Jaguars vs Vikings: Winners and losers from Week 10

Another week, another loss for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

With a 12-7 defeat at the hand of the visiting Minnesota Vikings, the Jaguars are now officially back to being the league’s worst overall team. A 2-8 record has the Jags slated to pick No. 1 overall for the third time in five years with seven games to play before the end of the year.

Every week feels like the same thing over and over again with no end in sight for this listless squad.

WINNERS

Trevor Lawrence

Ok, so it can be agreed upon that Trevor Lawrence is not the problem here, right? Without Lawrence, the Jags lost a game in which they generated three turnovers but scored just seven points. The team mounted a nine-play, 70-yard scoring drive on its second possession. Afterward, the team gained 71 total yards. Not ideal. It’s bad the Jags are at a point in the season where guys who are not even playing can be considered winners but here we are. It’s official Lawrence isn’t and probably wasn’t ever the issue. Now it has been laid out plain as day.

The defensive backs

Against a team that throws the ball around as well as the Vikings do, the Jacksonville defensive backs actually had an outstanding day. Tyson Campbell played great and was in on the defense’s first interception. Montaric Brown snagged a pick and Darnell Savage capped the day off with a pick in the end zone. Up to Sunday, the defense and special teams units had generated three turnovers. They left Sunday equaling that mark. It is just a shame that their performance was rewarded with whatever it was the offense was doing. Justin Jefferson had 48 yards receiving. The Vikings didn’t have a 100-yard rusher and didn’t have a receiver go over 75 yards. And the Jags lost.

LOSERS

Mac Jones

The idea behind acquiring Mac Jones this offseason actually seemed pretty sound. Behind Lawrence, the Jags could take a low-cost flier on a former first-round pick, clean him up and send him to a quarterback-needy team at some point down the line for an increased price. That was until Sunday, when Jones threw two picks and lost a fumble while throwing for just 111 yards. Yes, it was Jones’ first start with the team but he looked as disjointed as one could especially after the touchdown drive. CJ Beathard won his start last year. Jones could not do the same, albeit against a better team. But in the end the defense gave the offense a chance to win the game late, and again the offense faltered.

The Jaguars

This team has now lost six games this season by five points or less including three consecutive losses by a combined 13 points. At some point it is not on the players but the position they are being put in by the staff. Hopefully soon there will be a bit of a coaching reckoning so things can at least get back on the rails. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that is going to happen with this organization. One day all this losing will hopefully alert the powers that be to the issues of this team. One day…

The box score

Looking at Sunday’s box score is actually disgusting. The Jags had just 10 first downs. They ran 39 fewer plays than Minnesota. The home team was outgained by about 250 yards while having the same amount of drives as the Vikings (10). Minnesota had the ball for over 40 minutes. This football game was a complete disasterclass showcase from those in eggshell white helmets. The Jacksonville Jaguars are so good at rewriting history because they typically are the only franchise bad enough to set these sorts of records against them.