a terrible Jaguars week three performance. There’s still room for Etienne to improve, and as someone who was poised for a breakout in 2023, the beginning of the 2023 season hasn’t been what was expected. It’s a decent showing from one of the Jaguars’ offensive weapons, but there’s still more to be desired from this skill position group.

Evan Engram and Christian Kirk

In the first half, these two Jaguars offensive weapons tallied a total of two targets (one which didn’t even count due to a penalty). For an offense like the Jaguars that methodically drives down the field, the ball needs to be spread around more. Jaguars week three featured too few touches for Engram and Kirk, and adjusting to giving their best players more targets should be a priority as the season continues.

At the end of the game, Christian Kirk went 4-54 and a touchdown on six targets, and Evan Engram went 7-67 on eight targets. After being completely underutilized in the first half, going back to a balanced spread of the ball helped to move the offense down the field. Kirk’s touchdown made things a bit closer late in the game, but the defense let up a big play on the next drive to kill any momentum the Jaguars got from the long touchdown.

With Zay Jones out, these two receiving options were expected to be heavily utilized, but the offense avoided them in the first half. It’s no surprise that the Jaguars and Doug Pederson wanted to utilize their best offensive weapons more in the first half.

A lot needs to change with this offense, but the majority of the Jaguars week three issues don’t fall on either of these two after solid days on Sunday. Neither has been perfect, but in a week where not many stood out as a positive, it’s important to find some positives moving forward.

Josh Allen

The only real positive from the Jaguars week three defense came from Josh Allen, the Jaguars’ only pass rusher. Well, at least he was the only one who made any difference Sunday. With the rest of the defensive front struggling to mount any pressure against an offensive line down the majority of their starters, it was a travesty that the Jaguars couldn’t get home once for a sack.

An indictment of the defensive performance is that Josh Allen, with three pressures and three QB hits, was far and away the best pass rusher on the team. Allen accounted for 75% of the team’s quarterback hits, something that should not happen when against a depleted offensive line.

There wasn’t anyone else who contributed meaningful pass rush production for the Jaguars week three matchup other than Josh Allen. Allen has been one of the few bright spots on the Jaguars’ defense but has had its ups and downs. But he can’t do it all on his own, even with him generating pressure and hitting the QB often.

Jaguars Week Three: Bomb

Jamal Agnew

Beginning this long list of bombs is Jamal Agnew. Agnew, for the second week in a row, had a brutal fumble. The one this week came after completing a third and ten for a 15-yard gain. While no single play caused the Jaguars to lose to the Texans, this fumble made things a lot more challenging. This fumble occurred in Texan territory with under a minute and a half to go in the first half.

Going from a potential touchdown to bring the game within one possession to giving the Texans the ball back and letting them go up three possessions is a massive swing. One that the Jaguars couldn’t afford when, up until that point, there were a lot of issues with the offense, defense, and special teams.

Agnew had four catches for 49 yards, but the back-breaking fumble is something that just can’t happen, especially with retaining possession being a key component of their first two weeks. Turnovers cost the Jaguars so many positive plays and, through three weeks, potentially two wins.

Calvin Ridley

The offensive woes continue with the Jaguars week three shocking performance of the week from Calvin Ridley. Ridley had multiple false start penalties, something that isn’t seen often from skill positions. But those two penalties didn’t hinder the Jaguars, as they managed to get first downs after both. However, Ridley had two drops that massively impacted the Jaguars.

The first happened on the first drive of the game for the Jaguars. After driving down the field to the Texans thirty, Lawrence threw a deep shot to Ridley along the left sideline. But Ridley dropped what would’ve been a touchdown. What followed was a brutal missed field goal from Brandon McManus, leaving the Jaguars with no points on a drive where they should’ve had six at least.

His other drop came on a nice route to beat coverage and a nice throw from Lawrence that would’ve given the Jaguars a first down. He tries to make the catch and run with it afterward, but there’s a need to hold onto the ball first. The Jaguars week three matchup was chock full of so many similar feeling plays. Plays where the Jaguars just shot themselves in the foot. Between the turnovers, backbreaking errors on defense and special teams, and the overall lack of consistent play, the Jaguars didn’t give themselves much of a chance to beat the Texans.

Ridley has shown enough to feel confident in him going forward, but the concern is real, as he’s struggled to make much of a difference since week one against the Colts.

The Pass Rush

The Jaguars week three performance confirmed the fears that many had to lead into this season: the lack of a pass rush. In the offseason, signing or trading for pass rush help was the biggest need for the Jaguars. Fans and members of the media alike knew the Jaguars needed to add pass-rushing help to make a difference rushing the passer in 2023.

But, the Jaguars only addressed the dire need for pass rush help by drafting Yasir Abdullah in the fifth round. Abdullah isn’t bad, nor is he great, but it’s organizational malpractice to head into the 2023 season with Yasir Abdullah as the big addition along the defensive line.

Why does this week’s pass-rush production hurt more? Well, the Texans were down four starters along the offensive line. For most teams, missing 80% of their offensive line would be a death sentence, but the Jaguars couldn’t generate any meaningful pressure and allowed the Texans and C.J. Stroud to look great.

The Jaguars week three outlook was positive, with a big spot for the defensive line to provide some consistent pressure. But, they fell well short of expectations, and they would all agree with that sentiment.

I think the biggest indictment of the Jaguars week three pass rush performance came from Doug Pederson. After being asked about the lack of pass-rush production, Doug Pederson couldn’t find the right way to answer the question for a while and stared blankly forward for a brief period. That’s a coach who knows the issue but is trying to find the best way to articulate what he should say.

“We have to do better, we need to coach better, play better, execute better…”

Special Teams and Brandon McManus

Every facet of the team in the Jaguars week three matchup against the Texans had issues. The most embarrassing might’ve been the special teams. There are two topics worth mentioning when talking about the special team’s performance: Brandon McManus and the Andrew Beck return touchdown.

If you haven’t seen the play, take a look, as it might be one of the most improbable kickoff return touchdowns you will ever see.

Andrew Beck, a fullback for the Houston Texans, bobbled a short kickoff and then took it to the house. He made three Jaguars miss badly, followed by a fourth shortly thereafter. Then McManus and Jacob Harris missed on tackles along the sideline, followed by D’Ernest Johnson whiffing a tackle as the last man to beat.

A once-in-a-decade play for the Jaguars week three opponent, the game went to one possession and was the dagger en route to a Houston Texans win.

Let’s now talk about the player who missed one of the many tackle attempts on Andrew Beck, Brandon McManus. In the first quarter, McManus missed a 48-yard field goal wide right. Another mistake for the Jaguars that on its own might not mean the Jaguars lose, but combined with the other errors throughout Jaguars week three, it makes things more challenging.

Later in the game, right before the second quarter, McManus had another attempt not to make it through the uprights. Though this time it was blocked by Will Anderson Jr. The rookie defensive linemen have been solid for the Texans, and the blocked field goal kept the Jaguars scoreless in the first quarter. A 51-yard field goal is no gimme, but McManus has hit that plenty of times before, so missing out on six points is tough for a Jaguars team that, at that point, was struggling on offense.

Between the missed field goal and the blocked field goal, along with the missed tackle on the kick return touchdown, McManus didn’t have a great day. The Jaguars week three special teams performance was one to learn from and also forget. McManus should turn things around, and hopefully, the Jaguars defense doesn’t give up any more touchdowns to fullbacks on kickoffs.

Final Thoughts on Jaguars Week Three

Jaguars week three was a depressing and embarrassing game for the Jaguars and the fans. So many errors and mistakes that really shouldn’t happen at all let alone at the rate at which they do for the Jaguars.

Falling to one and two on the 2023 season isn’t the start that is conducive to a postseason showing. But there’s still time to fix things and find their footing. It’s only week four, and plenty of teams have made postseason runs starting at one and two. However, there are still improvements to be made at every level.

To wrap up a disappointing Jaguars week three game,  Doug Pederson put it best:

“We need to get out of our way right now.”

As the Jaguars head to their home away from home in London to face the Atlanta Falcons, they look to clean up their mistakes get back to five hundred, and reset their sights on the playoffs.