Listening to the national media before the Atlanta game, it was hard not to feel a little bit giddy.
The Jaguars, many folks predicted, would beat Matt Ryan and his Falcons with ease. The Atlanta Falcons, unfortunately, didn’t get the memo. And the way they handled their business underscored why the Jaguars are a 5-9 team.
The first drive was an augury: Atlanta got the ball first, and drove 80 yards down the field in 8 plays and 4:12, pushed by 44 yards from Julio Jones and FSU product Devonta Freeman knocking over the pylon as he crashed into the end zone on a 5-yard run. Matt Ryan: six for six on the drive.
The second quarter featured a second efficient Ryan drive, culminating in an 11-yard strike to – Jones, putting Atlanta up 14 to 3. Those who were waiting for the Falcons to self-destruct like they did a week before in Charlotte began to realize that wasn’t going to happen.
After trading punts, Jacksonville had the ball inside its own 20 with 1:42 left in the half. Bortles, in 2-minute mode, had the offense on the move against a soft Falcons zone, until throwing one of those classic poorly timed interceptions in the end zone. The interception, returned to the Jacksonville 14, set up a Falcons field goal, putting Atlanta up 17 to 3.
The Jaguars, for a second week in a row, needed some magic in the final 30 minutes.
And, for a moment, they were getting it, chunk play by chunk play, on a 9-play, 4:20-drive that covered 80 yards and cut the Falcons’ lead in half, ending with a Bortles bootleg for the touchdown.
Then Ryan served up a pick to Paul Posluszny, giving Jacksonville the ball inside the 50 and all the momentum in the world, as Bortles moved the ball down the field in a drive that culminated with a strike to Allen Robinson, tying the game up at 17, which was where it stood at the end.
Jacksonville punted the ball back in short order, a three and out forced by an aggressive Falcons’ defense, as each team saw the shadows lengthen on the playing field, and their playoff hopes cloaked in encroaching darkness.
The Falcons drove to the 15, and made a field goal, putting them up by 3. The Jags could do nothing with the ball, and punted it back to Atlanta with 8:26 left. From there, Atlanta killed almost 7 minutes, and Shayne Graham looped in a 46-yard kick with 1:46 to go.
The Jaguars could win with a touchdown … and an extra point, not a given with Jason Myers still handling the kicking duties.
The drive, the game, the season: dead and buried, in a potter’s grave, lying next to so many others of recent vintage. The upside? This one died around Christmas time, not Halloween.
The Jaguars fell to 5-9, and all talk of an AFC South title for the Black & Teal was quelled.
After the game, Head Coach Gus Bradley talked about the game that got away, sealing Jacksonville’s fifth straight losing season.
Bradley’s coachspeak, this time around, was tempered with a bit more resignation than earlier discussions after other losses. For those waiting for the happy talk buzz phrases, you didn’t hear them at first. And at the end of some of his answers, there was an upward lift in his voice, which suggested uncertainty.
“This team’s spirit, and this team’s will, you can count on that,” Bradley said about the hot start of the second half.
“We just didn’t execute well in the fourth quarter.”
“I don’t want our team to get into what-ifs; I want our team to get into what’s now.”
Now, of course, is 5-9.
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