The Jacksonville Jaguars are rolling after the first month of the season, and their 3-1 record is as good of a start as anyone could have hoped for back in January when the Jaguars finally hit the reset button.
The latest win came in the fashion of a 26-21 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, a physical and emotionally-fueled win that exercised plenty of demons. So, what did we make of the highs and lows of Week 4? We break down the good and the not so good below.
Opportunistic Defense
The Jaguars' defense has continued to take advantage of mistakes from the opposing offense, in addition to creating their own opportunities. The Jaguars got "lucky" on only one of their four turnovers last week, which was an interception off a bungled pass off Christian McCaffrey's hands. Otherwise, the Jaguars punched out two fumbles (really three, but one wasn't recovered) and tipped the pass at the line of scrimmage to force an interception.
The Offensive Line
The Jaguars' offensive line flat out dominated the 49ers' front. While the Jaguars struggled in a few short yardage situations, they generated nearly 100 yards before contact for Travis Etienne and didn't allow a single quarterback hit or sack -- in fact, they only allowed six pressures all game. The offensive line has now won clearly up front for three of the last four weeks.
The Return Game
The Jaguars popped off two massive returns on Sunday that led to the win: Bhayshul Tuten's big kickoff return before halftime helped lead to points, while Parker Washington's third-quarter punt return touchdown gave the Jaguars a two-score lead that they never let go of. After a slow first few weeks, the special teams unit turned it around on Sunday.
The Kicking Game
Cam Little missed a field goal for the second week in a row, and for the second week in a row it came at a key moment in the game. Little was extremely reliable for his entire Jaguars tenure up until the last two weeks, but his last miss could have been costly. Little needs to get back on track quickly.
Explosive Pass Plays
The Jaguars did complete their first deep pass of the season when Trevor Lawrence found Travis Hunter for a 28-yard gain on third down in the first half, but that was one of just two deep passes completed. The Jaguars' passing game lacked any real explosiveness to it against the 49ers, instead trying to beat the 49ers with 1,000 paper cuts. They implied during the week this would be the strategy, but it is still concerning to see the passing game lack a downfield passing game for a month now;
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