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Week 10 Game Recap: Jacksonville Jaguars 28, Tennessee Titans 13
What you need to know
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
The Jaguars combined a determined rushing game with a strong defensive effort to come away with the win on the road. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew combined for 35 carries and 146 yards, enabling Jacksonville to become the first team to gain over 100 yards rushing against the Titans this season. Jones-Drew had slightly more carries, 19 to 16, and gained more yards than Taylor, thanks to him being able to accelerate past the line of scrimmage and gain bigger chunks of yardage. Jones-Drew was also involved more in the passing game, and showed good ability to run after the reception, gaining several yards after catching mostly screen passes. He also picked up first downs on two separate fourth and one plays. Taylor showed good burst and quickness, but was stopped on several occasions when it appeared he was on the verge of breaking loose for big gains after getting past the first defenders. Both Taylor and Jones-Drew scored rushing touchdowns. Fullback Greg Jones also contributed significantly with two touchdowns.
Quinn Gray continued subbing for David Garrard who was the third quarterback, and completed five of his first six passes on Jacksonville's first drive, culminating that drive with a short scoring pass to Greg Jones. After that, he focused more on managing the game by utilizing his running backs and mostly short passes. Although Gray was not asked to take many risks throwing the ball, he was not very consistent. Although he started the game throwing accurately, he missed five receivers who were open, and threw into double coverage at other times, with Titans defenders dropping two passes that should have been intercepted. He showed a strong arm, but was not consistently accurate. The Jaguars continued to show confidence in Gray however, and asked him to get first downs in crucial situations late in the game both running and passing, and he was able to deliver.
Jacksonville attempted 11 plays in the red zone and ran the ball on nine of those plays. Jones-Drew had five of those carries, including one for a touchdown. Taylor's lone red zone carry resulted in a touchdown, and Greg Jones had two red zone carries and one red zone target, scoring two touchdowns. Among the Jaguars' nine red zone carries was a designed run for Gray on a third and long play that resulted in him getting to the three yard line. With the exception of that run, all of Jacksonville's red zone runs were right up the middle.
| Tennessee Titans |
The Titans could not generate any rushing attack and were forced to become a one-dimensional passing team, which made them less efficient. Vince Young was their leading rusher, with most of his yards coming as a result of him scrambling to avoid Jacksonville's pass rush. Tennessee did not run a play on the Jaguars' side of the field until there were 28 seconds remaining in the first half. LenDale White could not get on track, and was held to a 1.5 yards per carry average on just eight rushing attempts. White left the game in the third quarter with a leg injury, and only returned briefly for one series. His backup, Chris Henry, was held to negative yardage for the game.
Tennessee's passing attack, led by Young, was sporadic. At times he used his superb athleticism to evade the pass rush and make plays with both his legs and his arm, but at other times he made poor decisions and threw into tight coverage where the pass was either deflected or intercepted. At other times he missed open receivers due to pressure from Jaguars' defenders coming up the middle. Most of Young's yards came late in the game when the Titans went to a hurry-up offense, and he moved around by design to buy some additional time. He was harnessed most of the game by a very aggressive Jacksonville defense which contributed to his poor game.
Tennessee ran six plays in the red zone, with all of them being passes. Young targeted Roydell Williams on three of his red zone passes, one of which was a touchdown that was reversed due to a penalty on a teammate. He also looked for Eric Moulds and Bo Scaife in the end zone, but did not connect with them for scores, although he did with Justin Gage.
What you ought to know
| QB Quinn Gray, Pass: 13 - 23 - 101 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 13 - 0 |
Gray attempted mostly shorter passes, and only threw deep a couple times. He started accurately, but then had stretches where he missed open receivers, usually overthrowing them although they were open at the time. He did not lose his poise, and made some key plays late, both running and passing, to help guide his team to the victory. Gray again demonstrated a strong arm, but was not consistently accurate as he relied on his arm strength in an attempt to get the ball to his receivers more than touch.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 19 - 101 - 1, Rec: 3 - 28 - 0 (5 targets) |
Jones-Drew showed his versatility in this game, showcasing his explosiveness, power and elusiveness several times running, catching and returning kicks. He showed a new wrinkle by running a deep pattern and getting by his defender, but the pass intended for him was off target. Jones-Drew was the ball carrier on two fourth and one rushing plays and was on the field for the majority of Jacksonville's red zone and goal-line plays.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 16 - 45 - 1 |
Taylor ran well, and appeared on the verge of breaking loose for big gains on a couple of occasions, but was unable to get past the secondary defenders. Taylor did achieve a significant milestone, going over 10,000 yards for his career on his longest gain of the day. He made the most of his one opportunity in the red zone, scoring a touchdown.
| RB Greg Jones, Rush: 3 - 1 - 1, Rec: 1 - 2 - 1 (2 targets) |
Jones was very productive with his limited touches, catching a short pass for a touchdown and rushing up the middle for another.
| WR Dennis Northcutt, Rush: 1 - 8 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets) |
Northcutt was not used much, and did not have a pass thrown to him in the first half. His only reception came on a fourth and two play in the fourth quarter to keep a late drive going. Northcutt also ran a reverse for a first down that was called back due to penalty.
| WR Ernest Wilford, Rec: 2 - 24 - 0 (4 targets) |
Wilford caught two of the passes intended for him, with the other two not within his reach.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (3 targets) |
Williams was used on shorter pass routes, but was not involved much in the game, although Gray missed him on one of his targets where he was open.
| TE George Wrighster, Rec: 3 - 13 - 0 (4 targets) |
Wrighster was used on short pass plays and did not gain any significant yardage after catching the passes thrown to him.
| TE Greg Estandia, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Estandia caught the only pass thrown to him.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Lewis was not featured much and did not have any targets in the second half.
| PK John Carney 0 - 0 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Carney connected on all four of his point after attempts, and did not have any field goal attempts. He was involved in a botched fake field goal attempt, which was from 43 yards, as his holder was tackled before gaining the first down.
| JAX Rush Defense |
The Jaguars rush defense was impenetrable. The did not allow the Titans' running backs to get past the line of scrimmage and held White and Henry to a combined 0.90 yards per carry. Although Young was able to gain some yards on the ground, most of those yards were as a result of him being forced to scramble by the pass rush. When Young turned into a runner, the Jaguars' defenders were still able to prevent him from breaking free for very big gains on the ground.
| JAX Pass Defense |
Jacksonville's pass defense was very aggressive and pressured Young throughout the game. In addition to sacking him four times and intercepting him twice, they batted balls down at the line of scrimmage and knocked passes away from receivers throughout the game. The entire defense played aggressively in a controlled fashion, and did not allow many big plays. The Jaguars' defense contributed greatly to the win, with two examples occurring in the third quarter when they forced a fumble and recorded an interception on consecutive Tennessee possessions.
| QB Vince Young, Pass: 24 - 41 - 257 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 8 - 52 - 0 |
Young was under pressure throughout the game and although he tried his best to keep plays alive, he was inaccurate with several of his throws thanks to Jacksonville's pass defenders. Young was able to escape the pocket at times, but was unable to manufacture many big plays once he did so. When he was in the pocket he proved inconsistent in his accuracy, and had several passes tipped by the Jaguars' defensive backs. Although Young threw his first touchdown pass in his previous 115 pass attempts, he did not appear to develop a comfort level during the game, and as such posted pedestrian numbers.
| RB LenDale White, Rush: 8 - 12 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets) |
White could not get on track against the stout Jaguars' defenders, and left the game in the third quarter with a leg injury, although he remained on the sideline. While he was in the game he could not get by the first wave of defenders and his attempts to overpower them were unsuccessful.
| RB Chris Henry, Rush: 3 - -2 - 0, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (3 targets) |
Henry was ineffective running the ball, but did show good power in turning a short pass and dragging defenders with him for a few additional yards.
| WR Justin Gage, Rec: 7 - 90 - 1 (9 targets) |
Gage was the most targeted receiver and was used on a variety of pass plays. He proved willing to battle Jacksonville's secondary and managed to get open on a variety of pass plays, across the middle, along the sideline, short and intermediate routes. He caught several passes in traffic and ran well after the catch, gaining several of his yards after securing the ball.
| WR Brandon Jones, Rec: 5 - 51 - 0 (6 targets) |
Jones was used mostly on short and intermediate routes across the middle and showed good route-running and hands as he caught all passes that were within his reach.
| WR Roydell Williams, Rec: 4 - 31 - 0 (8 targets) |
Williams could have posted better numbers. Not only did he have a touchdown catch called back because of a penalty on a teammate, he was open on two occasions but was overthrown.
| WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 1 - 18 - 0 (3 targets) |
Moulds only had one reception, but managed to get open deep only to have the ball tipped away by a defensive back. Moulds was also targeted in the end zone, but was overthrown.
| TE Bo Scaife, Rec: 3 - 38 - 0 (8 targets) |
Scaife received the most targets in the second half with seven -- but only garnered three receptions. He was asked to run longer routes, and although he managed to get open on some of them, Young did not connect with him. Two of Scaife's targets were in the end zone.
| TE Ben Hartsock, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Hartsock was not a factor in the passing game.
| PK Rob Bironas 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Bironas made his only point after attempt, and both of his field goal attempts, which were from 37 and 49 yards.
| TEN Rush Defense |
Tennessee's rush defense played aggressively, but missed leading lineman Albert Haynesworth, as the Jaguars managed to run fairly effectively throughout the game. Their linemen did not make many plays behind the line of scrimmage and their linebackers and secondary had to help out to prevent Jacksonville's running backs from breaking loose for even bigger gains.
| TEN Pass Defense |
The Titans' pass defense was not tested much as the Jaguars placed more of an emphasis on the run. At times their pass rushers were able to rush some of Gray's throws, but a combination of him throwing shorter passes designed to get rid of the ball quickly and the emphasis on the running game limited their opportunities to have an impact.
