Jaguars vs. Falcons: Thoughts and Notes at Halftime

Where have the Jaguars won so far against the Falcons and where do they have to improve during the second half of today's game?

The Jaguars are entering the locker-room down 14-3 to a struggling Atlanta Falcons team. How did they get here and how can they get out of it moving forward? We break down the good -- and the bad -- and the first h

Plays of the half 

The false start on Cam Robinson on the Jaguars' first drive has to be up here. For most offenses, a false start on 1st-and-10 is a negative but isn't something that will always doom the drive. For the Jaguars' offense, though, that just isn't the case. The Jaguars have zero margins for error, so even a simple mistake like that can derail a drive, and it did just that for the Jaguars as their next three plays combined for five yards and what looked like a promising drive turned into another Logan Cooke punt. 

Then there is Matt Ryan's 3rd-and-13 completion to Mike Davis on the subsequent drive. The Falcons went on to march down the field with big gains by Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson to score their first touchdown, but it wouldn't have happened without Davis torching the Jaguars for an 18-yard gain on third-down after the Jaguars called for a blitz from Rudy Ford.

Jacksonville was actually putting together an interesting and solid drive following the Falcons' touchdown, but the Jaguars once again couldn't get out of their way. After a James Robinson first down, the Jaguars and Lawrence tested the Falcons deep on what the Jaguars' offense seemed to think was a free play due to a flag at the snap. The free play was not a reality, however, as the flag was on Marvin Jones, resulting in Lawrence throwing an interception into double coverage that counted. 

The turnover issues didn't correct themselves on the next drive, either. After an eight-yard gain on first down, James Robinson lost the first fumble of his entire NFL career and the Falcons got the ball at the Jaguars' 30-yard line, making things easy for the Falcons' offense. To make matters worse, the Jaguars were called for a penalty on the Falcons' field goal attempt, leading to an automatic first-down and then a 12-yard Patterson touchdown.

Where are the Jaguars winning?

I truly am not sure. James Robinson looked much more like his old self, rushing 9 times for 40 yards in the first half. Robinson looked explosive, was decisive with his cuts, and simply looked more like the early-season version of Robinson after the last two games looked rough due to his heel/knee injury. Robinson did fumble once, but the Jaguars at least got more out of their ground game this week than in past weeks, 

The Jaguars also did look better on third-down, picking up four of their first five. This included a 3rd-and-22, with Shenault picking up 24 yards on a nicely designed play that had him cross over the middle of the field. Lawrence looked decisive on third-down and the Jaguars put him in better situations, which is more than the Jaguars could say in recent weeks.

Where are the Jaguars losing?

Self-inflicted penalties and mistakes. Each of the Jaguars' turnovers was simply a bad play by the offense instead of a good play by the defense. Lawrence thought he had a free play but even in that scenario, there is no upside to making the throw that he did. Then there is Robinson's fumble, which is completely out of the norm for the talented running back but which hurt the Jaguars even more than the interception since it led to points. 

Then there are the penalties. The Jaguars had the Falcons punting out of their own end zone before a neutral-zone infraction by Lerentee McCray forced the Falcons into the first of a few first downs. Then, the Jaguars had the Falcons scoring just three points instead of seven following Robinson's fumble, but the Jaguars got a penalty for using leverage to leap the pile and subsequently allowed a touchdown. The Jaguars were worse than a bad football team -- they were a dumb team for much of the first-half. They can't win like that.