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Week 9 Game Recap: Jacksonville Jaguars 19, Cincinnati Bengals 21
What you need to know
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
The Jaguars were outplayed in all facets of the game for the first three quarters, before mounting a fourth quarter rally that fell short. They were unable to put together many effective drives on offense, and had no red zone plays in the first half. Jacksonville could not generate much in their running game, with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew combining for 3.0 yards per carry. Both running backs were forced to evade Cincinnati's defenders behind the line of scrimmage many times. It was only because of their ability to evade the first defenders that their yards per carry average made it to 3.0, as the Jaguars' offensive linemen were dominated at the line of scrimmage. Half of the running plays by Taylor and Jones-Drew resulted in less than two yards gained. As a result of the inept running game, coupled with falling behind by three scores, Jacksonville was forced to rely on their passing game.
Jacksonville's offensive linemen did not fare much better pass protecting, and as such, their passing attack was inconsistent throughout the game. David Garrard was under pressure throughout, and as a result had to rush several passes and throw others away. As he has for most of the season, Garrard targeted Matt Jones the most, usually on intermediate routes with a few short routes mixed in. Jerry Porter and Marcedes Lewis made big plays for Garrard, with both players getting open deep for big gains. Lewis was knocked out of bounds three yards away from getting in the end zone. However, in large part due to the pass rush he faced, Garrard was forced to check down for modest gains or throw the ball away in an attempt to preserve the drive and for the most part could not sustain drives. Even when they had chances to score, the Jaguars came up empty more often than not. They needed a touchdown by their special teams to make the game a one possession game late in the fourth quarter.
Jacksonville did not have any red zone plays in the first half, and ran eight such plays on two possessions in the second half. They distributed the plays evenly with four rushing plays and four passing plays. Garrard and Jones-Drew had two carries apiece, with Jones-Drew scoring a touchdown one play after Garrard tried an unsuccessful quarterback sneak into the end zone. Marcedes Lewis was targeted on two of the passes, catching one pass and taking it to the six yard line, and getting open in the end zone but having the pass deflected before it got to him. Porter was the intended receiver on a two point conversion play to tie the score, but that pass was deflected by his defender. The Jaguars' offensive ineptitude was demonstrated on a play in the third quarter when they ran three plays for no yards three yards from the end zone, went for it on fourth down, but had to kick a field goal because of a false start.
| Cincinnati Bengals |
The Bengals earned the win by playing soundly on offense and defense. On offense, Cedric Benson set the tone with tough, aggressive running right up the middle of the line and running over defenders as he tried to gain extra yards after contact. Nineteen of Benson's 24 carries went for positive yards, including one for 20 yards and another for 30 yards. Benson showed excellent power on most of his runs and his aggressive running enabled him to earn his first 100 yard game, including a rushing touchdown, as a Bengal. He appeared to be most comfortable executing the offense.
Ryan Fitzpatrick played soundly and intelligently, usually taking what the defense gave him and capitalizing on that with accurate passes. Fitzpatrick also showed good mobility by eluding Jacksonville's pass rushers and running for significant gains a few times. Each of Fitzpatrick's rushes gained 12 or more yards. He targeted T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chad Johnson the most. He connected with them on their shorter routes, but missed several opportunities on deep pass plays. Johnson, who caught two short passes for touchdowns, got open deep inside the twenty yard line twice, but Fitzpatrick missed him both times. Fitzpatrick also missed deep opportunities with Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry, overthrowing Henry who had gotten open just outside the end zone. Fitzpatrick did not let his missed deep opportunities affect the other aspects of his passing, and was very poised and accurate when focusing on the shorter and intermediate passes.
The Bengals ran seven plays on three possessions inside the red zone, and were very efficient, coming away with three touchdowns. They ran the ball four times, all of the carries by Benson, who ran right up the middle of Jacksonville's defense for his touchdown. All three of Fitzpatrick's red zone passes were to Chad Johnson, who caught all of them, including two for a touchdown.
What you ought to know
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 23 - 38 - 229 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 6 - 23 - 0 |
Garrard was under duress throughout the game and could not get into a consistent rhythm passing the ball as a result. He made some good plays in getting the ball to his playmakers, but they were few and far between. Garrard tried to be aggressive and make plays with his arm, but misfired on most of those attempts. Ten of the fifteen intermediate and deep passes he attempted were incomplete as a result of him missing his receivers, either overthrowing them or throwing the ball where the defensive backs were able to deflect the ball. When given time to throw, he proved accurate, but Garrard was forced to rush most of his passes in this game. When he tried to elude the pass rush and run for yards, he was forced toward the middle of the field where reinforcements limited his yards rushing.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 10 - 33 - 1, Rec: 2 - 29 - 0 (2 targets) |
Jones-Drew did not have many opportunities, as he had a limited number of touches. He did manage to display his power on his scoring touchdown run, but was otherwise stifled on his rushing attempts, as he was forced to evade Bengals' defenders in the backfield on several of his rushes. He did run very well on both his receptions, turning short passes into gains of 13 and 16 yards. Due to the limited touches, his numbers were modest, even with the touchdown.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 5 - 12 - 0, Rec: 1 - 0 - 0 (1 targets) |
Taylor's impact on the game was minimal. He had few opportunities and had to run hard just to get to the line of scrimmage to gain positive yards. To add insult to injury, Taylor's longest run, which was less than ten yards, was called back due to an offensive penalty
| RB Greg Jones (1 targets) |
Jones' contributions were as a blocking fullback.
| WR Matt Jones, Rec: 7 - 69 - 0 (11 targets) |
Jones received nine of his targets in the second half, and caught seven of those nine passes. He ran a variety of routes well, mostly intermediate with some shorter ones thrown in. Jones demonstrated excellent hands in coming down with a few catches in traffic. Of the four targets he did not catch, three were thrown out of his reach and the other was intercepted by a Bengals linebacker who was playing zone. Jones was adept at gaining yards after the catch, running well in traffic and managing to lean forward for extra yards after being tackled.
| WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 4 - 29 - 0 (5 targets) |
Northcutt worked from the slot on short routes and although did not break any big runs, managed to get open when his number was called.
| WR Jerry Porter, Rec: 2 - 38 - 0 (4 targets) |
Porter was not thrown the ball until the second half, and had some opportunities to make big plays. He showed excellent leaping ability and hands in catching a deep pass along the sideline while being covered. Porter was also the intended target on a two point conversion play towards the end of the game, but was well defended.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (3 targets) |
Williams was targeted exclusively on short passes.
| WR Troy Williamson (2 targets) |
Williamson was targeted deep on both of his targets, but on both occasions the pass was deflected in the end zone.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 4 - 38 - 0 (6 targets) |
Lewis displayed good hands in catching some tough passes. He also had a couple of targets in the red zone, getting knocked out of bounds at the three yard line, and having a pass deflected as he broke open in the end zone.
| TE Greg Estandia, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (1 targets) |
Estandia caught the only pass thrown to him.
| PK Josh Scobee 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Scobee made his only point after attempt and both of his field goal attempts, which were from 52 and 26 yards.
| JAX Rush Defense |
Jacksonville's defense did not do a good job of containing the Bengals' running game, giving up an average of 4.33 yards per carry to Cedric Benson and 17.33 to Ryan Fitzpatrick. They were unable to contain Benson on most of his carries, and after losing defensive tackle John Henderson for fighting, provided even less resistance to Cincinnati's rushing attack.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Jaguars gave an inconsistent effort in their pass defense. They did not allow any big plays deep but could not stop the Bengals short passing attack. They intercepted Fitzpatrick twice, but one was called back due to encroachment. However, they dropped two possible interceptions that could have resulted in scores had the defensive backs held on to the ball first, as they had nothing but open field in front of them. Although they sacked Fitzpatrick twice and intercepted him once, they were victimized by two passing touchdowns.
| QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Pass: 21 - 31 - 162 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 52 - 0 |
Fitzpatrick played efficiently, showing good decision making and touch on his short passes. While he missed a few opportunities to connect on deep pass plays, he did not let that affect his decision-making, and routinely made the right decision in terms of who to pass to. Even on the deep pass plays he missed, his targeted receiver was open, but overthrew them. Fitzpatrick also displayed good running ability, rushing for 18, 12 and 22 yards in large part to having a good burst. He focused on Houshmandzadeh and Johnson with 16 of his 31 passes, and was in rhythm with them on short passing plays.
| RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 24 - 104 - 1, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets) |
Benson ran hard and with good power throughout the game. He attacked the line of scrimmage and showed good cutting ability for someone with his size once he got past the defensive line. Benson accelerated well when he had the opportunity to get through the traffic in the middle of the field, where the majority of his running plays went. He ran with confidence and seemed to always fall forward when tackled.
| RB Chris Perry, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets) |
Perry played sparingly, and had caught his only target.
| RB Kenny Watson, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 (1 targets) |
Watson's contributions were minimal.
| WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rec: 7 - 65 - 0 (11 targets) |
Houshmandzadeh showed his versatility as a receiver in this game by running a wide variety of routes successfully. He was asked to run short routes in the first half, and did so very well, managing to get open most of the time. In the second half, he ran more intermediate and deep routes, and showed good hands and running after the catch. Houshmandzadeh had the distinction of having two of the passes thrown his way intercepted, although one was a free play where Fitzpatrick threw deep to him as a Jaguars lineman had committed an encroachment penalty.
| WR Chad Johnson, Rec: 5 - 37 - 2 (8 targets) |
Johnson was productive in the short passing game, catching two passes for touchdowns, as a result of excellent route running, and good hands. He showed his route running and speed on a deep pass play where he got open heading towards the end zone, but Fitzpatrick missed him. Johnson punctuated the game by kissing his head coach on the sideline after catching one of his touchdowns.
| WR Antonio Chatman, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (2 targets) |
Chatman did not have much of an impact.
| WR Chris Henry, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (5 targets) |
Henry had minimal impact, but contributed to it by dropping a pass that he should have caught. He was targeted deep once, but although he broke open at the end zone the ball was overthrown.
| TE Reggie Kelly, Rec: 2 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Kelly was used as an outlet receiver on two short throws and mostly for his blocking.
| TE Ben Utecht, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (2 targets) |
Utecht caught both short passes thrown to him and ran well after the catch to secure first downs.
| PK Shayne Graham 0 - 0 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 3 points |
Graham made all three of his point after attempts, and did not have any field goal attempts.
| CIN Rush Defense |
Cincinnati's rush defense set the tone early and did not allow Jacksonville's running backs to gain many yards past the line of scrimmage. Their linemen and linebackers penetrated the line of scrimmage consistently, flowed aggressively to the ball and kept Taylor, Jones-Drew and Garrard in check. Apart from a rushing touchdown to Jones-Drew, they shut the Jaguars' running game down, holding them to less than 3.25 yards per attempt as a team. They forced Jacksonville to only attempt 15 rushes by their running backs.
| CIN Pass Defense |
The Bengals' pass defense was aggressive throughout the game. They applied pressure on Garrard throughout, both with a four man rush and by blitzing, which they did frequently. They disrupted Garrard's timing and forced him into one interception and many hurried throws. Cincinnati's defenders sacked Garrard three times and knocked him down on several other pass attempts and did not allow him to get into a rhythm consistently. Their defensive backs also played well and managed to deflect a few passes that could have resulted in big gains. Most of the time though, Garrard's passes were off target due to the pass rush.
