With one team so dead in the water that they lost their coach, and the other team taking on water faster than the Titanic, there wasn’t much promise for intrigue coming into this game. For a brief while in the second quarter the Jaguars looked like they might again spring a somewhat improbable upset in a home Monday Night Football game, but, as they capitulated just before half time, their fate was sealed.
For the Chargers, this was a must win to keep alive their most slender of playoff aspirations in the AFC West now headed by Denver. Mission accomplished on that front and gaining the win while going from the West coast to the East can at least give them some hope that they have turned the corner.
With the Jaguars adrift at this point, San Diego really just needed to show up and put a few drives together to walk away winners, but they showed some of their best offensive football of the season as, behind a makeshift offensive line, their vertical passing game sparked back to life. Philip Rivers and his hoard of receivers were able to capitalize on a Jacksonville secondary gutted by injury to pick up some big plays off of play action that turned the game. This may have been a low-key affair but there were some noteworthy and alarming performances. Let’s take a look at who shone and who faded under the Monday Night lights.
San Diego – Three Performances of Note
Remember this deep passing game?
One of the most popular questions all season amongst fans and media alike this year has been, “what happened to Philip Rivers?” Even when the Chargers got off to uncustomary fast start, Rivers was not at his best and with the Chargers falling away when they usually step up, it hasn’t been in spite of Rivers. This week Rivers and his cast of merry men showed that when the circumstances conspire in their favor they can still take advantage. Against a defense missing its two starting corners, Rivers played sandlot football and, in particular working off of play action, revive the Chargers’ vertical passing game (+4.0 on passes aimed 20+ yards downfield). Vincent Jackson (+2.4) and Malcom Floyd (+2.0) each collected touchdowns on plays of at least 35 yards as the Jaguars’ substitute corners, Ashton Youboty and Kevin Rutland simply couldn’t cope one-on-one down the field.
Star Substitute
After being cut in a fit of anger by Kansas City following a false start penalty last week, Jared Gaither (+1.1) was claimed off of waivers by the Chargers. In spite of only arriving with in San Diego last Wednesday and having to then endure a transcontinental flight to Jacksonville, Gaither put up a strong showing in pass protection that the Chargers have so lacked since they lost Marcus McNeill to injury in the first Thursday night game of the season. Gaither was, statistically, perfect in pass protection with his only negatively-graded play coming off of a holding penalty on John Chick at the 1:54 mark of the second quarter. The Jaguars were without their best three pass rushers for much of this game, with Chick being added to the losses of Aaron Kampman and Matt Roth, but it is difficult to overstate just how impressive a job Gaither did in this game considering the circumstances.
Earning his stripes
Prior to the shortened preseason, many had Donald Butler (+1.4) pegged as a breakout performer for the Chargers, but as teams got together in August, there were rumors of Butler being less than certain of his starting spot. Those summer doubts are now ancient history and with the headlines in San Diego being about the team’s fade, Butler has quietly put together a strong first season as a starter. Following on from his best game of the season against Denver last week, a game in which he recorded seven defensive stops, Butler was again strong in run defense for the Chargers. As his defensive line struggled at times with the physicality of the Jacksonville running game, he was still able to find Jaguars’ running backs to make key stops. It was his tackle on Montell Owens for a 4-yard loss on a screen at the 11:48 mark in the fourth quarter that set up the Jaguars’ doomed field goal attempt. Setting the wheels in motion that culminated in a 31-yard touchdown run by Ryan Mathews that ended the game as a contest.
Jacksonville – Three Performances of Note
Defensive Star in an Unlikely Form
With the Jaguars bereft of a handful of their better starters the Jaguars were always likely to be in trouble. They entered the game without their top two defensive ends and their top two corners and subsequently lost their best pass rusher during the game. Their pass defense suffered but with the help of Leger Douzable (+4.2) stepping up at defensive left end the running game at least wasn’t put to the sword in quite the same manner, until late in the game anyway. Douzable, who has spent most of his career at defensive tackle, was stout against the run (registering three stops) and he played a key role in only allowing the Chargers’ 27 yards on 11 carries in the points of attack from right guard to right end.
Rising Line
The Jaguars’ offensive line hasn’t always been their strong point this season but for one Monday night at least every single player raised their game with all five starters grading at +1.2 or above, and only Will Rackley (+1.2) grading below +2.2 overall. On the left side, Eugene Monroe (+2.7) continued to show his improvement in his third year as he registered his third game of perfect pass protection this season keeping Blaine Gabbert’s blindside clean. In the run game, there were strong performances from the rest of the line with Brad Meester (+3.1) in particular putting in a strong display taking care of the nose tackle tandem of Cam Thomas and Antonio Garay. If Gabbert is to get the chance to develop in the final month of the season, the offensive line needs to finish strong and provide him with a running game to work play action off of.
Passing Game Out of Sync
It would not be too much of a stretch to say that going to Blaine Gabbert (-2.4) has been little short of a disaster for the Jaguars and it reached a point last week where the team had to take steps to rescue Gabbert’s rookie season. There were suggestions of sitting him down again to prevent any damage to him, but instead, the Jaguars chose to rein in the offense for him and attempt to instill some confidence running the game with short passes. Statistically this may have seemed an improvement for Gabbert but the results were still poor. He was throwing exclusively short passes and yet looked out of his depth in terms of both accuracy and being on the same page as his receivers. At 1:20 in the second he threw for Jarrett Dillard to run a slant when Dillard was looking for a block on a bubble screen, the whole play was set up with a slant to the right with a bubble to the left, but Gabbert simply appeared to get it wrong. The two touchdown drives offered very few testing throws to Gabbert but the momentum the Jaguars gained on those drives offered hope after a week of turmoil in Jacksonville. But ultimately Gabbert and the passing game once again failed to deliver.
Game Notes
– Chargers’ special teamer Bront Bird recorded the first defensive snaps on his rookie season. Bird registered one tackle, a stop, and got his finger tips to a throw by Gabbert late in the game.
– The quantifiable return of the San Diego vertical passing game? 5-of-7 for 159 yards and three touchdowns; yes, that looks like the sort of numbers we're used to from the Chargers.
– The Jaguars put the training wheels on Blaine Gabbert this week. Gabbert only attempted five passes beyond nine yards past the line of scrimmage in the entire game.
PFF Game Ball
For a player to step in and serve up a perfect game in pass protection is impressive enough. To do it having joined the team less than a week prior shows the quality of a player. Jared Gaither reminded everyone in this game why he once graded among our Top 5 left tackles (2009).
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