I can accept coaches sometimes make sub-optimal decisions on play calls and what to do given certain game situations, downs and distances. But Thursday's contest was a display of cowardice and ignorance by which even Jim Caldwell and Dan Quinn would be astounded. Here are a few of the highlights:

• With 8:13 left in the third quarter, in a tie game, after running three straight plays into the teeth of the defense, the Jaguars kicked a FG to go up 9-6 on 4th-and-goal from the two. The Jaguars had a 50/50 chance to score the TD (expected return was more than three) and had they failed, the Titans would have taken over at their own goal line. Instead the Jaguars took the three and kicked off.

• Up three, with 13:02 left in the game, the Titans opted for a 53-yard field-goal (with a mediocre kicker) rather than going for it. Even had they made it, it would only have put them up six. They did not.  (Oddly, Mike Mularkey initially mustered the courage to go for it, but couldn't maintain it.)

• Up three, with 3:49 left in the game, the Titans punted on 4th-and-six-inches from their own 24 yard line. This is a closer call, but they still should have gone for it because of the high probability of success and the far-from-catastrophic consequences had they failed. (The Jaguars would merely be in game-tying FG range, and there was time left for the Titans to mount a final drive.) Instead, Tennessee punted, it was returned inside the five yard line, and the Jaguars scored an easy touchdown on a first-down pass play.

• Up three, with 2:21 left in the game, the Jaguars opted for a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the Titans 19 yard line. The Titans had no timeouts left, so a first down would have sealed the game. The field goal gave Tennessee the ball back with more than two minutes left and a chance to win the game outright. A failed conversion would likely have resulted in the Titans playing for a tie. Even Phil Simms, cowardice's greatest advocate, said he would have gone for it there.

Some other observations:

• Blake Bortles has poor pocket awareness and takes too many sacks. Maybe that's why he's the most blitzed quarterback in the league - teams realize he isn't good at making quick decisions and getting the ball out.

• Allen Robinson looked like Dez Bryant going up in traffic for a contested ball. He's dragging Bortles along with him this year. (Bortles does move well and has a strong arm.)

• Marcus Mariota has much better pocket awareness than Bortles, but his receivers other than Delanie Walker are terrible. Throwing downfield to a covered Harry Douglas is futile unless the referees oblige with ticky-tack PI calls, which on two occasions they did.

• T.J. Yeldon is a smooth runner and looked good as a receiver out of the backfield. Unfortunately, the offense was never able to get into a rhythm, and his team opted for field goals and Denard Robinson runs inside the red zone.

• I DVR'd most of the first half of this game, but when I saw the score was 6-3 with eight minutes left in the second quarter, there was no chance I was going back.

• Blake Bortles left briefly in the second half, and the NFL sideline reporter speculated he needed a bathroom trip. How embarrassing for him. It's like using the only bathroom at a party, and 20 million people are banging on the door telling you to hurry up.