Short-yard situations continue to be trouble for Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars' struggles with short-yardage situations once again became apparent in the team's 19-13 win over the Tennessee Titans on Thursday.
With the game tied at 6 in the third quarter and facing a first-and-goal situation on the Tennessee seven-yard line, Jacksonville failed to reach the end zone.
Running back Denard Robinson was unsuccessful in three straight rushing attempts, forcing the team to settle for a 20-yard field goal from rookie kicker Jason Myers.
After gaining five yards on a first-down run by Robinson, the next two runs were both stopped for no gain, leaving the Jaguars with fourth-and-goal on the two. At that point, Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley elected not to try again on fourth dow, instead sending Myers out for the field goal.
“There was a strong percentage we were going to go for it,” Bradley said, per the team's official website. “We felt like we could get it on three downs by running the ball. When we lost yardage on the third down it went back to where we kicked the field goal.”
Thursday's failure to convert was Jacksonville's latest problem with short-yardage situations. The Jaguars failed to score on four consecutive rushing attempts from Toby Gerhart in the team's win over the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 25.
While Jacksonville ended up winning both games, with the team just a game out of first place with six weeks remaining, making the most of scoring opportunities figures to take on greater importance down the stretch.
