Jaguars continue to underachieve with Gus Bradley at HC

Coming into this season the Jacksonville Jaguars were a trendy pick to take a step forward. The team finished strong last season and saw marked improvement from some of their key players.

Blake Bortles looked like he was on the verge of stardom, and he had receivers like Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns to throw to.

The Jaguars were also one of the most active teams in the offseason. They signed Malik Jackson for a record breaking contract, and he was brought on to bring stability and an edge to their pass rush. In addition to Jackson, they went out and signed Prince Amukamara to play cornerback.

Pairing those free agents with some of the young talent the Jaguars acquired over the years set them up in an advantageous position in the draft.

Once the draft ended, the Jaguars had come away with Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack. The consensus was that those two players were two of the top five in this year’s draft class.

Add it all up and the Jaguars became a trendy pick to make a run at the playoffs despite having little success under head coach Gus Bradley.

Their first game of the season was against the Green Bay Packers. It was a good test for a young team. The Packers are a perennial contender. Beating them would go a long way toward cementing their status as a team looking to compete this season.

Instead, they came up one play short of a victory.

Since that time the Jaguars have won two games. One came in ugly fashion against the Chicago Bears. The other was a game in London which is known to be unpredictable.

The offense with Bortles remains inconsistent. There are times they look dynamic. Other times they look lost. This is an offense that was supposed to challenge to finish in the top 10.

Instead, they have continued to struggle. They have topped 30 points just once, that came against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts may have the worst defense in all of football. Bortles looks to have regressed since last season, which is a disturbing trend.

When Gus Bradley got hired away from the Seattle Seahawks, defense was supposed to be his forte.

When the Jaguars spent all the money in the offseason and acquired all the young talent on defense in the draft, the idea was this was finally going to be the year that Bradley could run his defense the way he wants.

Instead, the defense has been inconsistent. They have more bark than bite.

Today that came to a head. Malik Jackson was ejected from the game after getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That is a sign of a team that is undisciplined. That falls on the Head Coach.

They have performance issues to go with their disciplinary issues. They have been unable to hold any offense that is above average in check. The Colts and Packers both scored 27 points. The Chargers exploded for 38.

Today, the Raiders scored 33 points and did so anyway that they wanted. If they wanted to run the ball, they could. If Carr wanted to air it out, he could. The Jaguars defense is not anywhere near what it should be. That is something that falls on the Head coach that is supposed to be known for his defensive ability.

With the loss, the Jaguars fall to 2-4 on the season. Luckily for them, they are in the worst division in the NFL. They can still turn things around and compete.

Regardless if they do, it’s more likely to be a product of a bad division than it is the Jaguars playing quality football.

The Jaguars have given Bradley plenty of time. He has yet to show any sustained progress with this Jaguars team that anyone would say is talented.

As long as he is at the helm, it is likely the Jaguars will continue to underachieve.

When the time comes at the end of the season, if the Jaguars continue to disappoint it’s likely that Bradley will be looking for another coordinator job.