National Football League

Jaguars open up bag of tricks, can't find momentum in another loss

Published Dec. 7, 2014 8:16 p.m. ET

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- There was a repeat appearance by Denard Robinson in the wildcat formation.

There was an effort to get Cecil Shorts III and Marcedes Lewis more involved in the passing game.

There was even a trick play where Blake Bortles went in motion on third down and a yard to go before stopping behind center Luke Bowanko and running a quarterback sneak.

The Jacksonville Jaguars tried using most of the tricks in their book Sunday to build on the momentum of only the second victory of their season a week ago. But after being held to 73 total yards and five first downs in the second half of a 27-13 loss to the Houston Texans, it was painfully clear that their activity should not be mistaken for achievement.

A fourth consecutive year of more than 10 defeats is beginning to take its toll, even if Shorts and Lewis are two of just four players to have been around for all of those seasons.

"You can see that the morale is down here," running back Toby Gerhart said in the locker room. "That's hard for this team."

After digging themselves a 21-point hole against the New York Giants before rallying over the final two quarters, the Jaguars inexplicably fell flat after taking a 13-10 lead over the Texans and getting the ball to begin the second half.

"I'm not sure exactly what happened in the second half," said Shorts, who finished with two catches for only three yards in the game and no receptions after the second quarter. "But we've got to figure out a way to get things going. We can't have one good half and one bad half."

It wasn't as if the Jaguars had a three-and-out to begin the third quarter. But when the offense trotted to the sidelines after Bortles was sacked by Texans all-everything defensive end J.J. Watt, little did Bortles and his cohorts know how long it would be before they would return.

The Texans put together a 17-play drive which lasted nearly nine minutes and resulted in a go-ahead touchdown run by Alfred Blue. When the Jaguars finally got the ball back, Bortles' pass for Gerhart in the left flat was picked off by safety D.J. Swearinger.

"I probably never should have thrown it," he said. "I had Cecil on the sideline sitting out there and probably should have thrown it to Cecil or thrown it over his head. But the guy undercut it and made a good play."

Bortles had his moments in the first half. His ability to throw while on the run was evident on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Allen Hurns, who caught the ball inches off the ground in the end zone. And his 31-yard completion to Marqise Lee, another rookie wide receiver, was a thing of beauty.

But it was hard to find any signs of progress from him in particular and the offense in general over the final 30 minutes.

"We seem to be a bit of a momentum team. We go up, and we go down," Gerhart said. "We need to figure a way to stay consistent. In the second half, it just felt like the offense didn't get in a groove."

Excluding a 16-yard run which helped set up the Bortles-to-Hurns touchdown, Robinson managed just 14 yards on nine carries. The Jaguars are now 0-8 this season in games where they have rushed for 85 yards or fewer. Arian Foster had 127 yards by himself for the Texans.

"If you have a good running game, that's going to make everything easier -- not just for the receivers downfield, but for the line too," said Lewis, whose 35-yard reception in the fourth quarter accounted for nearly half the Jaguars' total yards following halftime.

Yes, the weather was lousy in the second half, though by no means a torrential downpour. But that was no excuse for the offense being equally lousy.

"We threw the ball probably just as much as we would have if it wasn't raining," said Bortles, who finished 20 of 40 for 205 yards. "There were some drops and mishandling of the ball that was caused by the rain. But it was part of it. You've got to be able to play in all weathers because they're not going to cancel the game."

There are three games remaining which won't be scrubbed, as much as the NFL Network would probably like to abandon the Jaguars-Tennessee Titans game it's stuck with a week from Thursday night.

"We're going to watch film and try to improve and get ready for Baltimore, I believe," Shorts said, pausing for a moment to think of the next opponent in a season not worth remembering.

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

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