Through Week 11 of the 2024 NFL season, the Tennessee Titans are 2-8 and the Jacksonville Jaguars are 2-9. The Titans have lost two in a row, and the Jaguars are on a four-game losing streak. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson is fielding questions about his job status and the Titans can’t seem to get out of their own way.
Titans struggle with penalties, self-inflicted mistakes
In their 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Titans were penalized 13 times for 91 yards, while the Vikings were flagged just three times for 35 yards. There are plenty of other statistics that favor the Vikings – 24 first downs to Tennessee’s 11, 82 rushing yards to 33, three touchdowns to one – but the penalties are arguably the biggest the story.
One was controversial and sparked intense reactions from the Jaguars sideline; safety Mike Brown was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a fourth-and-goal play in the end zone as he broke up a pass to Vikings receiver Jordan Addison. While the Jaguars believed the hit was clean and legal, the referees threw their flags. Head coach Brian Callahan erupted on the sidelines, getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and the Vikings got a touchdown on their next play.
But there were 12 other penalties that also cost the Titans the game, including a flag that took away a Tennessee touchdown and two late-hit penalties that gifted the Vikings 15 yards apiece.
“It’s tough,” receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine said. “It’s how this game is – there’s going to be error in it, there’s going to be human error. It’s not the reg’s fault, sometimes it’s not their fault, and sometimes it’s not our fault. It’s just how the game is.”
Westbrook-Ikhine was responsible for one of the highlights of the game for the Titans, with a 98-yard touchdown to tie for the longest reception in franchise history. But he only had one other reception and finished the day with 117 total yards.
Quarterback Will Levis was 17-of-31 for 295 yards and one touchdown; Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold was 20-of-32 for 246 yards with two touchdowns. But Levis was sacked five times and led the team in rushing with 18 yards on seven carries – not a recipe for success.
“(Players) have every right to be frustrated, and they should be,” Callahan said. “Our guys played hard, and they fought the entire game, and kept trying to climb back into it and make plays, and we made quite a few. But we didn’t have enough to overcome it and find a way to get into the end zone another time or two. We’re disappointed about that part.”
Jaguars dominated by Lions in every way
The Lions have put up 52 points twice this season, and both times have been against AFC South opponents; they beat the Titans 52-14 in Week 8 and took down the Jaguars 52-6 in Week 11. In their win over the Jaguars, the Lions set franchise records for total yards (645) and margin of victory (46), and moved to 9-1 for the first time since 1934.
There weren’t any questions about the talent in Detroit prior to Week 11, and there definitely aren’t any now. The Jaguars, on the other hand, are facing questions about both their quarterback and head coach.
Mac Jones started in his second straight game in place of an injured Trevor Lawrence, completing 17-of-29 pass attempts for 138 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He struggled to complete passes of over 10 yards, going 2-for-12 on pass attempts longer than 10 yards, per Pro Football Focus.
“It just wasn’t our day today,” Jones said. “I didn’t put my best effort out there today, and you’ve just got to keep moving forward…we just have to get back to the one play at a time mindset and focus on scoring points.”
The Jaguars totaled 170 yards on offense while the Lions put together a whopping 645 yards as quarterback Jared Goff completed 24-of-29 passes for 412 yards and four touchdowns. The Lions had a total of seven touchdowns; running back David Montgomery had 15 carries for 75 yards and two touchdowns and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had 11 receptions on 11 targets for 161 yards and two touchdowns.
“We’ve been on the field way too long defensively the last four weeks and that’s a combination of offense has to do their part which hasn’t been able to do,” Pederson said. “Stay on the field and score points and we haven’t been able to do that and that’s what we have to look at there too. But I think there is some fatigue there of playing a lot of snaps in these last couple of weeks.”
Detroit dominated time of possession, holding the ball for 39 minutes and six seconds. The Lions scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and used their strength and power, rather than relying on explosive plays, to get around the Jaguars defense.
“It’s a good team,” Pederson said of the Lions. “You can see how this team’s really come together, all three phases are playing well.”
“I can’t control that,” Pederson said when asked about his job security. “I’ve been around this league a long time and if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen obviously, but at the same time, I still have a job to do and that’s to get ready for a good division opponent here in two weeks.”
The Colts will play the Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium this Sunday. The Jaguars have a bye week before facing the Houston Texans in Week 13.