Skip to main content
Advertising

Jaguars News | Jacksonville Jaguars - jaguars.com

Gameday takeaways: Upside down, but oh-so clutch

20151115-takeaways.jpg


BALTIMORE, Md. – Senior writer John Oehser's five takeaways from the Jaguars' 22-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., Sunday

1. Upside down but oh-so clutch. We begin game-day takeaways with kicker Jason Myers, who hardly could have had a wider range of performance – and emotions – on Sunday. He hardly could have had an odder view of his 53-yard game-winning field goal, either. "I hit it well – I knew that," Myers said of the kick that came on an untimed play with the clock showing :00. "Whoever came off the edge, I fell over him. I was actually upside down looking up at the Jumbotron watching the ball. So, I was a little delayed from everybody." Myers made three of four field goals Sunday but missed badly from 26 yards with 1:21 remaining in the third quarter, a miss that loomed large with the Jaguars trailing by one late in the game. He received a second chance when Ravens linebacker Elvis Dumervil's face mask on the game's final play gave the Jaguars a first down at the Ravens 35 – and the untimed down. "Anyone's emotional," Myers said. "I let a little something out at the end, when it went through. But that's what I'm here for." Myers had missed three extra points this season and also missed two game-winning field goals in a Week 5 overtime loss at Indianapolis. Asked if the game-winner saved the rookie's job, Jaguars Head Coach Gus Bradley smiled and said, "He mishit it (the 26-yarder), but he hit the last one. He hit it good, too. It went into the net and could have gone a little bit further. He's always been a guy with great confidence. Sometimes, you have to wait for the next game to get another opportunity. He got another opportunity."

2. Playing through pain.Allen Hurns downplayed his sprained foot all week. So, how much did the second-year receiver play through Sunday? "A lot," he said with a smile. "Coming into this week, I was frustrated because I didn't know if I was going to be playing today or not." After not practicing Wednesday or Thursday, Hurns started Sunday and caught five passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. "He's unbelievable," Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles said. "He's as tough as they come." Hurns not only played through the foot injury, he was hit hard enough on two receptions on one third-quarter drive that he left briefly to have his shoulder checked by trainers. "It just shows the trust we have, quarterback and receiver," Hurns said. "Blake trusts that even if it's a tight window I'm going to come down with it. If I get hit, I get hit. I'm going to get hit regardless. You might as well get rewarded with the catch." Hurns' five-yard first-quarter touchdown reception not only gave the Jaguars a 7-0 lead it extended to seven Hurns' franchise-record for consecutive games with a touchdown reception. "That's crazy," he said. "The main thing for me coming into this year was consistency. I guess you could call this consistency right there."

Images from the Jaguars Week 10 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

3. As close as close can be.How chaotic was game's end Sunday? Start here: After Bortles' 11-yard pass to tight end Julius Thomas on 3rd-and-15 from the Jaguars 40, 14 seconds remained. With the clock running, Bortles also said he wasn't sure there was time to get a snap off. "We usually say 16 seconds is our mark to where we can run a play," he said. "We did it 14 seconds." Jaguars defenders from the sideline weren't sure Bortles did get it off – replays showed the snap right at the :01 mark – then Bortles slipped, got back to his feet, and scrambled before Dumervil grabbed his face mask. Because a game can't end on a defensive penalty, the Jaguars had an untimed down from the Ravens 45. That meant a 53-yard field goal for Myers. "It was just, 'Hey, we just want a chance … just give us a chance,''' Bradley said. "That penalty, it gave us a chance, and that's all you can hope for. … I've seen that with this team. The effort, the scratching, the clawing, everything that they're doing – let's make sure we continue that part of it. That's one of our strengths, and we need to build on that strength."

4. Takeaway time.So much for the idea that the Jaguars' secondary doesn't make interceptions. Davon House made one Sunday – and he actually made two on back-to-back possessions. "I guess we can start talking about how we need more picks now," he said of a Jaguars secondary that did not have an interception in the first eight games of the season. House, who returned to the starting lineup last week after a week as a backup against the Bills in Week 7, broke up two passes in the first quarter Sunday. House then registered interceptions on consecutive third-quarter possessions, with his first interception coming on the first play of the second half and giving the Jaguars a first down at the Ravens 27. That led to Myers' second field goal of the game, a 45-yarder that cut the Ravens' lead to 14-13. House intercepted a deep pass down the sideline from Flacco to end the next possession. The Jaguars for the game had four takeaways to one for the Ravens.

5. A good start.Wide receiver Marqise Lee had just one reception for eight yards Sunday, but said he finished the game unhurt – and he also said he felt fine physically afterward. Lee, a second-year veteran, had missed the last five games with a hamstring issue that has lingered since three days into training camp. Lee was targeted five times while playing limited reps in his first game since Week 3. "I'm pretty sure next week we'll move forward as far as the limitations," Lee said. While Bradley said Lee wasn't on a snap count Sunday, "We were aware of it. We didn't want him to go too much." Said Lee, "I was rusty, but I knew I was going to be rusty. But I think route-running, tempo-wise I did OK, so we'll move forward from there." Jaguars defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks left the game with a shoulder injury; wide receiver Bryan Walters sustained a concussion and will be in the concussion program.

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.

Related Content

Advertising