Brian Thomas Jr. makes his second touchdown catch during the fourth quarter in a loss to the New York Jets. The Jaguars gave away a fourth quarter lead en route to a 32-25 loss to fall to 3-11 on the season on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on December 15, 2024 at 6:07 pm
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If the Jaguars had played the kind of game they did on Sunday back in September, it might have been called a gritty performance, the kind of game a team can build on and the type of effort good teams show in adversity.
Of course, it’s December and the Jaguars have already been eliminated from playoff consideration.
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The 32-25 loss to the Jets dropped the Jaguars to 3-11 on the season. The Jaguars played without starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence, starting wide receivers Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis or starting tight end Evan Engram.
The game featured the best opening drive by the Jaguars all season. Taking a conservative approach to the passing game, Mac Jones drove the team downfield, completing six passes for 33 yards including a 3-yard touchdown pass to Brain Thomas Jr.
On the drive, Thomas broke the Jaguars franchise records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns by a rookie. After being all but forgotten early in the past two games, Thomas caught four passes on the opening drive.
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The defense then forced the Jets to go three-and-out, but they picked up a first down on a fake punt. The Jets capitalized on the opportunity on an Aaron Rodgers-to-Garrett Wilson touchdown to tie the game at 7.
On the ensuing drive, Jones threw an inaccurate deep ball that was intercepted by Jalen Mills. The game remained tied at 7 until the Jaguars regained the lead on a 28-yard field goal by kicker Cam Little with 2:47 to play in the half, which gave the Jaguars a 10-7 edge. The drive took more than 11 minutes off the clock.
Just before halftime, the Jaguars had a chance for another touchdown but could not convert on two plays inside the 10-yard line. Little capped an 11-play drive with a 23-yard field goal to send the teams to the locker rooms with the Jaguars up 13-7.
The Jaguars dominated possession in the first half, holding the ball for 21:08 to the Jets’ 8:52. The Jaguars ran 44 plays to the Jets’ 17.
The Jets opened the second half with a field goal on the opening drive to cut the Jaguars’ lead to 13-10.
The Jaguars continued to feed Thomas, who picked up 41 yards on a third-down pass that kept the Jaguars’ initial third-quarter drive alive and led to a 43-yard field goal by Little, making it 16-10 Jacksonville. New York moved in front with 4:33 to play in the third quarter on a Rodgers-to-DeVante Adams touchdown pass to make it 17-16 Jets.
In the fourth quarter, Thomas’ second touchdown of the game gave the Jaguars the lead again: 22-17 when the 2-point try failed.
The Jets quickly responded with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Adams.
Cam Little tied the game at 25 with a 43-yard field goal with 1:51 to play.
Once again, with the game on the line, the Jaguars didn’t make the plays needed to win. The defense surrendered a 41-yard catch and run by Adams that set up the go-ahead touchdown run by Breece Hall to make it 32-25.
Then, with the chance to score a potentially game-winning touchdown, Jones threw an errant deep ball that was picked off by New York, ending the Jaguars’ chance to win.
What’s next? The Jaguars’ final three games all come against teams that would not make the playoffs if the season ended today: the Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans (whom the Jaguars beat last week) and the Indianapolis Colts. It is not inconceivable to imagine the Jaguars beating all of them. If they do, they will finish 6-11 and pick somewhere in the middle of the first round in the draft.
If they lose them all, they could still get the first pick, but the key spot seems to be the third pick in the draft because two quarterbacks, Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward, are almost certain to go with the first two picks. As of the end of the game on Sunday, the Jaguars were set to get the fourth pick of the first round.
Next week’s game against the Raiders will go a long way to determining the team’s draft position in April.
Cole Pepper has covered sports in Jacksonville since 1996, most recently for News4Jax. He is currently broadcast director for Sporting Club Jacksonville and has called play-by-play for a number of teams, including the Suns, Tomcats, Jacksonville University, Sharks and The Bolles School football. He also served as the studio host for the Jaguars Radio Network.
