Jacksonville Jaguars: Just win the game is the new mantra
By Larry Brake
The Jacksonville Jaguars have a new team mantra due to Blake Bortles’ inconsistency: just win the game.
Blake Bortles has been the target of criticism throughout his career. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars have consistently stood with him as their starting quarterback. As a result, the Jaguars have adopted a new mantra-just win the game.
Bortles led the Jaguars to a 10-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round of the AFC playoffs. His statistics were not gaudy by any stretch of your imagination, but Bortles is 1-0 in playoff games. The Jaguars won the game, a very simple strategy.
He threw for 87 yards on 12 completions with one touchdown. He ran for 88 yards, but his long 20-yard rush picked up a crucial first down. His quarterback rating was a modest 75.8, not in Peyton Mannings class, but, again, Jacksonville plays next weekend.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports a new discussion for Bortles and the Jaguars offensive woes. He says Chris Simms suggested a new wrinkle for Bortles:
"Simms suggested during Monday’s PFT Live that the Jaguars should shift to a Wildcat-style offense, with Bortles playing the role of mobile quarterback who operates out of shotgun formation, with the read option becoming the focal point of the running attack and with play-action passing happening infrequently to keep defenses semi-honest."
First of all, in Sunday’s game, the Jaguars faced fourth and one. With the ball on the Buffalo 1 yard line, Jacksonville scored via the play action pass. So, there is still some confidence and trust in Bortles’ ability to hit the open receiver.
Remember Bortles’ stats from Pittsburgh in week 5? He completed eight passes for 95 yards with one interception. Leonard Fournette and the defense were dominate that day.
The Jaguars won 30-9 in Pittsburgh. Fournette had two touchdown runs of 2 and 90 yards. Telvin Smith and Barry Church returned interceptions for touchdowns. The Jaguars really didn’t need a passing attack.
Next: 2018 NFL Playoffs: Picks, predictions for Divisional Round
Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports Bortles comments concerning his performance:
"“You know, I kind of reference it to like a pitcher,” Bortles said … You gotta find another pitch to be able to win and be successful and get guys out…Trying to do whatever I can to help this team, help this team score points.”"
Whether the Jaguars win in Pittsburgh or not, they seem to be content with Bortles as their leader. The Jacksonville defense is still playing at the elite level. The plan seems old school and simple: get the lead and put the game into the hands of the defense. Just win the game is the new mantra.