National Football League

Jaguars still learning how to finish; Titans need WR help: AFC South takeaways

Updated Oct. 18, 2022 6:47 p.m. ET

By Ben Arthur
FOX Sports AFC South Writer

I'm not convinced the Jacksonville Jaguars are a bad team. That they're the "same old Jags." But it's obvious now that they are not the quick-ascending team they appeared to be just three weeks ago, when they were coming off back-to-back wins of 20-plus points.

In actuality, these Jaguars (2-4) — now on a three-game losing streak — don't know how to finish.

It's not just that they're losing. It's that they're doing so in different ways.

"We just got to find a time, a place, a play somewhere that we can win these games," coach Doug Pederson said Sunday.

In Week 4, on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles, it was quarterback Trevor Lawrence's five giveaways that did the Jaguars in. The following week, back at home against the divisional-rival Houston Texans, the biggest problem was the Jaguars' failure to convert in the red zone. Against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, it was their defense — one of the league's best through the first five weeks of the season — falling short in a 34-27 loss.

Three of Jacksonville's four penalties vs. Indianapolis came from the defense. Each of the three sparked touchdown drives: cornerback Shaquill Griffin's defensive pass interference in the second quarter (an ensuing holding call pushed the Colts backward, but Griffin's foul still gave them a fresh set of downs in the red zone), rookie outside linebacker Travon Walker's unnecessary roughness penalty in the third quarter and a second DPI by Griffin in the fourth quarter that led to the Colts' first lead of the game at 26-21 with 12:52 left.

The defensive miscues ruined a strong effort from the offense, which wasn't perfect but gave Jacksonville chances to put the game away.

The Jaguars ran out to a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter with a dominant rushing attack. They also put together an impressive 18-play drive that took 10:08 off the clock in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score right after the Colts took their first lead of the game.

In the NFL, 27 points are usually enough to win — especially for the Jaguars, considering how their defense played in the first five games.

"I just feel like every time we were close to getting off the field on third down, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot," Griffin said of the loss. "Those are the things you can't get back, and it's tough. The referees made some really tough calls, and it was hard to bounce back from. That's the part that we have to do better at. Whatever it is that we made mistakes on or whatever the penalty was, we can't have that happen. That was on us."

On Friday, Pederson said this is the time of year when teams figure out their identity. The sample size is big enough, he stressed. It's mid-October. The preseason and the first month of the year are in the books.

It's why the picture of Jacksonville is becoming clear: The Jaguars are a young, talented team not ready to seriously contend.

"Eventually, we got to go and win those games, and we know that," Lawrence said.

Titans should trade for a receiver

Through five games, it's become obvious that the division-leading Titans (3-2) need help at wideout. And it's not just because first-round pick Treylon Burks will miss at least another three games on injured reserve with turf toe.

It's because no help is coming. Coach Mike Vrabel said Monday that there's "no chance" second-year receiver Racey McMath, who's been on injured reserve since the start of the season, will be available to play this week against the Colts. After a strong summer, McMath was poised to be a vertical threat for Tennessee's offense.

The Titans just don't have the pass-catching personnel to scare secondaries. Without Burks, they don't have a receiver in the top 50 in the NFL in average separation or yards after the catch/per reception, or one in the top 70 in catch percentage, according to Next Gen Stats. Among players on the active roster, veteran receiver Robert Woods leads the Titans in all three categories — tied for 57th in the league in average separation (3 yards from the nearest defender at the time of catch or incompletion), 66th in YAC/reception (4.2) and 77th in catch percentage (67.1), per NGS.

Woods has been a very good receiver in his career and has been effective so far for the Titans — he has a team-leading 204 receiving yards — but having him as your top option without much depth behind him is a concern. Fifth-round rookie Kyle Philips, a star over the summer, has been a non-factor since coming back from a shoulder injury he suffered in the season opener. After posting six receptions for 66 yards in his debut, he has two catches for 12 yards since.

Tennessee actually ranks in the top half of the NFL in passing yards per play at 14th. But excluding the running backs and Burks, the receivers and tight ends together have accounted for fewer than 61% of the team's receiving yards.

I would not be surprised to see the Titans pursue a trade for a receiver before the Nov. 1 deadline. Help on the outside would make it harder for teams to lock in on superstar running back Derrick Henry, who has seen eight or more defenders in the box on 27.8% of his snaps, ninth highest in the league, per NGS.

Don't sleep on Texans WR Nico Collins

Rookie running back Dameon Pierce is quickly becoming the talk for the Texans (1-3-1), and veteran Brandin Cooks is the leader of the receiver room. But second-year wideout Nico Collins is quickly ascending.

Through five games, the 2021 third-round pick has a team-leading 272 receiving yards, pacing well above the 446 yards in 14 games he had as a rookie. The 6-foot-4 Collins has had at least 65 receiving yards in back-to-back games. His performance against the Jaguars in Week 5 (four catches for 65 yards) was highlighted by an incredible grab in the fourth quarter: Mossing cornerback Tyson Campbell on an underthrown ball down the sideline.

The Texans have one of the worst offenses in the NFL, but it's not devoid of talent. Collins' emergence helps improve a unit that's learning to lean on Pierce, giving it run-pass balance. Houston has an emerging star at running back, coupled with two dependable receivers for quarterback Davis Mills in Collins and Cooks. That's something to build on.

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.