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Thursday Night Observations

Yeah, I watched it. And, surprisingly, the game wasn't that bad.

These were obviously bad teams, but the quality of play was above average for Thursday night this year. The refs did not similarly rise to the occasion, though, calling two terrible offensive PI penalties against the Jaguars that were beyond ticky-tack, and a questionable PI against Tennessee that awarded the Jaguars a first down and more or less sealed the game.

Blake Bortles scrambled well, but was otherwise unimpressive (4.4 YPA, four sacks). Phil Simms noted some bad habits mechanically, and that analysis seemed sound.

• Charlie Whitehurst played okay (8.2 YPA), but threw behind Kendall Wright on a key third down and missed Delanie Walker who was open for a short TD. Interesting to hear Whitehurst (via Simms) thinks Zach Mettenberger, based on how he throws, will be a star quarterback one day. Of all the rookie QBs, Mettenberger has had the best showing this year with 7.9 YPA, eight TDs and seven INTs in 179 attempts.

Marqise Lee had 65 yards receiving. I have him going in the 16-team RotoWire Steak League and was hoping for about that many. He nearly broke away on a big play in the third quarter but for an ankle tackle. He looks shifty and explosive, but it's hard to tell how good he is in such an inconsistent offense.

Ken Whisenpunt actually went for it, down 14-10, on 4th-and-2 at Jacksonville's 39-yard line with 9:24 left, and even Simms agreed he had to. Of course, the attempt failed, and on Jacksonville's next play Jordan Todman had a 62-yard TD run. Never again! Mercifully, Whisenpunt likely has one game left during which to misapply this lesson.

With 1:20 left, up eight, the Jaguars had a 4th-and-1 from the Tennessee 37 and elected to punt. Of course, Simms opined that they "had to," explaining the "owner" would have words with Gus Bradley if it failed. The result was a touchback and 17-yard net, something the Titans got back on their first play from scrimmage. Sure, it cost them 15 seconds or so, but a one-yard gain would have ended the game entirely. Ideally, in these situations a producer would show a graphic with a win probability chart for each choice, and Simms and Nantz could have a reality-based discussion on the decision.

Sen'Derrick Marks got a sack to end the game and net him a $600K bonus as it pushed him over eight sacks. Would have been cooler if it were the last play of next week's game.