Jaguars-Vikings: 5 Observations on Maddening Loss

What do we make of the Jacksonville Jaguars' 12-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings?

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) talk after the game of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Vikings defeated the Jaguars 12-7. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars have hit a new low in the 2024 season.

After seven losses in their first nine games, the Jaguars had plenty of lowlights and long Sunday afternoons. But Week 10's 12-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings was the worst game yet for the Jaguars, largely due to an all-time poor day offensively.

So, what did we see out of the Jaguars in Week 10 and what does it mean moving forward? We break it down below.

We saw how much Trevor Lawrence matters

For those who wanted to see a Jaguars offense without Trevor Lawrence ... well, you got your wish. Sunday was only the second game since 2021 in which the Jaguars didn't have Lawrence under center. The first time came in 2023 against the worst team in the NFL, and we didn't learn much about the Jaguars.

This time, we learned plenty. We saw a Lawrence-less offense against a top defense, and the results were one of the worst offensive games in franchise history. This game proved that Lawrence consistently elevates a poor Jaguars offense, with the Jaguars failing to show any fight without him outside of one drive.

Jaguars' offensive staff deserves more flack than Mac Jones

It is hard to put much blame on Mac Jones for the loss. Jones is a backup quarterback at this stage of his career, and we have said all week what a tough spot Jones was being put into. He is a backup quarterback playing behind an offensive line that is missing two Week 1 starters, and it is clear the offense was missing juice in the skill room due to Christian Kirk's injury.

With that said, the Jaguars didn't look remotely close to a professional offense outside of one drive. The Jaguars' offensive brain trust of Doug Pederson and Press Taylor were completely out-coached and outmatched against Brian Flores. Brian Thomas Jr. was nowhere to be found, with no schemed screens, touches in the run game or motions to help free him up. The Jaguars had a backup quarterback in the game and still played on hard mode, and that comes down to the coaches.

Jaguars defense finally showed firepower

The Jaguars' defense didn't have a dominant day where they pushed around the Vikings offense on any given down. But the defense did have its best performance of the season from a results standpoint, with Tyson Campbell helping Foyesade Oluokun record one big interception, Montaric Brown recording his first-ever interception and Darnell Savage recording his first interception as a Jaguar.

The defense gave up some third-down conversions they shouldn't have, and the run defense was up and down at times. But as a whole, the defense put the Jaguars in position to win the game and they made big plays when it counted, forcing the Vikings to settle for field goals every single time they had a chance to put points on the board.

Running backs had a day to forget

The Jaguars' running backs certainly didn't have a game they are going to want to remember. The backfield of Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby and D'Ernest Johnson had a tough day of sledding on the ground, with a few Etienne explosive runs serving as the only truly successful running plays.

But the bad day for the Jaguars' backfield goes beyond what they did on their carries. Instead, the Jaguars' running backs stood out against the Vikings' blitz-happy defense in some of the worst way ways considering what the obvious game-plan for both sides of the ball were. The running backs consistently made mistakes in pass pro, leading directly to two of the Vikings' sacks.

Travon Walker's final play

There has been some faux outrage at the final play of the game, which saw Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker flagged for unnecessary roughness. The penalty effectively ended the game, but it sure doesn't feel like it was a boneheaded play by Walker. Walker wasn't throwing punches or acting outside of the lines of football. He was simply going for the football.

"The ref basically, literally, said I was too aggressive after the whistle was blown," Walker said after the game. "So that definitely surprised me -- [the] referee telling me that I'm too aggressive in the game of football."

Walker did the right thing and owned up to the mistake, but it wasn't nearly the snafu that some made it out to me. It was a high-effort player making a high-effort play to try to will his team to a win, and nothing more.

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