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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Adam Stites

Jaguars PFF grades: Best and worst performers vs. Buccaneers

It was a nightmare before Christmas for the Jacksonville Jaguars in their Week 16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

A mistake-prone offense continued its tendency to give the ball away and a suddenly porous Jaguars defense allowed the Buccaneers to score on their first six drives. It was 30-0 before Jacksonville finally scored its first points.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the embarrassing performance. Trevor Lawrence made poor decisions that led to turnovers, the offensive line did little to protect him or clear running room, the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down, and Doug Pederson continues to trot out a flat, ill-prepared football team.

Here’s who Pro Football Focus thought played well for the Jaguars, despite the final score, and who struggled most on Sunday:

5 highest grades on offense

Matthew Hinton-USA TODAY Sports
  1. WR Elijah Cooks: 76.8
  2. WR Calvin Ridley: 76.0
  3. QB C.J. Beathard: 73.2
  4. RG Brandon Scherff: 72.7
  5. TE Evan Engram: 66.7

Cooks caught all three of his targets for 38 yards and Ridley finished with six receptions, 90 yards, and two touchdowns.

5 lowest grades on offense

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
  1. LG Ezra Cleveland: 29.8
  2. C Luke Fortner: 39.3
  3. RT Cole Van Lanen: 45.3
  4. QB Trevor Lawrence: 45.4
  5. RB D’Ernest Johnson: 52.1

The Jaguars were credited with allowing 21 pressures Sunday. Cleveland gave up seven and Van Lanen, who played less than half of the Jaguars’ offensive snaps, allowed four.

5 highest grades on defense

Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
  1. DL Adam Gotsis: 88.6
  2. DL Tyler Lacy: 84.9
  3. LB Foye Oluokun: 75.8
  4. CB Tre Herndon: 74.7
  5. DL Folorunso Fatukasi: 73.0

Gotsis batted two balls, recorded two pressures, and had an 81.9 grade against the run.

5 lowest grades on defense

Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
  1. S Andre Cisco: 42.4
  2. DL Roy Robertson-Harris: 45.3
  3. OLB K’Lavon Chaisson: 51.2
  4. DL Jeremiah Ledbetter: 51.3
  5. DB Antonio Johnson: 56.0

Cisco earned grades above 76 in three of the first four games of the season. He hasn’t had a day above 72 since Week 4, though.

5 other notables

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
  1. CB Montaric Brown: 68.3
  2. CB Tyson Campbell: 56.6
  3. LT Walker Little: 64.1
  4. LB Devin Lloyd: 64.1
  5. OLB Travon Walker: 61.9

Lloyd had a team-best 88.9 run defense grade on a day where the Buccaneers couldn’t get much going on the ground. However, he had a 46.7 grade in coverage and a 29.6 tackling grade after missing three Sunday.

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