Jacksonville Jaguars: Free fall continues in Dallas

The Jacksonville Jaguars lose their second consecutive game, 40-7, as the free fall continues

Tom Petty had a hit song called “Free Falling” that was released back in 1989. It could actually be the Jacksonville Jaguars theme song in 2018 though, at least for the past two weeks. Jacksonville was blown off the field, 40-7, by the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in Week 6.

Jacksonville came into the game with a plethora of injuries. The Jaguars lost two more key players in the game. Niles Paul and Jaydon Mickens were hurt and never returned to the game.

The Jacksonville offense continued to flop and be unimpressive. Blake Bortles completed 15-of-26 passes for 149 yards with one touchdown. His interception came as Bortles threw into triple coverage, which resulted in another Cowboys score.

Most of all, the vaunted Jaguars defense gave up 40 points. Sacksonville did record three sacks in the loss, but bent and broke all day long. They gave up 172 passing yards and 206 rushing yards.

Jacksonville had no answer for three Dallas players. Dak Prescott threw for the 172 yards and rushed for 82 yards. Wide receiver Cole Beasley and running back Ezekiel Elliott combined for 218 total yards in the game

Dallas scored 24 first half points to lead at halftime, 24-0. Dede Westbrook scored the only Jaguars touchdown on a 34 yard pass from Bortles. The Cowboys added 16 more second half points to make the final 40-7.

John Oehser of Jaguars.com reported Doug Marrone’s comments following the loss:

"“Obviously a poor performance starting with me,” Marrone said … “We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to play better. I don’t think there’s anything where you can say, ‘We’ve got to build on this or build on that.’ Right now, we’ve got to get back and get to work.”"

Expect Marrone and his coaching staff to address the patchwork offensive line. They are playing their third left tackle and hoping that Ereck Flowers will be able to fill in. Remember, games are won or lost in the trenches and Dallas won that battle.

There are still six games left to play this season. Houston, Tennessee, and Jacksonville all have identical 3-3 records. The free fall must stop in order to win the AFC South.