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          NFL Nation

          Plays that shaped the season: No. 1

          • Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff WriterJan 23, 2015, 12:00 PM ET
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              Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter at ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN.com and Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
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          In this series, I'm counting down 10 plays that shaped the Jacksonville Jaguars' season.

          Play No. 1: Blake Bortles' debut

          Situation: First-and-10 from the Jacksonville 20-yard line with 15:00 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

          Score: Indianapolis leading 30-0.

          My take: After a lackluster first half in which the offense gained just 55 yards, generated just two first downs, and scored zero points, coach Gus Bradley benched veteran quarterback Chad Henne and handed the job to Blake Bortles -- and not only for the second half of what turned out to be a 44-17 loss to Indianapolis at EverBank Field. Bortles' first snap was an overthrown pass to Cecil Shorts, but he went on to complete 14 of 24 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

          Season impact: The Jaguars' plan for Bortles was for him to sit and develop and then step onto the field as the team's starting quarterback in 2015. But the offense was non-functional after the first half of the season opener and Bradley had no choice. Once he made the choice, however, there was no going back and he was turning the team over to the third overall pick. The Jaguars committed themselves to riding it out with Bortles for the rest of the season, no matter how ugly it got. And it did get ugly. Bortles threw 11 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions, including four that were returned for touchdowns. Still, the move was beneficial because Bortles is 14 games ahead of schedule in his development had he not gotten on the field.

          Quote from Bradley: "He's going to go through some learning on the field. Hopefully for us that learning curve means more good than bad. The challenge for us with him is just keep getting better. I think Blake really understands that's what's it all about."