O-Zone Late Night, Week 8: Packers 30, Jaguars 27

JACKSONVILLE – This one was tough. Brutal, frustrating, incredibly hard.

The Jaguars lost 30-27 to the Green Bay Packers at EverBank Stadium on Sunday – a game that was exciting, disappointing, devastating, encouraging and troubling.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence committed two costly turnovers while playing the best football he has played in his NFL career. The Jaguars played with courage, heart and fight against a very good team – and suffered a defeat that almost destroyed their playoff chances.

There were many more storylines that we will cover in the coming days. These are the broad brushstrokes from one of the most memorable and frustrating Jaguars games in recent memory.

It was such a day. Hard. Insanely, devastatingly hard.

Is it okay to criticize the franchise quarterback for turnovers that led to 14 points, or is that taboo for this franchise?

Why should it be taboo? And when was it ever taboo? Lawrence has been discussed, analyzed, dissected and criticized ad nauseum in this column and by everyone who covers the Jaguars. As for his performance on Sunday…yeah, he had two bad turnovers. This was something that had been a problem in his first three NFL seasons. It hadn't been a problem earlier this season and it was a problem on Sunday. But while his first-half interception and lost fourth-quarter fumble were poor on Sunday, he also responded with some of the best drives — and some of the best poise and grip play — he's ever had in his NFL career had . I think I understand why people want to blame Lawrence for Sunday's loss. But with this one I don't feel it. Excuse me.

Mike from Cartersville (aka TrevorGood&BadTown), GA

With Philadelphia and Detroit in mind, has the season officially fallen apart?

The Jaguars are 2-6 and four games behind in the AFC South. Their next four games are against the Philadelphia Eagles (5-2), Minnesota Vikings (5-2), Detroit Lions (6-1) and Houston Texans (6-2). They've played well for most of the last month, so I don't know if the season has gotten “out of hand.” But they'd better damn well hurry up and find the trail.

Bria from Orange Park, FL

KOAF, couldn't a better description of Ryan Nielsen's defense be: “Do you let the receivers in the secondary run freely while the game is on the line?”

Very proud of my team. They played against one of the best teams and remained very competitive until the last minute, which was a big improvement.

This was an impressive performance for the Jaguars. The problem is that they missed too many winnable games early in the season. They have lost four games in the last 18 seconds – in Miami Week 1, at home against Cleveland Week 2, in Houston Week 4 and on Sunday. They could have easily won two or three of those games. Since that wasn't the case, playing competitively against a good team that has made significant improvements is far from enough.

Great margin from the beach

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke is the problem. It is inexplicable that four years into his tenure, the defense is worse than ever, the offense has made no progress, and we don't have a single player ranked in the top 10 percent at his position. As long as he stays, we will fail. The season is over after eight games. So boring.

One that obviously doesn't come from Baalke.

I still have no idea why Lloyd is on the field. I can't remember a single truly impactful play he ever made.

This was the much talked about, often misunderstood, but never particularly entertaining first email of the game. It was also a strikingly selective memory. Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd had a sack in a Week 7 win over the New England Patriots and was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Month for September 2022. He also had several pass breakups and takeaways in his career. I'm not saying he was great or that he should even start, but he certainly made positive plays.

Nick from Virginia Beach, VA

This franchise is exhausting. After a decade of bullshit, I thought Lawrence would fix everything. How wrong I was. It's not a failure, but as an organization we fail again and again. Why?

Two and six is ​​a difficult start.

Every one-o'clock game except the Lions/Titans was decided by three points or fewer. We're so close. Are teams learning to win close games? Or is that this team?

Sometimes teams learn to win close games. Sometimes that's not the case. It's easy to know which ones do this. They are the ones in the postseason because knowing how to win it is the difference between good teams and bad.

Why is it so easy for receivers to play wide open against the Jaguars?

Good question. Not being able to find the answer — or solve the problem — is quickly becoming the main story crippling the Jaguars' season.

Damn, Jags, just damn!