The Jacksonville Jaguars simply made too many mistakes to beat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
In the 31-27 loss, the Jaguars turned the ball over four times and punted seven times. While the defense gave up several big plays and nearly 400 yards of total offense, it also forced three turnovers and eight Cleveland punts.
Were the three interceptions thrown by Trevor Lawrence all the fault of the 24-year-old quarterback? His last certainly looked like a misread, but the first two seemed to be a disconnect between Lawrence and his veteran receivers Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones.
At Pro Football Focus, they graded every Jaguars player in the Week 14 game. Here’s who PFF thought stood out most, both positively and negatively, in the Jacksonville loss:
5 highest grades on offense
- TE Evan Engram: 85.9
- RG Brandon Scherff: 78.9
- RB Travis Etienne Jr.: 71.7
- WR Calvin Ridley: 64.7
- TE Luke Farrell: 61.0
Engram’s case for a spot in the Pro Bowl is pretty undeniable now that he’s adding touchdowns to his stat line.
5 lowest grades on offense
- LT Blake Hance: 18.3
- QB Trevor Lawrence: 45.3
- WR Parker Washington: 47.9
- RT Anton Harrison: 48.7
- WR Tim Jones: 52.7
Who is most to blame for the disconnect between Lawrence and his wide receivers Sunday? It was tough to tell and nobody was pointing fingers after the game. But PFF clearly believes the majority of the blame should land on Lawrence’s shoulders.
5 highest grades on defense
- OLB Josh Allen: 89.8
- S Andrew Wingard: 85.7
- S Antonio Johnson: 79.2
- DL Angelo Blackson: 72.6
- DL Jeremiah Ledbetter: 72.5
Allen didn’t add to his career-best sack total, but he was credited with four hurries by PFF and recorded two tackles for loss.
5 lowest grades on defense
- CB Gregory Junior: 40.6
- OLB Dawuane Smoot: 56.1
- CB Montaric Brown: 56.1
- DL Adam Gotsis: 57.0
- DL Tyler Lacy: 58.9
The absence of Tre Herndon may have been more impactful than many expected. The Jaguars secondary looked discombobulated without the sixth-year cornerback and Junior wasn’t great in coverage nor as a tackler.
5 other notables
- LT Ezra Cleveland: 59.9
- WR Zay Jones: 57.6
- S Rayshawn Jenkins: 70.0
- LB Foye Oluokun: 61.7
- DT DaVon Hamilton: 61.2
Cleveland only played 26 snaps before exiting with a knee injury, but he did pretty well in his first ever NFL game at offensive tackle. According to PFF, there was a significant drop-off with Hance in the game.