Jaguars vs. Patriots: PFF notes and grades after AFC Championship loss

The Jacksonville Jaguars just... I can’t even type it yet. They played the New England Patriots and, well, you know.

How did our friends at Pro Football Focus grade them out?

AFC Championship Jaguars offensive stats

• Despite not turning the ball over during the game QB Blake Bortles struggled in the game with a below average overall PFF grade of 64.8. Bortles struggled when not using play action, only completing 50 percent of his passes and could only manage a passer rating of 65.3 when doing so.
• It was a different story when he used play action, something he did on 33.3 percent of his dropbacks. Bortles completed 91.7 percent of his passes when using play action including a touchdown in the first half to Marcedes Lewis. His passer rating of 146.5 was one of the highest he has produced this season when using play action.
• RB Corey Grant was excellent out of the backfield as a receiver. He led all Jaguars players versus the Patriots with a receiving grade of 84.4. Grant caught all three of his targets for 59 receiving yards on only four snaps in route. Grant produced an amazing 14.75 yards per route run from his route running.
• WR Allen Hurns had a strong performance leading all Jaguars skill position players with an overall PFF grade of 82.1. Hurns was the primary slot receiver versus the Patriots running 92.9 percent of his routes from the position. He was targeted six times in the slot and produced five receptions for 77 yards with an impressive 2.96 yards per route run from the position.
• Whilst the offensive line did a solid job in keeping Bortles free of pressure for most of the game, only allowing eight total pressures on 39 passing plays. Rookie Cam Robinson proved to be the weak link in the line as he gave up four total pressures including a vital sack on second down with the Jaguars in the Patriots half. His pass-blocking efficiency of 91.4 was the worst by any offensive lineman that played.

Week 14 Jaguars defensive stats

• The highest graded player on the Jaguars roster versus the Patriots was LB Myles Jack. Jack finished the game with an overall PFF grade of 85.8 which included a superb coverage grade of 89.5. Jack led all linebackers with 7.8 coverage snaps per target, 7.8 coverage snaps per reception and 1.38 yards per coverage snap.
• Interior defender Marcell Dareus had a strong performance versus the run on Sunday. He racked up two stops in run defense on just 10 run snaps, his run stop percentage of 20 was the best by a defensive tackle on Sunday. His run defense grade of 80.3 was the third best by a Jaguars player versus the Patriots.
• The defense struggled to get pressure on Brady the whole game only pressuring him on nine of his 42 dropbacks (21.4 percent). Edge defender Dante Fowler led the Jaguars with just three total pressures with fellow edge defenders Yannick Ngakoue and Calais Campbell only getting two each. This is the lowest amount of pressures Ngakoue has manged since Week 2 versus the Titans when he only managed one.
• It was an even worse performance by Ngakoue in the run game. His run defense grade of 41.3 was the second lowest by a Jaguars player versus the Patriots as he failed to pick up a stop in run defense on his seven total run snaps. This was not much as a surprise as Ngakoue has struggled all season versus the run.
• CB’s A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey didn’t come close to their usual high-performance standards versus the Patriots on Sunday. Both finished the game with poor overall PFF grades (Ramsey 47.6 overall grade, Bouye 44.6 overall grade), Bouye allowed four of his five targets to be complete for 58 yards, while Ramsey yielded four of his five targets for 72 yards as well as both allowing a passer rating of over 100 when targeted. Both gave up big penalties as they were flagged pass interference penalties.