Troy Aikman did not hold back when it came to providing honest analysis during the Week 18 game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans on Saturday.
The Jags entered the game favored to win by 5.5 or 6 points, but they fell behind early and trailed until their defense came up with a huge touchdown in the fourth quarter. Trevor Lawrence’s stats looked OK (20/32 for 212 yards and a touchdown), but he missed some very important throws that would have made a huge difference on the scoreboard. Aikman, who was calling the game for ESPN, took note.
Early in the third quarter, Jacksonville had a 3rd-and-7 from the Tennessee 8 down 13-7. Lawrence had a wide open Zay Jones in the end zone but missed him.
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“That one’s kinda hard to even try to explain how you can miss a guy like that. He’s just as open as you could be … he’s got 10 yards,” Aikman said. “You don’t see many misses like that in the NFL.”
A quarter later, Lawrence missed Marvin Jones Jr. on a throw down the right sideline with his Jags trailing 13-10. Aikman was critical of Lawrence for missing the pass attempt.
“He’s got him beat, and a ball that just sails. Now at the end of that, Lawrence does take a hit … but that had no effect on the throw itself. He had a chance to be able to step up into the pocket, deliver a football,” Aikman said of the throw.
Aikman went on to point out just how much Lawrence was letting his team down in a big spot.
“If Jacksonville fails to win this game, boy, it’s going to be a long offseason, because there’s been a lot of opportunities in this game for them. They’ve left a lot of points out there on the board,” Aikman said.
The Jags won the game 20-16 to claim the AFC South, but that doesn’t mean Aikman was wrong. Lawrence was not playing his best and missed throws he needed to complete. Credit to Aikman for not sugarcoating things when honest analysis was called for.
