Jacksonville Jaguars: Looking closer at opening score in preseason Week 1

Let’s take a closer look at the Jacksonville Jaguars first scoring drive on Thursday against New Orleans in Week 1 of the preseason.

Thursday night was the perfect night for football. The Jacksonville Jaguars were back on the game field in their awesome new uniforms. Blake Bortles took the Jaguars down the field to score on their opening drive.

Section 223 was buzzing with excitement after seeing Jacksonville score first. There was a little concern when word came that three starters were not playing. Since two were linemen, a few conversations wondered about the pass protection.

The fears were calmed as Jacksonville went 79 yards on 15 plays. Jacksonville did a good job of mixing the formations. There was a good blend of run/pass play calls, almost even.

Surprisingly, the Jaguars came out on first down in a two-tight end set and two wide receivers. The fullback was on the sideline watching. Leonard Fournette ran for eight yards without a lead blocker. On second down, Jacksonville split Fournette out wide. Bortles was alone in the shotgun formation. They threw a wide receiver screen to pick up the first down.

In that first drive, Jacksonville lined up under center seven times. They were in shotgun formation eight times. Tommy Bohanon, fullback, was on the field on the fourth play of the drive, a pass play.

Remember, the Jaguars want to be a power rushing attack offense. They ran the ball six times on first down and passed twice on that drive. Fournette had 21 yards rushing on those four first-down carries.

Bortles threw the ball very efficiently. He completed 6-of-9 passes for 53 yards. Four of his passes moved the chains for first downs. The biggest pass was on third and ten as he connected with Dede Westbrook on a crossing pattern for 17 yards. Bortles scored two plays later on a rollout, to his right, untouched into the end zone.

There is much to be pleased about the first team offense. Bortles looked confident and cool as he led Jacksonville down the field. New Orleans has a good defense. This season is going to fun!