Many fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars were really upset with last week's overtime loss against the Indianapolis Colts. They had an opportunity to take sole position of first place in the AFC South for the first time since 2011, however, it ended with a disappointing 16-13 overtime loss in Indianapolis.
This was all against a team who's quarterback is the oldest player in the NFL, who is not a kicker. Some fans, in the heat of the moment, are now beginning to question if head coach Gus Bradley really is the man to lead the Jaguars to the playoffs one day. Is there a valid point to this?
The reasons for the fans being upset, the Jaguars managed to gain over 400 yards on offense and did not have a single turnover for last Sunday's game. However, the team drove down the field multiple times and only managed 13 points in the red zone. In Indianapolis' only touchdown drive of the game, there were five Jaguars penalties that helped the Colts move down the field, highlighted by an unnecessary roughness penalty on a third and long situation on a sack by Chris Clemons that would have stalled the drive for the Colts. The entire game for the Jags were plagued by penalties, with 13 going for 92 yards and resulting in five first downs for the Colts last Sunday. There's an issue in Jacksonville where the team is shooting themselves in the foot in crucial moments that would have sealed the game for them.
What's the argument to defend the head coach for last week's performance? You can say that rookie kicker Jason Myers' two missed field goals at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime made the difference in a clutch scenario, where former kicker Josh Scobee made three game-winning attempts against the Indianapolis Colts alone. The Jaguars have quarterback Blake Bortles on pace for over 4000 yards, two wide receivers on pace for over 1,200 yards in Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson, and running back T.J. Yeldon on pace for over 1,000 yards. The Jags are doing something right in moving down the field on offense, it's just a missing X-factor to help the Jags seal down drives.
That leads to another argument where the Jaguars are still missing their two best players on the team in tight end Julius Thomas and defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks, who both have not suited up for the Jaguars yet this season but both look like they will debut on October 18 at home against the Houston Texans.
However, the main components that seals the fate of Gus Bradley is how much control of the locker room he really has and the confidence of the owner and general manager of the team's trust in him. After Sunday's game, many players on social media defended the head coach from scrutiny from the fans with many saying that the players did not do enough to gain the victory last week, and that they just have to move on to next week's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As for Gus Bradley's relationship with owner Shad Khan and general manager Dave Caldwell, they knew how long this team would need to turn it to a winner once again and the signs still show from the past regime four years ago.
It does the beg the question, how many more losses can the team take before something is done to the franchise? In a tough NFL, there will be many crucial decisions in turning a team around and starting over from scratch once more. For the Jacksonville Jaguars, they are not in panic mode yet, but head coach Gus Bradley needs to pick up victories now to put out the fire the fans are carrying after many years of seeing the team flame out midseason for the past couple of years under Bradley's regime.