Missed tackles, little pressure, penalties, drops, sacks plague Jaguars in loss to Cardinals

Jaguars experiencing more lapses _ and more losses

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio stood on the sideline and watched Kurt Warner pick his defense apart.

Short passes, missed tackles, first downs and scores, Del Rio saw the same things repeatedly during the Jaguars’ 31-17 loss to Warner and the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Del Rio considered doing something about it, too.

“I thought about doing a Woody Hayes,” he said, referring to the former Ohio State coach who was fired for punching a Clemson player during the 1978 Gator Bowl. “I thought about coming off the sideline. I was going to get somebody down myself.”

The Jags’ defense sure could have used the help.

Warner completed 24 of 26 passes for 243 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and broke the NFL single-game record for completion percentage. The Jaguars (0-2) had no sacks, got little pressure and were victimized by a short passing game — some of the same issues that plagued them last season.

The most glaring problem was missed tackles.

“He was throwing the ball quick and making you tackle,” Del Rio said. “Yards after the catch was a big point of emphasis leading into this week and we did not handle that very well. We did not tackle the short pass game that we knew we would get.

“You absolutely cannot be any good on defense if you don’t do that. That’s an area we must and will improve in.”

Jacksonville struggled most of last season on defense, and Del Rio responded by parting ways with coordinator Gregg Williams, secondary coach Donnie Henderson, linebacker Mike Peterson, cornerback Brian Williams, defensive end Paul Spicer and safety Gerald Sensabaugh.

Mel Tucker took over and installed 3-4 schemes that were supposed to better utilize Jacksonville’s players. So far, progress has been minimal.

Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning threw for 301 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars in the opener, but the Colts scored just 14 points because of three turnovers inside the Jacksonville 35-yard line — an interception, a fumble and a failed fourth-down conversion — and a missed field goal.

Warner was even better, using quick passes to dissect Jacksonville’s zone.

“This is our first year in the system,” defensive end Quentin Groves said. “Rome wasn’t built in a day. That’s the thing we’ve got to get out to the fans and the people.”

Del Rio refused to use the changes as an excuse, or the fact that Jacksonville has two rookies, cornerback Derek Cox and tackle Terrance Knighton, starting on defense.

“That’s taboo,” said Del Rio, whose team has lost 10 of its last 12 games. “I don’t know a coach in the profession that would concede on that point. We all, and me in particular, are going to remain committed to preparing this football team and expecting this football team to play well. That’s not going to change.”

Jacksonville hasn’t been much better on offense, either.

Rookie tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton have been beaten repeatedly in passing situations. Maurice Jones-Drew hasn’t topped 100 yards rushing. And David Garrard has been sacked five times and has more fumbles (three) than TD passes (two).

Trailing 31-3 in the third quarter against Arizona, the offense scored twice in desperation mode. But it wasn’t enough to overcome eight penalties, three turnovers and several dropped passes. Nate Hughes had one in the end zone that would have made it 31-24 late in the fourth.

Hughes was released Monday. So was tight end Greg Estandia, who was flagged for illegal motion in the second quarter against the Cards.

The moves surprised teammates.

“It kind of opened people’s eyes,” Groves said. “We’re going to play a little bit harder and do this a little bit more so we don’t have those problems.”

The Jaguars replaced them with two defensive guys — no surprise since Del Rio might consider changes there, too. They signed rookie cornerback William Middleton off Atlanta’s practice squad and added free agent safety Courtney Greene. The team also waived safety Michael Desormeaux from the practice squad and replaced him with first-year linebacker Justin Roland.

“It’s a performance-based business,” fullback Greg Jones said. “When you don’t produce, things happen. Right now, it really looks like a youth movement going on around here.”