Poor Execution Dooms Jaguars in Week 2 Loss to Browns

The Jacksonville Jaguars fall to 0-2 after a dismal 18-13 performance against the Cleveland Browns.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) can’t connect with wide receiver Gabe Davis (0) as Cleveland Browns linebacker Jordan Hicks (58) wraps up during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

You can't finish what you don't start. That was the lesson the Jacksonville Jaguars learned the hard way on Sunday. All week, the talk was about finishing the game. It was what doomed the Jaguars in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins.

There lies the grandest irony. In Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns, a 18-13 defeat, the Jaguars couldn't even win the first half of football.

Even the final 87-second drive to get the win was in vain. It was fitting that the hardest it rained all day, which was already sloppy, came during that drive.

What lost the game wasn't the failed heave from Trevor Lawrence to the endzone as the clock hit zero. It was just about everything that preceded it.

The Jaguars started the game with the ball but five plays and 15 yards later, they would punt.

Then it became clear: Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski approached this game like it was January and a playoff spot was on the line (he was 3-for-3 on fourth-down attempts). The Jaguars did not.

The Browns embarked on a 16-play, 89-yard, nine-minute masterclass of a drive that ended in seven points. The Browns got creative utilizing jet sweeps, unique blocking schemes and a Deshaun Watson performance that was better than anything he has produced in a long time.

About Watson -- he found his rhythm as a game manager in this contest. He did everything Stefanski needed him to do. Watson was 22 of 34 for 186 yards. No touchdowns in the air. But no interceptions and no sacks. He took care of the football. It was enough.

The Jaguars defense was hampered by injury in the secondary and it showed. The front seven, a supposed strenght with this team, was pushed around by the Browns.

Running backs D'Onta Foreman and Jerome Ford, with contrasting but angry running styles, helped make up for a big chunk of the Browns' 125 yards on the ground. It chewed clock, it extended drives, it helped win the game.

The play-calling for the Jaguars was inconsistent and adjustments came too little, too late. It seemed like a Lawrence connection with rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., late in the third for 66 yards to set up a Travis Etienne (13 carries, 52 yards) touchdown, would be the momentum changer.

A reversal of fortune from last week's late third quarter game-changer. All the Jaguars would muster afterward was their second field goal, even with the help of three defensive penalties against the Browns.

Forcing the Browns to punt late in the fourth looked like a sign of life until punter Corey Bojorquez expertly put the ball on the Jaguars' 2. It took just one play for the Browns to sack Lawrence. Hence the issue of the offensive line, which struggled to give Lawrence adequate time.

Lawrence was sacked four times, though most of them stemmed from his poor decision-making and lack of awareness in the pocket. Lawrence was 14 of 30 for 220 yards. A good amount of those yards came from the final drive against prevent coverage.

There was plenty of frustration from head coach Doug Pederson, who seemingly had no answers. Lawrence was visibly upset at times. The game will trigger more questions about the play-calling and just who is making the decisions.

Worth noting: the Browns had twice as many penalties than the Jaguars and over 100 penalty yards.

This game proved two definitive truths in the game of football:

Coaching is everything and you can't finish what you don't start.

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