One of the best moves in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offseason was presumed to be the hiring of defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen .
His unit looked good the first two games, but it has since raised multiple red flags with dreadful pass coverage. Allowing 24 fourth quarter points last week to the Indianapolis Colts and 39-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco was particularly alarming.
Nothing looked worse than holding a 14-point lead, then letting Colts third-team receiver Alec Pierce get behind the secondary twice for catches of 45 and 65 yards that allowed Indianapolis to pull into a 34-34 tie.
Across the ocean: Jacksonville Jaguars get off winless train, but suspect defense better find answers in London
A two-score margin with under five minutes remaining called for the Jaguars to play more conservative, with two-deep safety coverage the obvious option.
However, there appeared to be a lot of confusion about the Jaguars’ strategy, especially when Pierce easily ran by safety Andre Cisco on the 65-yard, game-tying TD pass.
"We're playing a coverage where he's coming from my side of the field, so I could have been much better on that," said Cisco. "I was really making sure that I was staying on the side of the receiver. It would have given me a better chance to make a play downfield."
Unfortunately, Cisco never caught up with Pierce, who easily outran him to the end zone. Nielsen fell on the sword Thursday, saying the terrible coverage that resulted in the Jaguars almost losing a game they had in control was entirely his fault.
“Yeah, it could have been two-high [safety coverage] right there,” said Nielsen. “Yeah, got to do a better job, make a better call and get off the field right there in that situation.
“I was not expecting that at all. We were expecting the deep balls, but not the result of the play. It’s 100 percent on me.”
Blame is not the issue so much as Nielsen and his players being in sync in the future , especially in a close-out-the-game situation.
A better pass rush (Jaguars have 11 sacks in five games) from the interior linemen and cornerback Tyson Campbel l returning from IR would help matters, but this Jaguars pass defense is trending toward being historically bad.
Jacksonville is allowing 287.8 yards passing per game, nearly 20 yards more than the franchise record (268.2, 2015). Opposing quarterbacks have a 111.7 rating, which is 30th in the NFL, and on pace for a team-worst mark.
WHAT WE'RE SAYING: Week 6 staff predictions: Jaguars vs. Bears in London
The Jaguars, whose over-under win total by oddsmakers is now at 7.5, may not win more than six games if the pass defense doesn’t get buttoned up.
Travon Walker vs. Aidan Hutchinson
Ever since the Jaguars selected Georgia’s Travon Walker with the No. 1 choice in the 2022 NFL draft , followed by Michigan pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson going to the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville GM Trent Baalke has been second-guessed for passing up Hutchinson.
So you can bet Baalke was relieved to see Walker have a career day in last week’s 37-34 win over Indianapolis, sacking Flacco on the final play for his third sack of the day that also included a forced fumble in the first half. It pushed Walker’s sack total this season to 5.0, with Hutchinson leading the NFL at 6.5 sacks.
Walker’s performance improved his odds to win league Defensive Player of the Year, according to BetOnLine.ag., from 200-1 to 100-1. Hutchinson remains the slight favorite over the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt at 11-4.
Through 38 career games, Hutchinson has a clear pass-rushing advantage on Walker with 27.5 sacks and 62 quarterback hits, compared to 18.5 and 36, respectively, for the Jaguars’ edge rusher.
Walker has mostly validated his No. 1 draft slot, but remains behind Hutchinson in terms of overall impact. The pair will be on the same field for the second time on Nov. 17 at Ford Field, preceded by the Lions' 40-14 rout in 2022 at the same venue.
Miami’s Ward a calm presence
It wouldn’t be inappropriate for University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward to legally change his name to Joe Cool.
No matter how bleak things might look, the transfer from Washington State never seems to get flustered.
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Ward was in a seemingly impossible hole on the road last week at Cal, facing a 35-10 deficit late in the third quarter. The Bears’ big lead was aided by a pick-6 on possibly the worst decision and throw Ward will have in his football life.
Unfazed, the UM quarterback led four consecutive touchdown drives, including a game-winning, 92-yard march that started with 1:28 left in the game. Ward converted a third-and-20 on a 22-yard pass to Damien Martinez , then connected with Elijah Orroyo from 5 yards out to win the game.
Had Cal won the game going away, it would have severely damaged Ward’s bid for the Heisman Trophy. But his calm demeanor led a miracle rally that keeps Ward firmly in that conversation.
Kade Bell has Dad’s play-calling touch
When former Jacksonville University football coach Kerwin Bell (2007-15) was leading the Dolphins to three Pioneer Football League titles with an explosive offense, there wasn’t much doubt that one of his best quarterbacks, son Kad e, would pursue his father’s career path.
Last year, Kade, after serving as Kerwin’s play-caller at FCS Western Carolina, branched out on his own to accept the offensive coordinator job at Pittsburgh. So far, it’s looking like a smart hire.
The Pitt Panthers are off to a 5-0 start after last week’s 34-24 win at North Carolina, where redshirt freshman quarterback and Alabama transfer Eli Holstein threw for 381 yards, three TDs and ran for another. He’s the first Pitt QB to win his first five starts since Dan Marino in 1979.
Bell’s unit is fourth in the country in total offense (522.2 yards), sixth in passing (340.4 yards), sixth in points per game (45.6) and tied for second with 17 touchdown passes.
Kerwin, who won a Division II national title at Valdosta State in 2018, is in his fourth season as WCU head coach with a 19-19 record.
Alyssa Lang keeps hustling for SEC Network
The athleticism of SEC Network reporter Alyssa Lang was on full display after Vanderbilt’s historic 40-35 upset of Alabama in the postgame aftermath.
Lang, a former First Coast News sports anchor from 2016-18, sprinted across the field as Vandy students stormed the field to corral Commodores’ star QB Diego Pavia , grabbing him from behind in horse collar fashion. Lang got an emotional interview from Pavia, which included him dropping an exuberant F-bomb.
Kudos to Lang for also landing head coach Clark Lea during the mob scene in a separate interview. Lang’s career has been on a steady climb since she left FCN to join the SEC Network as a studio host and anchor.
Her 2022 interview with late Mississippi State coach Mike Leach , featuring him giving Lang marital advice after she got engaged, was television gold. ...
Farewell to El Tiante, the ultimate bulldog
As a New York Yankees fan growing up in Vermont, no Boston Red Sox pitcher was more feared in the 1970s than Luis Tiant , who passed away this week at 83 .
The Cuban-born right-hander, after Nolan Ryan , might have been the most durable pitcher of his generation, logging 3,486 innings and 187 complete games. Tiant also had two complete-game wins against the Cincinnati Reds in the 1975 World Series.
He won 20 games four times, finished with a 229-172 record and 3.30 ERA over 19 seasons, twice leading the AL in ERA. Strangely, the three-time All-Star never garnered more than 30.9 percent of the vote for the Hall of Fame.
With his unique delivery, turning his back to the batter before releasing the pitch, Tiant was the ultimate bulldog on the mound. RIP, El Tiante, you should be in Cooperstown.
Quick-hitting nuggets
The New York Jets firing Robert Saleh felt more like a panic move by owner Woody Johnson than a team looking for a genuine spark. Regardless of any perceived tension between Saleh and quarterback Aaron Rodgers , giving Saleh a pink slip before the AFC East Monday Night Football showdown with the Buffalo Bills in Week 6 was stunningly premature. Was it Saleh’s fault Rodgers threw a game-deciding interception in last week’s 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings? Or that kicker Greg Zuerlein missed a game-winning field goal attempt the previous week against the Denver Broncos? With moves like this, it’s no wonder the Jets have the NFL’s longest no-playoff streak at 13 years. ...
In the MLB postseason, the only Jacksonville area high school product to get into a game was The Bolles School product Austin Slater . He went 1-for-2 with the Baltimore Orioles in their season-ending, 2-1 AL wild-card loss to the Kansas City Royals. New York Mets relief pitcher Sean Reid-Foley , a Sandalwood High alum, went on the 60-day injury list in September with a shoulder issue that took him out of the playoffs.
Pigskin forecast
Jaguars over Chicago Bears by 1 (Tank Bigsby taunt); Houston Texans over New England Patriots by 4 (medical alerts); Tennessee Titans over Indianapolis Colts by 1 (trustworthy defense); Buffalo Bills over New York Jets by 7 (Father Time reminders); Tennessee over Florida by 9 (Arkansas face slaps); Ole Miss over LSU by 1 (CFP survival kit); Ohio State over Oregon by 1 (Big Ten championship preview). Last week: 5 right, 1 Bill Belichick-to-the-Jets link.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com : (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars must button up increasingly alarming pass defense issues in London
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