Week 15 Game Recap: Jacksonville Jaguars 17, Tennessee Titans 24

What you need to know

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars dominated the time of possession, but were undone by costly turnovers that accounted for three Tennessee touchdowns that ultimately led to Jacksonville losing the contest. Fred Taylor left the game in the first five minutes as he hurt his leg while running for 35 yards on a carry he ended by grabbing his leg. The Jaguars still managed to run the ball effectively behind Maurice Jones-Drew, and utilized many of their receivers to amass close to 400 yards offensively. The Jaguars made a few trips inside the red zone with varying degrees of success. On their first trip, Jones-Drew ran for a 12 yard touchdown, however they came up short on their next two red zone possessions. After running Jones-Drew, David Garrard scrambled, but fumbled the ball, which was returned for a touchdown. On their subsequent possession, they mixed in running plays by Jones-Drew and LaBrandon Toefield with a pass that was caught for an apparent touchdown by Marcedes Lewis that was ruled incomplete after the officials review. The Jaguars also called two plays for Matt Jones in the end zone, and he responded by catching one of them for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter for their final points.

Jones-Drew responded to his increased workload due to Taylor’s injury by amassing 98 yards and a touchdown on 25 rushing attempts, and added 47 yards on three receptions. He ran as hard late in the game as he did early. While he did not break many rushing attempts for very long gains, Jones-Drew still displayed excellent burst and power and picked up positive yards on just about every one of his carries. He showed the increased workload did not affect his stamina as he turned a short screen pass into a 38 yard gain in the fourth quarter. He did, however limp off the field after that play, but returned. Jones-Drew seemed to rely more on taking on defenders in this game than trying to use his elusiveness to evade them.

David Garrard had an inconsistent game. He showed some good flashes at times by making plays both by running for tough yards late in the game when his team needed to score, and by scrambling away from pressure long enough to find receivers for gains of over 30 yards twice, although one of those catches – by Reggie Williams - was overturned by official review. Garrard also connected on several other pass plays that were only kept alive because of his ability to evade the constant pass rush pressure he was under. However, he also fumbled the ball in the red zone, which resulted in a Titans’ defender returning it 92 yards for a touchdown. Garrard also threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. He spread the ball around, throwing to eight different receivers in both the first and second half, and finished with 233 yards passing with 22 completions in 37 attempts, with one touchdown to go along with his interceptions.

Jacksonville’s defense did not play much, as their offense was on the field for the vast majority of the game, but they still managed to sack Titans’ quarterback Vince Young three times in the limited opportunities they had. They proved difficult to run on, allowing all Tennessee rushers to average just over 2.5 yards per carry. Given the limited amount of time they were on the field, the Jaguars defense was effective, and only gave up a field goal, which happened after a 70 yard kickoff return.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans’ defense was aggressive throughout the game, and made several big plays that won the game. Although they were on the field for the majority of the game, the Titans’ defenders still came up with several big plays to thwart Jacksonville’s attempts to score. Not only did they force four turnovers, they returned three of them for touchdowns and fittingly sealed the win with an interception. They generated pressure on David Garrard throughout the game, and forced him to improvise many times, and as such prevented him from getting into a rhythm with his receivers. Tennessee’s defense won the game for them.

The Titans’ offense was not on the field much, as the Jaguars’ offense dominated the time of possession. As a result, their opportunities to score were limited. The Titans had one red zone possession, which came on the strength of a 70 yard kickoff return. That possession featured a run by Travis Henry followed by a pass in the end zone to Drew Bennett that was incomplete. Tennessee did insert cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones into the game for a couple of plays, and he ran a nice pattern to catch the one pass throw to him for a 14 yard reception.

Travis Henry ran aggressively and took on the Jaguars’ defenders head on, but was limited to 37 yards on 12 carries. Take away a 16 yard run, and he was held to less than two yards per rushing attempt. Because the Titans’ offense was not on the field much, Henry was unable to have many touches.

Vince Young also did not have many opportunities to run Tennessee’s offense. He did manage to show an ability to escape the pass rush at times and throw the ball downfield easily, although most of his longer throws were incomplete. He missed receivers who had broken open deep a couple of times during the game. Young completed eight of 15 passes for 85 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

What you ought to know

QB David Garrard, Pass: 22 - 37 - 233 - 1 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 6 - 43 - 0

Garrard had an uneven game. At times he made big plays by using his ability to scramble to either rush for positive yards, or give his receivers enough time to get open and connect with them. However there were other times when he wilted under the constant pressure of the Titans’ defense, and threw costly interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. He also lost a fumble in the red zone, which not only removed potential points from the Jaguars, but was returned for a touchdown. He did not get into a comfortable rhythm with his receivers in this game.

RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 25 - 98 - 1, Rec: 3 - 47 - 0 (3 targets)

Jones-Drew replaced Taylor as the primary running back because of an injury to Taylor, and proved to be up to the challenge. He ran more with power than with finesse, and again proved difficult for one tackler to stop him. While he did not appear to tire, he may have compensated for the extra workload by running hard at the defenders instead of trying to run around and by them in the second half. Jones-Drew had a very good all-around game, and continued to be on the field when the Jaguars were in scoring position.

RB LaBrandon Toefield, Rush: 6 - 25 - 0

Toefield became Jones-Drew’s primary backup, and ran with determination on his carries.

RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 2 - 37 - 0

Taylor left the game early in the first quarter after just two carries. He hurt his leg while running for a 35 yard gain, which could have been for a lot more yards had he not slowed down as a result of him feeling pain in his leg. He did not return to the game

RB Alvin Pearman, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets)

Although Taylor left the game early, Pearman was not asked to do much, and his involvement on offense consisted of one carry at the goal line and a reception he turned into a first down.

RB Derrick Wimbush (2 targets)

Wimbush was used primarily for his blocking when he was in the game.

WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 4 - 88 - 0 (5 targets)

Williams had a solid game, displaying excellent concentration on the passes thrown to him, and strength in breaking tackles to gain extra yards after the reception. The only target that did not count as a reception was a catch he made of over 30 yards that was overruled after review by the officials.

WR Matt Jones, Rec: 3 - 12 - 1 (6 targets)

Jones was thrown to twice in the end zone and once on a deep pass just outside of the end zone, and caught one of those passes for a touchdown. He was overthrown on the deep pass and had a couple other passes deflected by a defender. He was not featured except close to the end zone when the team tried to take advantage of his height advantage.

WR Ernest Wilford, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (5 targets)

Wilford was used exclusively on short routes where he did not have an opportunity to make big plays.

TE George Wrighster, Rec: 5 - 27 - 0 (5 targets)

Wrighster was used exclusively on short routes, and caught all the passes thrown to him.

TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 3 - 27 - 0 (8 targets)

Lewis was the most targeted Jaguars’ receiver, as Garrard looked for him a lot in the second half, targeting him six times in that half. His numbers could have been better as he dropped a couple passes that were catchable and had another pass tipped on a play where he had gotten open fairly deep.

TE Kyle Brady, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (1 targets)

Brady’s lone reception came as a result of him being unguarded on a play where Garrard was scrambling.

PK Josh Scobee 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points

Scobee made both of his extra point attempts as well as his only field goal attempt, which was from 43 yards.

JAX Rush Defense

Jacksonville’s rush defense was effective in the limited amount of time they were on the field. They held Travis Henry to 3.0 yards rushing per carry, and kept him under control. They flowed well to him and wrapped him up quickly to prevent him from breaking free for long gains.

JAX Pass Defense

Jacksonville’s pass defense was efficient considering they were not on the field much. They were able to apply pressure to the mobile Young, and sacked him three times in a relatively short period of time, while allowing him to complete a little over 50 percent of his passes. Their pass rush forced Young to rush some of his throws, and one of their defensive backs dropped a potential interception.

QB Vince Young, Pass: 8 - 15 - 85 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 4 - 0

Young was not on the field much, and did not have much opportunity to develop any rapport with his receivers. He showed his potential on a few plays where he escaped the pass rush and threw easily downfield, although he did not connect on those plays. Young showed nice touch and accuracy on shorter and intermediate passes. He only attempted two passes in the second half, and one of them was a pass he intentionally threw away late in the game.

RB Travis Henry, Rush: 12 - 37 - 0, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets)

Henry ran hard and with power, but did not produce many big plays. He was unable to break away from the Jaguars’ first line of defenders.

RB LenDale White, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets)

White did not have any carries and had limited impact on the game.

WR Bobby Wade, Rec: 3 - 48 - 0 (4 targets)

Wade was the most targeted Titans’ receiver, and seemed to be in sync with Young. The only target he did not catch was a deep pass that was thrown a little behind him. He showed good speed and route-running abilities on the plays where he was the primary option.

WR Roydell Williams, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets)

Williams was not involved much offensively.

WR Drew Bennett (3 targets)

Bennett managed to get open when he was targeted, but the ball was overthrown on one play, and the pass deflected by a defender on the others, one of which was in the end zone.

WR Brandon Jones (2 targets)

Both passes to Jones were not catchable and one was almost intercepted.

TE Cooper Wallace, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets)

Wallace’s contributions were mostly in as a blocker.

PK Rob Bironas 1 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points

Bironas made all three of his point after attempts and one of two field goal attempts. He made a field goal from 27 yards and missed from 44 yards.

TEN Rush Defense

Tennessee’s run defense was aggressive, and remained that way while attempting to contain Jones-Drew. Their defenders ran to the ball quickly and although he proved difficult to tackle, managed to arrive in enough numbers to limit his big plays. However, they remained on the field for an extensive period of time, as Jacksonville was able to run the ball fairly effectively against them.

TEN Pass Defense

Tennessee’s pass defense won the game for the Titans. In addition to sacking the mobile Garrard five times, intercepting three of his passes, and forcing a fumble when he was scrambling away from pressure, they returned three turnovers for touchdowns. The Titans’ pass rushers forced Garrard to scramble on most of his throws, and on the few occasions he did throw from the pocket, they caused him to rush his throws. Their attacking approach worked very well in this game, and led to them securing the victory.