National Football League

Jaguars observations: Philip Rivers again too much for Jacksonville

Published Sep. 28, 2014 8:03 p.m. ET

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The owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars is Shad Khan. But once a year, that title can apply just as easily to Philip Rivers.

Even with occasional snap problems involving his centers and almost nothing in the way of a rushing game by the San Diego Chargers, Rivers turned in his third dominant performance in four years Sunday against the Jaguars, who fell to 0-4 despite a generally strong showing from rookie Blake Bortles in the first start of his NFL career.

Rivers joined Nick Foles, Kirk Cousins and Andrew Luck in the growing list of quarterbacks this season to pick apart a defense which was supposed to be the Jaguars' strongest area. He twice found Eddie Royal wide open in the first half on scoring plays of more than 40 yards, and his perfectly-thrown pass to Malcolm Floyd capped a drive to open the third quarter which put the Chargers in control.

Had they not led so handily in the fourth quarter, Rivers would have likely become the fifth 400-yard passer ever against the Jaguars. He completed all but two of his throws in the first half and finished 29 of 39 for 377 yards.

This marks the second consecutive September where the Jaguars dropped all four of their games. The play of Bortles should keep fans encouraged, but only to a point. It's hard not to be discouraged when the only other remaining winless team is the Oakland Raiders.

Here are five takeaways and observations from the 33-14 loss:

1. More than tight ends get wide open against the Jaguars.

The fear going into the game was that Antonio Gates, one of the top tight ends over the past decade, would run wild through a secondary with just one interception this season. As it turned out, Gates was relatively quiet, catching only three passes for 30 yards.

The wide receivers of the Chargers were another matter. Keenan Allen had 10 receptions for 135 yards, while Royal caught five passes for 105 yards. They were the first teammates with 100 yards or more against the Jaguars in the same game since Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne in 2008 for the Indianapolis Colts.

Royal was virtually uncovered on both of his touchdowns. Rivers found him downfield in a mismatch with outside linebacker Geno Hayes on the first, and with less than a minute to go before halftime and the Jaguars ahead 14-10, Royal ran an out-and-up pattern to get behind Winston Guy, who had lost his starting free safety job to Josh Evans last week.

To make a bad day even worse, cornerback Dwayne Gratz suffered a concussion during the second quarter and didn't return. Demetrius McCray took his place.

2. For one half, Bortles matched Rivers throw for throw.

A case could have been made for Bortles racking up his 223 yards in relief of Chad Henne a week ago in what were 30 minutes of garbage time because the Jaguars trailed the Colts 30-0 at halftime. But there was no doubting the legitimacy of his statistics through two quarters against the Chargers.

By the end of his first scoring drive, Bortles had completed nine passes to five different receivers for a total of 83 yards. And he was at his best when he moved to his left in the pocket and found wide receiver Allen Hurns behind the Chargers' secondary on a 44-yard gain. The play should have gone for a score, but Hurns fell down after barely hanging on to the ball and then was touched down at the 2.

Bortles was 15 of 18 for 149 yards in the first half. Just as impressive was that an offense which had 15 possessions of three plays and out during the first three weeks didn't have one until just before the two-minute warning. Punter Bryan Anger could like getting used to that.

3. The hamstring woes of Cecil Shorts III continue.

On Bortles' first of two interceptions in the second half, Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers got a better break than Shorts on the throw. The reason why became clear moments later when Shorts walked to the locker room favoring his left hamstring and was out for the rest of the game.

With rookie Marqise Lee missing his second contest in a row because of hamstring problems of his own, getting all their receivers healthy at the same time has proved to be darn near impossible for the Jaguars. It will help to an extent that Ace Sanders returns this week from a four-game suspension, but he's by no means a cure-all.

Overlooked in the loss were a team-high eight catches for 69 yards by tight end Clay Harbor in his first game since a calf injury during training camp. Bortles' one touchdown pass went to another tight end -- Nic Jacobs, who the Jaguars signed Tuesday off the practice squad of the New Orleans Saints.

4. Toby Gerhart might already not be the answer to their running game.

Gerhart's 1-yard run which gave the Jaguars a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter ended an embarrassing streak of 218 carries by them since their last rushing touchdown. That one was by Maurice Jones-Drew last November at Houston.

But Gerhart began the day by fumbling on their opening possession and finished it by getting stopped over the right side of the line for no gain on fourth down and a yard to go. For the second week in a row, there was almost no difference in the statistics of Gerhart (10 carries, 32 yards) and Denard Robinson (nine carries, 25 yards).

Bortles was also stuffed on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak in the first quarter.

5. Say this much for the Jaguars: Penalties aren't a problem.

Remember how the flags were flying during almost every preseason game around the league? But for the second week in a row, the Jaguars played close to a penalty-free game.

After getting flagged just twice for 15 yards against the Colts, they weren't penalized until the first play of the fourth quarter, when defensive end Andre Branch squared off with Chargers tackle King Dunlap and was called for a blow to the head as both players' helmets flew off.

And someday Bortles might look back and laugh at the tripping penalty he drew trying to tackle safety Eric Weddle on an interception return, but not for now.

Next up: Sunday vs. Pittsburgh.

You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.