Herding Cats: Analyzing the Jacksonville Jaguars Offense vs the New England Patriots
Marcedes Lewis, Tight End
Dec 18, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Marcedes Lewis (89) runs with the ball as Tennessee Titans free safety Michael Griffin (33) attempted to defend during the second quarter at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
And last, but surely not least, the elder statesman of the Jacksonville Jaguars offense…
If it seems like Marcedes Lewis has been around forever, well, it’s because he has: Lewis entered the league in 2006 and after a breakout 2010 season, when he found the end zone 10 times and finished with 700 receiving yards, he has steadily regressed up to last year, when he only had 206 yards to show for the 2014 season. He’s literally done nothing this year. 0 receptions, 0 yards, 0 touchdowns.
In other words, Julius Thomas can’t get on the field soon enough for Jacksonville.
With Thomas still not cleared by doctors, though, expect to see Lewis suit up at TE on Sunday against New England. Whether we should expect him to grab his first catch of the year is another story.
Who Can Stop Him?
It’d be surprising if Jacksonville uses Lewis as much more than a blocking tight end, but in the event that he lines up as a receiver, for his own sake, Lewis had better hope he doesn’t see Jamie Collins in coverage. In the event that Lewis starts streaking up the seam, a la Rob Gronkowski, whoever is playing safety, whether it’s Duron Harmon, Patrick Chung, McCourty, or some combination of those three, will need to do their part to help keep Lewis’ receptions right at that big goose egg he’s got on his stat sheet right now.
Truthfully, it’s harder than one might think to write about this matchup and not sound condescending, but at a closer look, Jacksonville’s offense is young as hell, and still raw, but with the quarterback position more or less locked down for the foreseeable future, and a whole lot of potential, especially at the receiver position, it might not be too long before everyone stops looking at the Jags as an automatic “W” on their schedule.
Don’t call it a trap game, though. “Trap game” implies the potential to be trapped, and after laying waste to Pittsburgh and silencing Buffalo, on paper, New England has all the tools they need to make Jacksonville’s flight back to Florida a long one.