The Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Philadelphia Eagles Sept. 26 but seemed lost on both offense and defense. The Eagles took the lead in the first quarter and never looked back, winning against the Jaguars 28-3 on a day many are calling the lowest point in franchise history.
The game was a close battle until late in the first half when the Jaguars let Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick complete a touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin with under a minute to play. The touchdown put the Eagles up 14-3 and seemed to take the air out of the Jaguars.
The second half created more problems for the Jaguars-The Eagles scored twice in the third quarter by way of rushing and passing by Vick, further lengthening the score between the two teams, 28-3. David Garrard threw an interception that was intended for Mike Sims-Walker but landed in the hands of Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel on the Jaguars’ 35-yard line.
“We could never get a rhythm going, we could never get anything going,” Garrard said. “We got to regroup and get everybody back on the same page.”
The Jaguars’ offensive line allowed Garrard to be sacked six times and hit many more times. The Eagles held the Jaguars offense under 200 yards, had one interception and held the Jaguars to 29 percent (5-17) on converting third down.
While Garrard struggled, running back Maurice Jones-Drew said Garrard was not the only one to blame.
“It’s a team sport. Why should one guy get [the criticism]?” Jones-Drew said. “We didn’t play well in any facet of the game, especially offensively. I mean three points is ridiculous, I have never been on an offense where we scored three points, or six points or anything with no touchdowns, so that’s something we have to work on, and I promise you guys it will be fixed, it will be fixed tomorrow, I guarantee you.”
The Jaguars didn’t do anything right, so it all needs to be fixed, Jones-Drew said. The plans to fix the problem of the Jaguars start with watching the game tape. After they assess the situation, then progress can be made, he said.
Going an entire game without scoring one touchdown doesn’t look promising for any franchise, let alone the Jaguars. The hype of the team moving away from Jacksonville has died down for now, but this game didn’t help the situation. The Jaguars take on the Colts Oct. 3, focusing on the future and accepting the past.
“It’s one of those things where you gotta get back to it, we got a big game coming up this week,” tight end Mercedes Lewis said.
Lewis had three receptions for 15 yards in the game.
“We can’t worry about it now, it’s in the past.”
