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Touchdown Jaguars!
Touchdown Jaguars!
Episode 129: Jaguars/Texans Week 10 Analysis - Jags Defeated by Davis Mills Yet Again
We work through a brutal loss to Houston, where a 19-point fourth-quarter lead vanished and the same old issues—penalties, protection, and trench flaws—showed up again. We lay out how Jacksonville can still steer toward the playoffs with trench fixes and cleaner football.
Below are the specific talking points we covered this week:
• Fourth-quarter collapse after fast start
• Defensive line struggles
• Offensive line penalties wipe out key plays
• Turnovers dry up and pressure disappears
• Lawrence’s ceiling and the fans outlook on him
• Injuries to key targets and return timelines (Hunter news came after recording)
• AFC wild card chaos and tiebreaker paths
• Offseason priorities led by defensive tackle
• Practical OL reconfiguration for short term
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James Johnson and Phil Barrera bring you the best and most up to date Jacksonville Jaguars news. "Touchdown Jaguars!" is a tribute to the prospective ownership group "Touchdown Jacksonville!" In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams and "Touchdown Jacksonville!" announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists. In November 1993, the NFL owners voted 26–2 in favor of awarding the 30th franchise to Jacksonville. James and Phil have been fans of the franchise ever since and have had the honor (and sometimes dishonor) of covering the team professionally since 2017. The rest as they say, is history.
Welcome to the Touchdown Jaguars Podcast. Here are your hosts, James Johnson and Phil Smith.
SPEAKER_02:Hey everyone, welcome back to the Touchdown Jaguars Podcast. I am your co-host, Phil Barrera, and with me, as always, is your other co-host, James Johnson. And Jay, we're recording here on the evening of November 10th. And following just a tough, tough loss that the Jacksonville Jaguars had to the Houston Texans. A game that some would say they snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory, right? They just could not get anything done as the game wound down, specifically in the fourth quarter. Emotions are high right now within the fan base, myself and you included. And there are just, you know, there's problems with this team that we knew about and that we have talked about throughout the season. And, you know, not all of those can be addressed during a trade deadline, right? They can't, they can only we we can only hope they get better over time. And then at some point, especially, you know, nine, ten games in the season, you kind of see like what your team is. Uh, but you know, fortunately, Jay, I mean, if this playoff started today, the Jaguars are still the seventh seeds, so we can hang our hat on that. And I do think that a lot of fans, also including us, would have if you told us that heading into week 11 in the season, they're they're fighting for a wild card spot and they're hovering around 500. Probably would have taken that, but doesn't mean that we aren't frustrated. So it's good to be here back with you tonight. Uh, as always, appreciate you holding down the solo episodes whenever I am busy, but uh excited to talk about our team, even though they are very, very frustrating.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, frustrating is done doesn't even explain this team, man. Like it's week to week with them, literally. It's week to week. You never know what you're gonna get. Um, so if you're the Vegas type, you know, don't don't spend any money on the Jazz because you don't you certainly don't know what you're gonna get and you might even lose your money. But um, that being said, um, yeah, you're right. We we still have the seventh seed, and that's kind of why I said, like, a few weeks ago when you asked me if we would still be in it, this is kind of you know what I envisioned. And I had them splitting with the Texans anyway, they don't make it feel better, you know what I'm saying? But I had them split with the Texans anyway. I so I guess for me, um, you know, maybe that softens the blow a little bit. I don't know. Um, I don't even want to say it does that for me because I'm frustrated as all get out as well. But I did have them split with the Texans, I did have them sweeping the Colts, which looks like uh, you know, that'll be a little bit harder than you know we thought. But then again, the Colts, after watching them for two weeks straight, I don't know who they are exactly either, in terms of if you look outside of Jonathan Taylor, right? So um, all of that said, man, um, yeah, this is one that, man, is it's gonna leave a bad taste in our mouths in terms of this loss to the Texans, and um, you know, like Liam Cohen's leadership and the team's leadership in general is gonna be tested here heading forward because this is one of the worst franchises, you know, lost in franchises history, if not the worst lost in franchise history. Um, so there's that. Um, but again, uh they are still in the thick of things, still over 500. And um, one more thing to consider, too, is like the AFC South or the AFC in general doesn't look like the AFC of old. You know, a lot of people got more than two losses in this picture. So it's really, really unclear what we could be looking at heading forward in terms of the playoff picture. And the Jaguars made it even muddier with this loss to the Texans.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you can't let the opportunity to go to six and three slip through your hands like this, right? Like you just cannot lose a game in which you're up by 19 in the fourth quarter. It can't happen. Like it, and that falls on a lot of people. Uh, it's not necessarily just Trevor Lawrence. It is, it it is not just the trenches on both sides, it's not just the receivers. It's it's a lot, like a lot goes into losing a game like this and giving up 20. I mean, it's 26 points they gave up, but it really was 20, you know, because of the the last second interception uh there at the very end. So just things that cannot happen. But I think what I have found, and I I texted you about this earlier because as I was like rewatching the first half because I missed it. The the thing with this team is like this is like the ult uh the opposite of what happened with Doug. Remember, they lost a lot early on and then went on their run as they figured things out. What happened here, unfortunately, is that they started off hot and they probably won maybe a little bit too early. Remember, we we had anticipated them starting slow, like looking at their schedule and then rallying in the back half of the schedule. And now we're fighting a couple of games, you know. Vegas, you got to go to overtime, Houston, you know, a game you definitely should have won. And we expected them to be hitting a little bit of a stride, and now we're a little bit of a slump, you know, losing three out of four. Um, and then you had the bye weekend there, of course. So that is, I think, why the things that I'm seeing now are are worrisome because you you look at, oh, the offensive line looks like they've got things together, you know. The the defense is forcing turnovers, but turnovers dry up, right? We see that every single year. Like 2017, like Saxonville, like that's an admiration. That those things don't happen. Like, there's a reason. I mean a lot of you know, mainstream media doesn't talk about them as one of the best defenses of all time, but like we know, we know the numbers we saw, but we know what we watched, but like those things dry up, man. Like you can't depend on those things. Um, I'll bring this up here early, as far as our buddy Daniel Griffiths bringing up, you know, just a complete implosion of the trenches when it comes to the offensive and and defensive line, you know, what you know, what as far as um what they're what they're looking at. Um weeks uh uh as far as the defensive line goes, 23rd in pressure, 32nd in sack percentage, 28th in non-blitz percentage, um offensive line as far as the the uh week one through four, twenty-one point seven percent in pass per percentage, uh weeks five through ten, thirty-eight point nine, and twenty-first in sacks um in the league as far as the offensive side of the football. Uh this thing, this this team is imploding from the inside out. And even myself included, and I obviously like tensions run high in our in our group chat. A lot of this, you know, uh the frustration when it comes to Trevor Lawrence is like we're six years into this thing, and I think you said this, he's progressing at a snail's pace, and that can't happen anymore. So there are so many things that are wrong with this team, and if you want to pick and choose which one you're most frustrated about, I don't think I'm going to like argue with a lot of people, you know, depending on what they want to pick.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. I mean, I agree with you, man. Um, I think like for the the Trevor Lawrence argument, what probably is not helping him speed up his process, is you know, when you you talk about and look, man, like there's times where I run draft simulations and you know I think about taking a quarterback in it. So that's not you know what I'm saying, that that's not to say I'm a Trevor Lawrence defender, but there's times where it's like, uh, should I take a quarterback in this simulation or not? But you know, when you look at the contract, it's like uh I don't know. But anyway, long story short, uh what I was getting at here is um also too, like you the conversation about elevating the team keeps coming up because he's getting paid a lot of money and this, that, and the other though. But like we're having a conversation that at times doesn't make sense. We're saying he needs to elevate the team, but we also lead the league in penalties. We also lead the league in drops. Like those three things don't go together. How can a quarterback elevate a team that leads the league in drops and penalties? Rightfully now, some of those penalties are on him, but I was looking at like the um I went and found the penalty log, right? And you'll be shocked at how many of those penalties were on the offensive line holding. Um, of course, we got a bunch of illegal shift penalties too, so there is that. But um, the just the offensive line ones alone, and that kind of reared his head. And me and you have had this conversation many, many times on the podcast as well. The reason I keep bringing that uh element up of him trying to elevate the team, but trying to do so with a team that leads the league in penalties and drops, is because again, as I said, they can't coexist. And a prime example of that field was the last completion that he made that was voided, right? He completed the pass that would have given Cam Little a chance, and we know what Cam Little can do. Cam Little, he seems to be back, he hasn't missed a field goal for a while for the last two games. Trevor got us to the 45-yard line when he linked up with Parker. And this is the same conversation we had two weeks ago. When he does make the plays that need to be made, they get voided. Chuma Y Doga got flagged for holding, you know, and that wasn't the only time he got flagged earlier. And I think that voided a seven-point touchdown from the which would have been Jacoby Myers' touchdown, right? If I'm not mistaken. So again, when he does make the plays, and look, we're not talking about a top 15 quarterback, but when you're doing that, when you're not talking about a top 15 quarterback, that means when he does actually make the plays that need to be made, they need to count. And they're not counting because of penalties. So you know, like it's hard to have that conversation right now about he's not elevating the team like a quarterback getting paid$50 million should when you look at all of the elements that are also in his way as he's not a top 15 quarterback. And then in regards to um the the offensive line and defensive line, part of it that you were mentioning, Phil. This is why, like when you asked me two weeks ago or whenever it was before the trade deadline about you know who would I like to see on the team. The first one that came out of my mouth was Quentin Williams. I knew that we were gonna come to a point where the interior wasn't getting it done on the defensive line, and that would also, you know, put uh Josh Hines Allen and Trayvon Walker in a situation where they aren't able to perform at their best. And and I'm not gonna defend those two. We need more from those two as well. Um, now, granted, Walker is just now, you know, getting out of a cast where his whole hand isn't wrapped up. So, I mean, like, there is that, like it is hard to play without your hands at that position that he plays in. So, you know, you can give him that, but it's no excuse for Josh Hines Allen. But regardless, in any case, regardless of how those two have looked, I knew the importance of getting a defensive tackle in this building, right? And you know, the Jacksonville Jaguars, rightfully so. At least one thing we can say and we can hang our hat on is that this regime understood that they needed to fix that because they they took a shot at Quentin Williams. And then your boys, the Dallas Cowboys came in with their two first round picks, by the way, Phil. And they they you know, they had a better deal, rightfully, because we don't have a first round pick. So, you know, they basically outbid James Gladstone with one of the two first round picks that they had, thanks to the um the trade they made with the Packers, and that really stuck a fork in things too. Like, but I really felt like we needed Quentin Williams. Like, we're talking about the stuff that happened in the game, and we'll get into that and how much that hurt. But going back before that, what happened on the trade deadline, at least what lack thereof, or what we didn't do on the trade deadline, that hurt too. And in James uh defense, he tried, you know, he he he offered what he could, just didn't happen, man. Um, so yeah, man, this offensive line as well going to them as well. Like, you know, there's times where Trevor didn't have two seconds in the pocket, and I'm not saying Trevor had this great fantastic game where he looked like he was Aaron Rodgers out there or Tom Brady, but like when Walker Little's getting beat like he was, and you know, Chumi Doga is getting penalties at the rate he was, you get the result that you get offensively. And that's basically what happened when you look at this team. They lost the battle in the trenches against a team um that's at least built well in the trenches on the defensive side of the ball.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we're so fired up about talking about this game, you know, didn't even mention, you know, of course, uh make sure to uh follow us on social media, check that LinkTree link, uh, use that promo code touchdown Jaguars on Seat Geek, all that stuff. Appreciate you guys uh for doing that so far. But yeah, Jay, I mean, like Walker Little's a turnstile man. Like I you gotta believe that that's gonna be one of those things that they're going to uh immediately address. And uh, you know, it's like um they made these fixes or are they tried to implement these fixes in the offseason, and again, everything looked okay during uh well as this as the season starts, but you know, as things have gone on, you know, they they play obviously this was a real litmus test to see where we're at um as far as you know the best defense in that interior, I mean, is just for for Houston is incredible. That's why, you know, even with a a 19-point lead, you still don't necessarily feel good because of their ability to get to the quarterback, and then the the defense is just gassed. And uh, you know, like you said, you know, uh Heinz Allen and Trayvon Walker can't get home, and uh that's partially because uh that that's partially because of things that are out of their control as well. Like they're trying to do their job, but you know, obviously when it comes to complimentary football, like they just don't have it right now. And and I I think that's why I, you know, going into our preview episode, like I had them, I was more leaning towards their ceiling being right around eight and nine. So it's like they're there, right? And and I think what's gonna happen is in this offseason, like we'll just really, really see kind of the strategy that this uh front office is going to have, and and it will truly be put to the test, especially without that first round pick. I mean, and also, you know, granted, what how much you want to consider this, like there's no BTJ. We don't have Travis Hunter who was just hitting his stride. You know, how much of a difference would that have made having Travis Hunter, BTJ, and um uh Jacoby Myers, like all of the and Parker Washington balling out, you know, like that that makes a huge difference, you know. And um, you know, they uh at times ETN is able to get going, and then like you said, in in the second half, like all of that dries up. So it's it's it's it's one of those things that's like, God, I'm so frustrated watching what happened yesterday, but also the players that rely on the interior line, either uh offensively or defensively, are not getting any help at all. So how would they be able to do their jobs, you know?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. And then, yeah, when you bring up the injuries, um, you know, I I never even thought about it from this standpoint until you brought it up. Maybe forgot about Brenton Strange, too. Yeah, Brenton Strange, too. Maybe the most important guy that's missing. Right, you know, who would have thought? Um, you know, now this this doesn't apply to this game. They should have won it regardless, right? They had to lead, you know, by 19 points, but um it does apply to the season in general. Maybe we should be happy with five wins, granted what we have on IR, because I mean the name, the names that we're naming, right, Phil, are the people that essentially either James Gladstone and Liam Cohen came here for, or they are people that uh Liam Cohen and James Gladstone added with a high priced investment, whether that was a first round pick or um you know, or you know, something they addressed in free agency, whatever the case may be. But yeah, man, like I think that's what may help us if we can make this run to the playoffs, um, is how soon can we get Brenton Strange back? Right? That's the first one. How long is Travis Hunter out? How quick can we get those two back? And also to like how healthy we can stay until we get those two back, because um you would think BTJ is kind of coming back sooner rather than later because it's a high ankle sprain, a low grade one, which that you know, that probably makes it like hard to I'm not a doctor or anything. That probably makes it hard to cut and whatnot, but at the same time, I think that'll heal quicker than you know a grade two, grade three ankle sprain, right? So I think we would get him back sooner rather than later. And you know, like I said, um, you know, strange, where is he at? You know, I think Liam talked about him today that um they will open up the 21-day window at some point this week for him to return. But I think like, and I didn't get to read the quotes all that great, but I think he was saying that, you know, like, you know, let's get him in practice first in terms of strange and um you know see um how how that goes in terms of practice, and then we'll you know bring them back in terms of getting them in games and stuff, but let's get them back to practice first. So, you know, help is on the way, but at the the rate that we're going, you also gotta wonder like by the time we get to help, will it be more injuries piling up on that end? You know, that's another concern. But if we can, you know, get back to remotely being healthy like we were in the beginning of the season, that will help tremendously for us to hit that mark of you know eight, nine, ten wins.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and you know, like you mentioned, you know, the this AFC playoff picture is so weird because the teams, the the division leaders right now, like how much faith do you really have in them? Now it seems like the Patriots are starting to kind of run away with that thing. Um, the Bills are just I I think what the the concern for me is like there are teams in the wild card race that shouldn't be in the wildcard race, like Chiefs, Ravens, Bills. Like those are supposed to be the class of the AFC, and they're they're down here in the wild card spot because these other teams, and we've done this, Jacksonville's done this, right? Where they take advantage of the easier schedule. And kudos to the Colts, Broncos, and Patriots. They've done that, like you can only play the teams that are in front of you. Uh so I think the the concern is like those teams will take advantage of those schedules, and then you're then you're dealing with Cincinnati. I'm sorry, you're dealing with Buffalo, Kansas City, and Baltimore in a wild card race that you didn't expect to see them in, you know. So that's probably the concern for me. Uh, they do have a 40% playoff chance, uh, playoff probability according to NFL.com, sitting at the seventh seed right now, right in front of the Chiefs, Texans, and Ravens. Those are probably those are the three teams that are right behind them. Uh, five and four for the Chiefs, and then four and five for Houston and Baltimore, respectively. Uh, so you know, you gotta think that the Chargers and the Broncos take up one of those uh wild card spots, and then you have a toss-up between, you know, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Kansas City. Kansas City has that, uh, you know, owns that tiebreaker, so that's nice, a head-to-head win there. Um, and then, you know, what we'll see what else comes in. They got a chance, they got an opportunity to play the Chargers and the Broncos head-to-head, uh, and then two matchups with the Colts, you know. So they're very much in control of their own destiny. I think just when you continue, when you lose to Davis Mills and freaking Jake Browning in the same season, like Davis Mills, he owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, man. Three and one. There's no, there's nothing, no way around that, man. Three and one against Jacksonville. That is enough of a sample size to know he doesn't worry about this team. Uh, it's it's crazy to see that they play better against CJ Stroud than they do Davis Mills.
SPEAKER_00:And it's you know what else is scary? Like, you know, it makes the game against like Arizona a little scarier because Jacoby Brissett is. And he's not playing terrible either. You know, and yeah, no, granted, now they have beat Jacoby Bissett before when he was with the Colts. Now, so I I'll I'll add that in there as well. And I think Jacoby Brissett's kind of one of those weird uh quarterbacks where you know back then, at least I don't know about now, um, he held on to the ball a little too long. So, you know, we we're not talking about Davis Mills who gets the ball out of his hands in two seconds, one second, whatever it was. Like, it was times Davis Mills was like hitting people one step out of their slant. You know what I'm saying? Like um what's his name? Uh Nico Collins or whatever the case may be. Um, but still, no, it does make it like you look at that that Arizona game and you're a little bit scared about that. You know what I'm saying? More so than these other games. Like, I was just telling you before the um before we started recording, the Broncos game doesn't look as scary, and I had that as a loss for us, doesn't look as scary as it once did. Now I'm having a little bit more concerns about the Arizona game more than the Broncos game because of just how they fared against second string quarterbacks.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean, in Arizona, they played indie very well, and I'm not sure who was the quarterback for that game. Was it Kyler? No, it was Jacoby Brissett. So, yeah, Jacoby Brissett is playing like winning football. I mean, the Cardinals aren't necessarily winning football games, but like he is a more than capable. You can do way way more worse at backup quarterback than Jacoby Brissett. I think we all know that at this point in time. Uh, so you know, the Colts still have a couple of big games against the Seahawks and the Niners. Uh, that Seahawks game specifically will be a really good litmus test. And next week they got Kansas City, right? So, or in two weeks, I'm sorry, they're on their bye. So on the 23rd, they have Kansas City. That'll be a huge game and uh, you know, an opportunity for Jacksonville to own a tiebreaker there. So go ahead, Jay.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm calling it right now. The the Arizona game, it just it just a vision just flashed upon me. We'll win it. And here's why. That's gonna be the Dennis Geerdick game. Okay. The Dennis Geardick revenge game. Yeah, yeah. He's gonna they're gonna march him out there like they always do. They always march the guy out there against um at as the one of the honorary team captains against the team that they formerly played, right? They there with did it with Eric Murray. They put him out there against the Texans the first time we faced the Texans. They're gonna march him out there as an honorary captain. He's gonna channel his inner whoever you want to name the best pass rusher in Jag's history, his inner Tony Brackens, or whatever the case may be. And they might come down to the wire, but he's gonna be the one to make a play in that game that wins us the game there. The Dennis Garrett game. And I'm I'm calling it right now. And not only that, though, Phil, but he's literally one of the best players on the team right now, too. So, like, that's just great, man. Yeah, I'm not just blowing smoke out of my behind there.
SPEAKER_02:One of those sneaky additions that will never get mentioned in national media, but like is just a really good pickup, you know. So, um, you know, looking back, like those losses against it's the losses like this, like Cincinnati and Houston, these will really eat at us for a while until they, you know, get some wins under their belt. Because like Seattle and Los Angeles, those might be the two best teams in the NFC. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if either one of those teams won to the Super Bowl uh from the NFC side. Uh, but like you can't let Cincinnati get away from you, and you can't let this one get away from you, you know. Like that we've been talking about these missed opportunities all year, and those are games that come back and bite you, uh, especially in a uh playoff race that's gonna be really, really tight. So um, yeah, we haven't necessarily gotten to talk about any specifics with the game because again, there's just so much. Like you guys have seen it, and it's not as easy as it would be to pin this all on Trevor, to pin it all on the interior, like the pin it all on one specific thing. Um, and and I know a lot of people and myself included want to lay frustrations on down on just one particular thing, and that's just not doable here. But we would be uh remiss if we didn't talk about Trevor uh a little bit more here because you know the the fan base is split right now. Um, I'm I'm definitely frustrated and I'm to the point where I am a little bit over this as far as being six years into it, but I also know he's going to be here. It's you can't get out of this money anytime soon. He's going to be the guy. I still don't feel as bad as I did watching Blaine Gabbard or Blake Bortles. We're not anywhere close to that. The throws that he makes, uh, you know, I think that's the frustrating part is like you see him make choices and decisions and throws, you're like, yep, that's the number one overall pick. And then you see him make choices, decisions, and throws, you're like, that's the number one pick, like in the same exact time in the same game. Like, this was the perfect microcosm of Jacksonville Jaguar football between first half and second half. And I think it also doesn't help that Caleb Williams is starting to find his footing. Like he's, you know, the Bears get another comeback win um uh against uh against the Giants. I mean, granted's against the Giants, but still he's playing pretty well. You're seeing these quarterbacks kind of like figuring it out. Drake May obviously is having uh uh people talking about him being MVP. I don't know how people feel about that after this past week, but you know, the optics with Trevor are always going to be there because he's the number one overall pick. Like that's just inescapable. So where are we at here? You kind of alluded to it already, like you said, as far as his development, but like what what are you saying to the fan base right now, and myself included, who are just overly frustrated with him every single week? And like, what do we do and how can we just kind of approach this for the remainder of the season?
SPEAKER_00:Again, like he, yeah, no, he's not playing like he should for the money he's getting and to be a first overall pick. And he's just probably not gonna be that guy anyway. Again, like that's why I mentioned earlier, and I I've been trying to prepare people for this, right? I mentioned earlier in you know, two episodes ago, what you may be looking at is you know, a quarterback you can win with, but in the way that the 49ers win with Brock Purdy, right? Or um another team that we kind of already mentioned, how this year at least, how the Broncos are winning with their quarterback, right? Now, I don't think he's quite as bad as um his he's escaping me. What is his name, Phil? The Broncos quarterback. Bo Nicks. Yeah, Bo Nicks. He's not I I think Trevor Lawrence got Bo Nicks beat, by the way, in terms of talent. But in terms of my my advice to the fan base, if they want to take it, is again, we can't have the conversation of how good he is leading the league in penalties and leading the league in drops, right? Those are two things that are so key to his success as a quarterback, right? Especially if he already isn't a top 15 talent, that's only gonna hold him back a little bit more. Um now, what I will say is also this, too, and I kind of I don't know if I mentioned it last week, um, because he, you know, he led him to a comeback drive last week against the Oakland Raiders, or I I keep saying Oakland, the Las Vegas Raiders. And you know, one thing for better or for worse, and and he hasn't played great this year, but one thing that has kind of uh flashed throughout his career, you know, as as bad as it's been, and as much as he hasn't lived up to the number one expectations, is this is something we can hang our hat on. Is he seems to have some form of a clutch gene. And that even that even shows, like, not just the game against the Raiders, it even showed itself in this game that we lost. Again, I'm we were just talking about it. He made the game win and throw that Cam Little could have made the kick for. Right? Like that keeps popping up no no matter how bad he's looked. It's been a few times, each, you know, you you can say maybe every three or four games where he's shown the ability where he can lead a team from behind, at least. And he did it in the playoffs against the Chargers, too. So, like, that's one of his most notable games, by the way. But every year he has shown some shape of in some way, shape, or form a comeback gene, right? And like that doesn't grow on trees either. That's just you know something that you can't find in the quarterback just off of the street or what have you, right? So like that does keep showing to me, in my opinion. It does keep flashing, and and again, he I I thought he had he brought us back from one Sunday. I'm I'm not gonna lie, because I didn't even see the penalty at first, and then when they showed it on the replay, I was like, oh god, yeah. That definitely uh deserved to get flagged. Um, so yeah, I mean, like that that's another thing too. I think like people don't give him enough credit for is he does kind of have somewhat of a combat gene in him. Um now look he might struggle the rest of the game for you, or he might start game slow. That's always been a problem with him. So, you know, I don't know if he'll ever get that fixed. But in terms of Trevor Lawrence, man, again. Man, before we can have that conversation about what he is, let's get the penalties fixed. Let's not lead the league in penalties like we've done the last two years. And let's also get some some players in here who can catch the ball. Because, oh, by the way, we didn't even talk about this either, Phil. But, you know, while he's only been here for a little bit of time, Jacoby Myers, man, like he already has shown the ability that he can, you know, impact the team. Once he gets more acclimated and we can get him more passes and, you know, throw him more passes and what have you. He's already shown that, you know, him and Trevor Lawrence can have a dangerous connection once they get the chemistry going and what have you. And it is kind of telling because these are kind of the things like you see flashes of what, and it's only been one game, but you see flashes of what we thought his connection with Brian Thomas would be. Like his early stages with Jacoby Myers looks way better than his early stages with Brian Thomas Jr., which has only been one game. But that's another thing that intrigues me. If you can hold on to Jacoby Myers, you probably you'll have to extend him. It's no probably in it. Like that's a connection I'm intrigued by coming out of this game with the Texans. Although it was a limited body of work, it was a small, impressive body of work. And also, too, keep in mind Brendan Strange comeback to who that's a big-time Trevor Lawrence target, too. So that'll help him too. Like, that's part of what his issue is, too. That's why he's struggling, by the way, Phil. We talked about this last week. Part of why he's struggling, he doesn't have that big target that he can hit in short range anymore, right? So that's always like that's been a part of his game. Go back no further than the preseason. A lot of the targets that we saw, or a good majority of them, to Brenton Strange, was Trevor Lawrence hitting him in the middle of the field. Like he hasn't had that for what, four or five weeks. So, you know, that's another thing we gotta wait on to see if that helps improve his game. Because that was a big part of his repertoire. Like that was one of his go-to guys, was you know, Brenton Strange. So maybe between Brenton Strange and Jacoby Myers, he'll get going. And um, you know, we'll see closer to the Trevor Lawrence we saw in 2022, but time will tell, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, uh we we certainly don't want to like look too far ahead because, like we say, we're still in this. Uh, but you know, you alluded to this in our group chat over the weekend about you know, already looking at uh starting and wanting to look at prospects when it comes to like the these trenches. What do you think is more important to fix right now or fix when when you know the time comes as far as uh free agency and also looking ahead to the draft? Like, what are you prioritizing first between the offensive and the defensive line? Like uh Anton Harrison has taken these massive steps back. Um, like I said, Trayvon Walker and Josh Hines Allen are rendered basically ineffective without you know any type of interior help. Um, you know, like where do you even start here um if you were to prioritize and rank them uh as far as biggest need?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and one need we haven't talked about there's also safety, too. Um there's a need there too. What do you mean? 42's back there, right? Oh man, don't make me get started on him, Antonio Johnson. Um, I mean, but I guess why safety gets knocked down on that list is because Caleb Randsaw will come back eventually. He's on IR, but you know, the Jacksonville Jaguars knew they needed the safety to that to their defense. They drafted one. He just got injured in the preseason. So they have help there. I would even go as far as, man, maybe let's throw Rayon Lane back there a little bit, man. Like, can it get any worse than what we're seeing, you know? But that's another story for another time. But safety is on the list, but not as high as it should be, just for the simple fact that they have Ransall coming back next year. But yeah, number one on my list is defensive tackle, Phil. And um I looked at the free agency list for next year. Um, I didn't see any guys that could really help them from a pass rush perspective atop the free agency list. Now, like you might find you some gems or something like that when you look outside the top 50 free agents, but yeah, it's definitely defensive tackle. And the reason I rank defensive tackle high is because I think they'd be respectable, Trayvon Walker and Josh Allen with some interior help. But also, too, the reason I rank it number one is because I think the offensive line is genuinely uh easier to fix. And the reason I say that is because while Anton has kind of regressed, I do think you can move him to left tackle, and that'll fix your left tackle problem. And I think he's a he'll be a better left tackle than Walker Little. Like I think it'll be an automatic upgrade there if you move him. It's just a matter of, and we talked about this in the thread, you know, when you move him from right to left tackle, you m you're leaving a massive hole at right tackle, but I don't think like this regime will have an issue finding a right tackle. I don't think that'll be like a hard thing for them to do. Um, and also, too, I don't think I don't really think they'll have a hard time finding their guard of the future. Because I think one of their guards on the future, and this is why offensive line is second on the list, one of their offensive guards of the future is on the team, too, kind of like Ransaw is their safety of the future. He's on the team, but Wyatt Millam is their guard of the future. They drafted him in the third round. While, you know, a lot of people will argue that, you know, like they'll they'll make this argument of like, why hasn't he, you know, been on the field if he's so good and this, that, and the other. But we, you know, we talked about this with Luke Easterland, by the way, Phil, when Luke was on, right? After the third round, you pretty much were dealing with projects on the offensive line. And when they drafted Millum in the third round, that told me that while they think he's a starter, they think he's a project player as well. Which I always had it, I was of the belief at that point that it would always take a year for him to get where he needs to be. But I think the plan for him, and I don't, you know, this is not insider's knowledge, but um I think the plan always was for him to sit a year, you know, unless you got to a real desperate situation where you're like real low on the depth chart, where you have to use him, was to sit him for a year. And he started on IR, remember, by the way, Phil, if I'm not mistaken. So that that held him back even more, essentially. Uh, he didn't get to practice, I guess, for to an extent for a while. But I do think like they the plan was always to have him be their one of their guards of the future. So between that and moving Anton to left tackle, you really don't have that many offensive line needs if you do that, if that's the route you want to go. Whereas D-tackle is just a massive need, man. Like, it's again, like I was at a point where I was more than okay with giving up a second-round pick for Quentin Williams. That's how desperate I thought they were. Uh, but yeah, that's defensive tackle, man. Number one on the list, man. And I think like that's where we need to spend our film study and all the our, you know, all the people that like to watch the senior bowl and all that good stuff. You you want to watch that position. I don't know what the strength of this draft is and if defensive tackle is the strength of the class, but they probably are gonna have to draft a defensive tackle because I don't know what free agency will offer them in that regard.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. And then, you know, you got to look into you know the kind of impact a young interior lineman, defensive lineman can have on a team. You know, there's a whole lot of things to look into there. But um you know, one thing that happens in Wavered is uh, you know, I think we have you know we have the right people in charge. And that's something we could not say over the last decade, right? That's just not something uh, you know, we probably felt good about Doug after 2017, but like uh, you know, I I feel good um uh taking the emotion out of it because like you know in the mo I'm do I am glad we wait 24 hours to record these and we don't record on on Sunday night. It'd be very different content uh as far as what happens uh whenever these episodes get uh get recorded. So um but yeah, Jay, I mean we got uh you know big game obviously next week against uh the Chargers uh here at home. So you know they get to come home for the first time since uh October 19th. Uh of course that was the bad Chargers uh um Rams loss, but I'm sorry, uh the Seattle loss October 12th, because the Rams game was in London. So they have not been home uh in front of the home crowd since October 12th. So hopefully that will help them a little bit. Um, and then they will hopefully have a couple of, you know, you never want to say easier games with this team, but then you have Arizona and Tennessee uh as you gear up for the final stretch of the season. So, you know, they got some winnable games on the schedule, as we said, and the playoff picture is um it's kind of a mess in the AFC. So there's still an opportunity here. But uh, Jay, anything else you want to mention before we wrap up this episode? Um, you know, a lot of football left to play, but you know, emotions are running high, and like we get it, man. Like, there's a lot of things to be frustrated with when it comes to this team. Um, you did everything you want. Like, if you told me the Jaguars got off to a quick start, forced a couple turnovers, and we're up, you know, what was it at halftime? 20 to 3, like you take that every single time. Uh you then, you know, unfortunately, uh the Houston goes on a heater, and we can't get anything done uh towards the latter half. So anything else you want to mention before we wrap up this episode, though?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man. I think the crazy part that just dawned on me as you were talking about how we started. I think the crazy part about it is if CJ Stroud was playing, I think we win. I think so too. I think we win, man. I think so too, man. I got it. You know, like that's why like yeah, yeah. In the third quarter, right? That's why I could never say, even though we had a good lead, I I almost texted it, but I was like, nope, we'll not text that. That, you know, like after the ETN touchdown, that we had it in the bag, but I didn't I didn't text it in the thread. And the reason being was because I had to remember that CJ Stroud wasn't back there. Had he been back there, like that offense hasn't shown anything to me in terms of what they can do in the fourth quarter with him back there, right? Like, so they would have probably won because they they're just kind of flat in the fourth quarter, they don't really achieve much in the fourth quarter when he's back there, but they had a backup in Davis Mills back there. So at the end of the day, this is one we'll have to wear egg on our faces for the Davis Mills comeback game, and you know, Jacksonville has now given up ownership of the Jacksonville Jaguars to Davis Mills, you know. So Shad Khan, man, you you you've lost your team, man. Shod Khan, you've lost your team to Davis Mills after that. But uh yeah, no, nothing else um to really discuss, man. Just hope we can get back rolling in a positive direction. Got a big game against the Chargers coming up here, man. Um, which I am a little nervous about, not a little a lot of nervous about, but um I think Justin Herbert is 0-2 against Trevor Lawrence. Am I right on that?
SPEAKER_02:The playoff game, and then there was the game at SoFi, and uh, yeah, I believe they won. Uh that that game in SoFi was the one where James Robinson ripped that big run.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Shout out to the shout out to the GOAT, James Robinson.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_02:Still around here in Jacksonville, too. People see him all the time. So shout out to him. It sounds like he's um put some roots down in Jacksonville.
SPEAKER_00:So nice, yeah, nice. But yeah, no, nothing else to really talk about, man. Uh, but yeah, everybody just um try not to get y'all blood pressure up, man. Okay, man. Try and stay healthy.
SPEAKER_02:Listen, man, this doesn't help because I also follow the Dallas Mavericks. And between Jacksonville and the Mavericks, I I can't win, man. I I just don't I can't have a moment of peace. Luckily, Texas is starting to turn it around. Uh, you know, they'll be in the conversation. We got a big game, obviously, coming up in a couple weeks. Uh Jay and I will be uh at each other's throats when it comes to Texas and Georgia matchup coming up here pretty soon. Uh, but yeah, I mean, at least Texas is starting to turn things around. Who would have thought that Arch Manning maybe needed a little time to get acclimated to SEC football? Wild, how that's happening. Uh, don't switch up on us now, right? So uh, but yeah, yeah, man. I mean, we got the holidays coming up, eat some good food. Obviously, we'll have more episodes coming up here in the next couple weeks. Uh, but yeah, we uh we appreciate y'all. And um, yeah, we're we're there with you, man. We're uh we it's it's a frustrating time. Uh, but hey, they're they're over 500, you know, five and four. And still in the race, still in the hunt. So we'll see uh what happens next. But uh yeah, guys, make sure you click the Link Tree link in the show notes of this episode uh to keep up with everything you need as far as uh touchdown Jaguars related. Um you'll find us um over on Twitter where we are the most active. And of course, if you head on over to your podcast player of choice and leave the show five stars, it would very much be appreciated. And of course, continue to use that promo code uh touchdown jaguars over on SeatGeek. Save yourself$20 on your first eligible purchase. Uh but folks, that's my co-host James Johnson. I am Phil Barrera. Do not forget to tune into Touchdown Jaguars each and every single week for every Jaguar touchdown, and we will see you next week.
