Another game, another blowout
JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Marrone sat slumped in a chair in his office, his head down and his face planted in both hands.
Marrone looked about like his team played: uninspired and ready for the season to be over.
Philip Rivers threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns on his 38th birthday, including an 84-yarder to Austin Ekeler that was the longest completion of the quarterback’s 16-year NFL career, and the Los Angeles Chargers routed the Jaguars 45-10 Sunday to end a threegame skid.
It was Jacksonville’s fifth consecutive lopsided loss, all by at least 17 points. The 1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the last NFL team to drop five straight by at least 17.
Jacksonville’s last two have been embarrassments at home — both essentially over by halftime.
The latest one could be the end of Marrone’s tenure in Jacksonville. It’s hard to imagine owner Shad Khan keeping Marrone any longer, not following another lackluster effort against another sub-.500 team. The Jaguars have now dropped 19 of their last 25 games — 11 of those by double digits.
“Eventually, if you don’t win enough games and they think it’s better to go with someone else, then obviously that’s out of my hands,” Marrone said. “I just keep doing the best job I can and keep fighting.”
The Chargers (5-8) scored on four of five possessions in the first half, picking apart Jacksonville’s beleaguered defense and taking a 24-3 lead into the locker room. It was a welcome cushion for a team whose eight losses each came by seven points or fewer.
“A little too little, too late in terms of our postseason hopes and the expectations coming into this season,” said Rivers, whose team was officially eliminated from the postseason. “But we still talk about finishing strong. Every game matters. All around a good day. It was a fun day.”
It was another miserable afternoon for the Jaguars (4-9), who trailed by as many as 25, 32, 24 and 23 in their previous four blowouts.
Marrone benched veteran quarterback Nick Foles in favor of rookie Gardner Minshew, hoping for a spark. But Minshew looked mostly ordinary, completing 24 of 37 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. He missed DJ Chark running wide open down the left side in the second quarter.
Jacksonville managed 252 yards.