Jones turns out workman like performance in Brady/Herbert air show week 4

Jones didn’t hit his first-century mark until week 17 last season

This is a continuation of my following Ronald Jones 2020 Season, a possible make or break year. Hopefully, this is a sign of more good things coming for Ronald Jones II. He had his first 100 yard game of the season in week 4, a big difference from the 2019 campaign, pumping out 128 total yards against the Chargers Sunday, rushing for 111 and chipping in another 17 receiving, averaging almost five and a half yards per carry on the ground. It was a very lunch pale and overalls type performance in a game that saw balls flying every which way. Brady and Herbert combined for quite the air show, amassing totals of 50 of 71 for 659 yards and 8 touchdowns through the air. Brady becoming the oldest quarterback (43) to ever throw five touchdowns in a game, surpassing Warren Moon who did it at age 40. The five touchdowns were also thrown to five different players, something he never did with the Patriots. The fact that even though the Bucs were down by as much as 17 at one point, Arians and Leftwich never completely abandoned the run game. Jones was effective enough to help keep the defense off balance to a degree. When both the run and pass game are clicking, it’s definitely the best of both worlds, with one feeding off the other. Jones had a near 20-yard run for his best of the day, but also added some key 6-11 yard runs.

Jones shows that he can carry the load in the running game if needed

Jones showed his toughness all day long, taking on tacklers head-on and moving the pile for more yardage. Don’t hold it against him that there were no spectacles of speed displayed against the Chargers. Jones took what he was given and then some more from Los Angeles on Sunday. It wasn’t flash and dash, more hit and plow, on this day. The day was important for him, though, make no mistake about it. From what I saw, Jones picked up his blocks, caught 6 passes, and had no fumbles on the way to the century mark. The Chargers defense played fairly well against the run, but they couldn’t stop Jones from gaining chunks of needed yardage. Jones played with a purpose, a determination; earmarked by his moving the pile after defenders made first contact. It was his will against theirs, and Jones clearly won that battle. He needed to make a statement in this game that he could carry the load being the only running back on the team at the time with any NFL experience as Shady’s involvement was cut short by an ankle injury. The most notable injury coming out of Sunday’s game was the oft-injured O.J. Howard when he suffered an Achilles injury that will most likely end his season, once again. The injury-prone tight end had been starting to make his worth felt this season after a terrible 2019 effort. It is certainly a shame that, once again, his season will be cut short by ailments. Nobody wanted to utter the heavily avoided two-word brand, injury-prone!! Considering his history since coming to Tampa, it’s almost unavoidable now with this the latest event.

Wrapping up, and tidbits

I said before this game that Jones needed to make his presence felt in this one and that he did joining Fournette in the 100 yards club of 2020. It’s a foregone conclusion that we need more than one back that can get it done, and switch out with one another for breathers, and change of pace/style changeups. Having said that, whoever is in that rotation needs to be able to carry the load if necessary on their own. The injuries have proven that, and so did Ronald Jones on Sunday. It was a good day for Jones and an even better one for our Bucs as a whole. It was a game that easily could have gone the other way, as it did most of the game. Great teams overcome deficits, so teams lose most of those types of games. Arians said it best, “last season, this team would have lost by 20.” That, my fellow fans, is why Jameis Winston is holding a clip-board in the Big Easy, and Tom Brady is overcoming and winning those same types of games on Dale Mabry in 2020. Go Bucs!!