For the Jacksonville Jaguars, there was optimism at EverBank Field today. The fans were ready to go, two F-15 planes opened the festivities before kickoff, and the 2015 season was underway. However, after the game started, both the Jags and the Carolina Panthers played a sloppy contest, that the Panthers came out to be the less sloppy team today in a 20-9 over the Jaguars.

In the first half of the game, there were multiple dropped catches by both teams, highlighted by Carolina's Ted Ginn Jr. and Jacksonville's Rashad Greene, which would have set up easy touchdowns for each side. However, both teams attempted field goals and missed them. Both teams also committed turnovers and missed golden opportunities that should have been converted to points, with the Jaguars missing a field goal after a Paul Posluszny interception, as well as a missed field goal by Graham Gano after a big punt return by Ted Ginn Jr. nearing the end of the second quarter, which the next drive for the Jags ended up to be their only touchdown of the game.

The Jacksonville Jaguars did find success in the rushing game today in the limited amount of carries T.J. Yeldon received, as he ran for 51 yards on 12 carries. The Jags finished the day with 96 rushing yards in total. Blake Bortles added 26 yards on four carries, as well as Denard Robinson adding 19 yards on five carries.

However, for the passing game that was supposed to shine after a stellar preseason by Blake Bortles, it did not prove to be the case on Sunday. Bortles finished the day with 22 completed passes out of 40 (55 percent) with only 183 passing yards with a single touchdown and two interceptions. The leading receivers for the team was rookie wide receiver Rashad Greene, who had seven receptions for 28 yards plus the only touchdown, and Allen Hurns, who racked up five receptions for 60 yards, but fumbled in the red zone during the first half of the game.

The game breaker for the Jags, however, had to be when the play after left tackle Luke Joeckel was flagged for holding and had to leave the game with a sprained ankle. Blake Bortles let the pass leave his hand early on first-and-20, which led to the game-deciding pick six by Carolina's Josh Norman. The injury to Joeckel also proved costly in pass protection, as the Jaguars finished the game allowing five sacks to Bortles by the end of the game.

"I don’t want to sugarcoat it. It wasn’t good enough and we have to get better," Blake Bortles said in the presser after the game.

The Jaguars defense did its best to shut down the Carolina offense, who already had a depleted passing game. The defense shut down tight end Greg Olsen, who only was able to rack up one catch for 11 yards, held down the rushing game of the Panthers to 105 yards, and 263 yards for the entire game.

"It’s not a good feeling because things under our control – dropped passes, mistakes, critical errors -- kept us from (competing)," head coach Gus Bradley said after the game. "We had to have a game like this to see where our bar is and where we’re at and how much further we need to go."

The fans of the Jaguars were frustrated on social media today, maybe beginning to get tired of Gus Bradley's rhetoric of "getting better." Both the fans and the organization feel like today's game was frustrating and that they deserved more Sunday.

The Jaguars will be facing the now 1-0 Miami Dolphins next week, coming off a win at Washington. However, many will feel that the team needs to provide results and stop messing around on opportunities that the best teams in the NFL can capitalize on. There were too many mistakes for the Jags and they know it. It will be an intriguing process on what the game plan will be next week, especially since the offensive line has to face both Cameron Wake and Ndamukong Suh.

If the Jags do not win next week, they will be on a three-game road trip with the Patriots and Colts on deck for the first two of three, and there might be rumblings and more uncertainty for the future of head coach Gus Bradley.