JACKSONVILLE – He was accurate, relaxed and effective.
Those attributes defined Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles Saturday – and as Interim Head Coach Doug Marrone saw it, they added up to the third-year veteran's most-effective performance of the 2016 season.
"It was probably to date his best game of the season," Marrone said Monday, two days after Bortles threw for 325 yards and a touchdown in a victory over the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Field.
Marrone, speaking to reporters by conference call, covered several topics from the 38-17 victory that eliminated Tennessee from the playoffs. It was a game that also included wide receiver Allen Robinson's best performance of the season, and a stifling defensive performance against a Top 10 offense.
But perhaps most notable was Bortles' performance.
Bortles, who had struggled much of the season with accuracy, interceptions and decision-making, completed 17 of his first 18 passes and finished the first half completing 18 of 23 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Marqise Lee in the fourth quarter.
It was the first time the Jaguars have won a game in which Bortles threw for 300 or more yards.
"Overall, I thought he did an outstanding job," Marrone said of Bortles. "He wasn't pressing and he was taking what the defense was giving him. There are still a couple of things we're going to continue to work on going into this next week, but I was very impressed with how he played."
Marrone noted that Bortles completed six of 11 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown on passes that were thrown at least 15 yards.
"That was important going into the game, trying to make the big plays," Marrone said.
Robinson, a 2015 Pro Bowl selection who entered the game with 59 receptions for 654 yards this season, caught nine passes for a season-high 147 yards – including five receptions of 15 or more yards.
Marrone said the Jaguars moved Robinson around more in the offensive formations than previously had been the case this season, and Robinson got numerous plays at the Z receiver position.
"He hasn't been at that position before," Marrone said. "We had him basically at all three [receiver] positions. … I thought he was outstanding. Sometimes with receivers you have to be careful … they don't want to move … there's a comfort level. He was great.
"I just told him, 'Hey, let's go out there. We have a pretty good matchup. We're going to go to you. We expect you to win and we're going to do everything we can to put you in that position.'''
With Robinson registering a season-best receiving day, the Jaguars' offense registered 415 total yards. It was the Jaguars' second-highest yardage total of the season a week after being held to a season-low 150 yards in a loss to Houston.
The defense also played perhaps its best overall game of the season, holding Tennessee to 263 yards. That was the second-fewest yards allowed by the Jaguars' defense this season, and nearly half of what the Jaguars allowed Tennessee in the teams' first meeting.
The 263 yards was the Titans' second-lowest output of the season, and the 58 yards rushing by the Titans was the lowest of the season for a team that entered the game No. 3 in the NFL in rushing.
Titans running back DeMarco Murray, the NFL's second-leading rusher, rushed for 42 yards on 14 carries. That tied his lowest output of the season.
"It is impressive," Marrone said. "This team has done a good job, the Tennessee Titans, in being able to run the football. They have come out and said that is what they want to do. Our defense really withstood a great challenge."
Marrone said while the front played well against the run, the group was aided by a standout game from a Jaguars secondary that helped hold the Titans to 223 yards passing.
"The defensive backs came up big," Marrone said. "We didn't have to worry about putting extra guys on the back end. We could keep our guys up front in an eight-man box to try to get them to stop the run and force them to throw."
