Jacksonville Jaguars @ Tennessee Titans
Final Score: Jaguars 10 – Titans 6
Writer: Jason Wolf (J_Wolf_Picks on Twitter)
Coming into this week, the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars combined for a record of 5-19, and the quality of this game lived up to the hype that you would expect from such an epic matchup of heavy hitters. This game had it all: nine whole rushing yards for Jacksonville at halftime, two ugly Mac Jones interceptions, a comedy of errors to end the first half, and a whopping total of one touchdown to compliment the main course of three field goals. Will Levis didn’t turn the ball over, which was good, but he also didn’t put the ball in the endzone, which was bad. Levis has been playing cautious the past few weeks in a visible effort to avoid unnecessary turnovers, but it now seems like he might be crossing over into playing afraid territory. Levis was reluctant to push the ball downfield, and the Jaguars struggled to find consistency in their run game, leading to a matchup full of sputtering offenses, penalties, and punts. Tank Bigsby seems to have taken over as the primary ball carrier in Jacksonville, toting the ball 18 times compared to Travis Etienne‘s four carries on the day, while Calvin Ridley saw 12 targets, three times as many as the next most-targeted receiver and accounting for over 35% of Levis’ targets. The game itself was ugly, however, with up-and-down offenses and a distinct lack of explosive plays on both sides, with the Titans ultimately falling at home to the lowly Jags, 10-6 in what was the lowest-scoring game of the 2024 NFL season so far.
Two Up
- Tank Bigsby – Out-rushed Travis Etienne 18-4 and has become the lead ball carrier for the Jaguars. However valuable that role is, it did come with a lot of carries and the all-important goal-to-go rushes, which Bigsby converted for a touchdown within the five-yard line, the best kind for fantasy managers. With Etienne having taken a back seat and Mac Jones allergic to throwing the ball downfield, Bigsby’s days of solid production are looking up.
- Calvin Ridley – Even though his final stats didn’t pop in today’s game, Calvin Ridley’s usage in this game was incredibly encouraging. Ridley saw 12 targets, three times as much as the next highest-targeted receiver, and accounted for over 35% of Will Levis’ pass attempts. With this kind of consistent usage and target share, Ridley is bound to have bigger days.
Two Down
- Travis Etienne – With Tank Bigsby looking up, naturally, that comes at the cost of Travis Etienne. ETN’s value as a fantasy back and as a running RB has dwindled, with his rushing duties diminished to backup levels and production destined to come mostly from the passing game. Etienne’s production cannot be relied upon, especially after Bigsby’s positive showing on the ground. Even though the Jaguars couldn’t get much going on the ground early on, they stuck with Bigsby, and he rewarded them with tough running and the touchdown.
- Nick Westbrook-Ikhine – After scoring 8 TDs in 8 games, NWI was nearly invisible in this game. He was targeted twice, coming down with one catch for 19 yards. Granted, it was a nice catch, and he was targeted in the end zone, but two targets is disappointing for a guy who has shown to have a certain level of playmaking chops. Inconsistencies in Levis’ aggressiveness, as well as the Titans’ play calling, leave Westbrook-Ikhine’s scoring streak looking more and more fluky.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Quarterback
Mac Jones: 23/31, 220 Yards, 2 INT | 3 Carries, 3 Yards
Mac Jones was mostly accurate on the day. Other than the interceptions, he was reliable in the short-intermediate passing game. Deep balls were never his specialty, and that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon, though he did connect with one nicely placed 20+ air yard pass to Brian Thomas, a theme of the day as Mac Jones locked onto Thomas all day. He peppered him with 12 targets (double the next most-targeted player) and had by far the most success on the day, targeting Thomas. Other than the 21-yard pass to Thomas, it seemed like Jones almost refused to push the ball downfield. Granted, his priority is possession and keeping the ball moving forward, but the offense feels super limited until he can start pushing the ball downfield more. Mac did show good pocket awareness + presence on the Jags’ first drive. He escaped pressure and got rid of the ball quickly when the pocket was about to collapse. The Jags’ first drive did end with a Mac Jones interception, which was a poor decision, and a throw that was dangerously thrown into a crowded area. Thomas should have done a much better job making a play on the ball, but it was still Mac’s fault. Yes, it was 3rd & 16, so he was probably forcing it a little bit, but still. Definitely on Mac, but there was some level of misunderstanding between QB and WR there. With time winding down in the first half, Jones did a good job leading the offense down the field in the two-minute drill. Granted, he was mostly just taking what the defense was giving him by dinking & dunking down the field, but they were picking up yards and setting themselves up to have a chance at a game-tying FG before half until an offensive pass interference set them back and killed the potential scoring drive. On the drive, Mac showed good movement around the pocket, around pressure, and good accuracy on hitting his receivers for checkdowns and dump-offs in stride. He didn’t do anything overly impressive but did manage the situation and clock well enough to give the team a chance to put up some points. His second interception came with one second left in the first half and was ultimately a meaningless turnover, but it definitely could have been avoided. On the one hand, Mac impressively got the ball out instead of taking the sack…on the other hand, he threw it dangerously, slightly out of reach for his receiver so that it was tipped and gently intercepted. The play didn’t occur in the worst part of the field, given the situation, but it was still an unnecessary turnover. The ball should have been thrown farther away, or Mac should have just taken the sack to end the half. He did an excellent job manipulating the pocket and extending plays using his legs, particularly on his big play to BTJ with 8:30 left in the game, connecting for a gain of 31 yards. The play was only made possible by Mac bouncing around in the pocket and buying time for Thomas to work himself open. He was surprisingly effective in using his legs to extend plays and avoid sacks.
Running Back
Tank Bigsby: 18 Carries, 55 Yards, TD | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 7 Yards
Tank Bigsby got several carries on the Jaguars’ first drive. He was brought in to pick up tough yards on runs in the interior but wasn’t super effective in the beginning. What seemed like a 1B situation for Bigsby quickly turned into a bell-cow RB situation as he saw 18 carries to Travis Etienne‘s four. I did notice that the play-calls for Bigsby were less creative and more predictable than Etienne’s involvement was. It could have played a factor in Bigsby’s lower efficiency when compared to ETN on the day, as Etienne finished with a 5.0 YPC while Bigsby finished with a sub 4.0 mark. Bigsby was getting carries in goal-to-go situations as well as when the Jaguars were backed up against their endzone, so the modest YPC is baked into the nature of his usage and role in the offense. They trust Bigsby as they gave him the ball every time they were backed up at their endzone, which resulted in around three carries on their own 1 or 2-yard line for Bigsby. He did a good job of falling forward and getting positive yardage on each of those carries, living up to his name by absorbing contact in the backfield behind the LOS but working his way through it to pick up positive yards on would-be negative plays. One of the top RBs in the league in yards after contact and repeatedly showed how he does that in this game, plowing his way through arm tackles and keeping his legs churning through contact. Bigsby showed off his strength on his TD run, stiff-arming away arm tackles and muscling his way through contact into the endzone.
Travis Etienne 4 Carries, 20 Yards | 4 Targets, 4 Receptions, 50 Yards
This game featured Travis Etienne as more of the complimentary, pass-catching RB. He seems to have lost the primary rushing duties to Bigsby for now, as he was out-rushed 4:18 by Bigsby on the day. Etienne, however, was the more productive pass-catching back, as he finished with 50 yards receiving and more total yards than Bigsby. Etienne received a short dump-off on 3rd & 10 and shook a defender on his way to a 21-yard gain. He looked explosive on the play, turning seemingly nothing into a whole bunch of something. Had an RB screen called for him, which was well-executed and blocked. Took it for nine yards. Picking up good yards with nearly every touch of the ball for ETN in the first quarter. He finished third on the team in targets and second in receiving yards.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Brian Thomas: 12 Targets, 8 Receptions, 86 Yards
Brian Thomas was lined up in all different parts of the field as he moved around a lot and took snaps everywhere from the slot and both sides of the field. He had his first target bounce off his hands on a deep ball in the first quarter. It was a well-placed ball, but defended well. Thomas could have made the play but didn’t. Not even a knock on him, as he very well might make the same play next time. It was a slow start for Thomas as he was held without a catch for the first half of the game (but had 3 targets) until the third quarter when the Jags realized that he was their best chance of making plays, so they started feeding him. On one drive in the third quarter, he had four catches in a row (for 24 yards) and finished the drive with five catches for 29 yards. That drive was their first scoring drive of the game. It is no coincidence that it was also the first drive that the Jags started feeding the ball to Thomas. On the next drive, which was their first TD-scoring drive, Mac Jones hit Thomas for gains of 21, 5, and 31. They started spamming short throws to Brian Thomas late in the third quarter when they desperately needed to put up some points, and it worked…ultimately leading to their first points on the day. It was like a flip switched, and Thomas became unguardable.. he was dominating the Titans’ DBs. He was the guy Mac Jones was looking to in the second half in particular. When they needed a play, were desperate for points, or the play broke down, Mac Jones was looking for Thomas to make a play, and most of the time, BTJ came through and did.
Evan Engram: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 33 Yards
Evan Engram didn’t make his first catch of the day until there were three minutes left in the first half, but it was impactful as he got a first down on a 3rd & 10 backed up against their end zone. Engram caught the ball about 5 yards short of the first down marker but bullied his way across the marker, outmuscling a defender on his way to the first down. He showed some impressive fight on both of his first two catches in the first half, getting some extra yards through pure hard work and effort. Engram made a tough catch in the red zone early in the fourth quarter, where he had to go down and get under the ball to secure it. He showed great focus and went all the way down to get the ball, bringing his team within a few yards of the endzone. The Jaguars have to look to feed him the ball more often. He is clearly one of their only reliable playmakers; you can tell when he gets the ball in his hands that he’s a weapon.
Parker Washington: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 15 Yards
Brenton Strange: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 21 Yards
Devin Duvernay: <3 Targets, 3 Receptions, 8 Yards
Tennessee Titans
Quarterback
Will Levis: 19/32, 168 Yards | 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Will Levis was decent, if not unspectacular, on the day as he mostly dinked and dunked his way to 168 scoreless yards. The good thing is that, yet again, he went a full game without any turnovers or catastrophic mistakes. The bad side of that is that he seems to be playing with a very short leash, and it is preventing him from attempting to make plays that capitalize on his talents at hand. Whether he’s playing reserved intentionally or playing afraid of making mistakes, it’s leading to a more stagnant and boring offensive output from the Titans. In this game, Levis showed good timing with Calvin Ridley on those quick little out routes. Levis was able to deliver the ball to Ridley right on his hands near the sideline and away from defenders. Levis shines off of play-action and extending plays by scrambling outside of the pocket. He has surprisingly good accuracy on the run. Levis showed some nice patience in the pocket, waiting for routes to develop and the guys to get open. He didn’t force things and didn’t rush things. Seemed more poised in the pocket this week and yet again avoided costly mistakes in favor of a more measured approach. Particularly showed this off on the 21-yard pass to TE Josh Whyle. He showed improved pocket movement/awareness and presence. He hung in tough in the pocket even when pressure was arriving and maneuvered around it, extending the pocket and getting rid of the ball before getting hit. Levis finished the first half 9/13 for 88 yards, looking mostly good but not good enough to lead his team to multiple scoring drives. Watching Levis, the talent is always obvious and never in question, with his mobility and zip on his arm always lurking, but he is far from putting it all together. He made a poor decision to throw the ball to Chig Okonkwo on 2nd & 7 when he was 5+ yards behind the LOS. Throwing it to Chig guaranteed a loss of yards on the play. He could have just chucked it down the sideline for an incomplete or scrambled and thrown it away instead of losing yards on the play, throwing to a double-covered TE behind the LOS. Ultimately, Levis’ inability to take over and find the right guy at the right moment was the difference between his team winning and losing in this one. With the amount of time, they had the ball and plays they ran in Jacksonville territory, the offense had to do better than come away with six points off two field goals, and that falls on Levis.
Missed Opportunities
- Another questionable decision on Levis’ target to a covered Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in the back of the end zone when he had an open Ridley in the middle of the field for an easy open first down. With three timeouts left and only 3 yards needed for a first down, Levis should have prioritized keeping the ball over scoring on that play.
- Missed opportunity on his endzone throw to Nick Vannett. He had Okonkwo wide open for the TD but didn’t see him or saw him too late, firing to a draped Vannett for the incomplete and turnover on downs instead.
Running Back
Tony Pollard: 21 Carries, 102 Yards | 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 22 Yards
The Titans opened the game with four consecutive Tony Pollard runs, on which he picked up two first downs. He got the call on six of the Titans’ first eight offensive plays, falling forward, hitting holes hard, and running physically; he started off looking solid in this yard-chewing, bruising RB role. He repeatedly made it difficult for the defenders to bring him down. Numerous times, he absolutely refused to go down on first (or second) contact. Pollard had a TD run within the 5-yard line called back due to holding on the offensive line… Pollard again showed good toughness + ability to bounce off contact on the TD run, but the play was nullified due to a penalty. He also showed some nice agility and elusiveness when he made a nice move behind the LOS, making a guy miss and turning upfield for an 11-yard gain. He followed that up by impressively getting away from Travon Walker and beating the defense to the edge for a 1 yard gain. Only a one-yard gain, but he did a great job in avoiding a negative play. On his long gain of 21, he showed off his patented strength and ability to break arm tackles but also put a nasty stiff arm on display as he refused to go down and fell forward for some extra yards as well.
Tyjae Spears: 6 Carries, 21 Yards | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 2 Yards
Tyjae Spears came in after four consecutive Pollard carries to start the game and took his first carry of the day for an impressive 7 yards. He showed surprising physicality on his pickup of 7 as he fought his way through contact for a couple of extra yards. They went right back to him on 2nd & 3, but he was only able to pick up 1. Pollard came in and converted the 3rd & 2 on the next play. Not completely suited for the interior runs and tough RB role. He received the carry on 3rd & 3 on the Titans’ opening drive, and the rush went nowhere. It was a questionable call to run Spears between the tackles to pick up the tough 3 yards. It should have been Pollard or a pass play with Spears getting the ball in space instead. He showed some nice patience as a runner when he followed his lead blocker on his way to a nice 8-yard gain under four minutes to go in the game on the would-be game-winning drive.
Notes
- Also returned some kicks.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Calvin Ridley: 12 Targets, 7 Receptions, 59 Yards
Calvin Ridley got the call on a WR screen on the Titans’ passing play of the game. He caught it and did a nice job to gain a couple of extra yards via a juke in the open field in what was a sign of things to come in this one, as Ridley led the Titans in receiving yards and led the team in targets by a wide margin. Ridley’s 12 targets were three times as much as Chig Okonkwo‘s and Tyler Boyd‘s four targets, showcasing the absolute stranglehold that Ridley has on the Titans’ target share and passing game. Ridley got the ball on an end around within the 5-yard line. It was encouraging to see a play drawn up for him so close to the end zone and to see his involvement early on in the passing game as well. The target share is wild, but the unfortunate aDOT and connection on deep balls with Levis have led to disappointing yardage output. Still, as a Ridley fantasy manager, you love to see those kinds of usage numbers. Ridley was often a step or two ahead of his defender, but Levis couldn’t deliver the ball exactly where it needed to be for Ridley to make the play. On Ridley’s 30-yard catch-and-run, Levis did deliver the ball…perfectly putting it where Ridley could pick it up and run with it in stride with full momentum. Before his gain of 30, Ridley wasn’t able to rip off any chunk plays, with his long gain only being 8 before the big play in the 4th.
Missed Opportunities
- One of his targets that fell incomplete should have been a DPI that would have kept the drive going. The missed penalty + target makes his day seem more inefficient and also killed a Titans’ drive.
- Caught the ball on 3rd & 5 with a minute left to go in the game but went out of bounds instead of trying to pick up the first down. He might have come up short by a yard or inches, but it would have been better than going straight out for only a couple of yards gain… The Titans didn’t end up picking up the first down and turned the ball over instead…poor situational awareness by Ridley.
- Was also open on the next play for a would-be first down…instead of looking Ridley’s way again, Levis locked onto a covered Westbrook-Ikhine for an incomplete.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 19 Yards
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was invisible until making his first (and only) catch of the day in the mid-third quarter. NWI did a good job on the catch of coming back and adjusting his body to get down and get both arms under the ball, which he did, doing a good job of securing the ball. He was also targeted on the Titans’ last-gasp attempt at a TD when Levis looked for him in the back corner of the endzone, even though he was covered. While his streak of 8 games with scoring a TD did come to an end, Levi was looking his way for the score with the game on the line, which is a silver lining to take away from his week.
Chig Okonkwo: 4 Targets, 3 Receptions, 8 Yards
Chig Okonkwo was mostly running short routes and getting targeted on short stuff only. On his long reception of the game, Okonkwo was wide open on a short route in the middle in the soft part of the defensive zone, and Levis hit him for the easy 10 + yard gain. He questionably got the ball 5+ yards behind the LOS with two defenders in front of him. It was fine for Chig’s career tally to add another reception, but the decision by Levis was a poor one, as the play was obviously destined to lose yards.
Missed Opportunities
- Could have had a touchdown, but Levis threw to a more covered Nick Vannett, who couldn’t come down with the play. Okonkwo was wide open just a couple of yards away from Vannett coming off the top of his route.
Tyler Boyd: 4 Targets, 1 Reception, 7 Yards
Josh Whyle: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 31 Yards