Jacksonville Jaguars - Fantasy News

Blake Bortles - Tosses playoff touchdown

1/21/18

NFL

Jacksonville Jaguars

Blake Bortles

New England obviously got the memo that Bortles helped bring Jacksonville to the conference title game with his legs. New England's focus on Bortles as a runner helped open things up in the passing game, with Bortles' four-yard touchdown pass to Marcedes Lewis in the second quarter serving as a fine example. The linebacker came off Lewis to defend Bortles as he rolled out, opening up an easy toss. New England adjusted well in the second half, and Bortles struggled down the stretch, completing just five of his last 12 passes after a field goal put Jacksonville up 20-10 in the fourth quarter. He had a chance to win it at the end, driving Jacksonville down the field with a nice 29-yard back-shoulder throw to Dede Westbrook, but an incomplete pass, sack, dump off to the flat and incomplete pass in New England territory gave the Patriots the opportunity to run out the clock. Bortles deserves credit for being a great complement to Jacksonville's formula accentuating power offense and a stout defense, and his 91.0 quarterback rating in the playoffs represents a 10-point improvement over his career average. That said, if you're looking at the Jaguars' prospects in 2018, quarterback is probably the position where the most improvement can be had.