JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The road trip is over and the Jaguars are back as a much different team.
When the Jaguars left for London, they were reeling, saddled with a two-game losing streak and looking much more like a team regressing than one that was moving forward. But the change of scenery helped. The Jaguars won ugly against the Falcons, then finally got things going against the Bills. The final score Sunday — a 25-20 Jacksonville win — wasn’t indicative of how well the Jaguars played.
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Jacksonville dominated the time of possession (38 minutes, 12 seconds to Buffalo’s 21:48) and forced nearly as many punts in one game (six) than the Bills had all season (seven). That the score was so close was more about Jacksonville’s self-inflicted mistakes than what Buffalo did.
“For our guys to go out and go toe-to-toe with them, I think it shows where our guys are and the type of team that we have. It’s a no-quit mentality,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said. “They hung in there for 60 minutes. It wasn’t a perfect football game, by no means. There was a lot of areas that we can continue to improve, but I think overall, looking at it, it gives you confidence moving forward.”
The Jaguars (3-2) returned home from London with a two-game winning streak and some fresh momentum. No NFL team had played in London in back-to-back weeks until Jacksonville had a home game against the Falcons at Wembley Stadium and an away game against the Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pederson said on Sunday that he thought an arrangement like that — Jacksonville playing a home and an away game in London — could continue in the future.
“We did have a great experience over there, I would recommend it for all 31 teams to have the pleasure of spending two weeks in London,” he said. “At this point, there are no confirmation on us doing this anytime soon.”
Can the Jaguars keep that momentum? Stacking multiple positive games together has been challenging for Jacksonville. It did that during a second half run last year, but the script this season has been a bit all over the place.
The Jaguars did well enough to win against the Colts in Week 1, then played terribly in losses to the Chiefs and Texans after that. The London trip was a bit of a reset from all kinds of vantage points. Pederson said the bonding time was real and it was meaningful.
“The fact that we got to spend time in the hotel together, players went to dinner together, they just hung around and played some golf together. Different things like that are just a time where you get to know someone a little more,” he said.
“When you’re in the heat of the battle out there and of course in the game, you lean on each other that way and we were able to do that for those 10 days. I think the guys really embraced that and now it’s a matter of coming back here, continuing that same sort of mindset as we prepare for this week and for the first half of our season, which is the next couple of ballgames.”
The defense turned in two excellent games in London. Corner Darious Williams had a pick-6 against the Falcons and another interception against the Bills. Jacksonville’s pass rush wasn’t much of a factor against Buffalo, but Pederson said the team is hopeful that Dawuane Smoot is getting closer to a return. Smoot is coming off an Achilles injury and got in some reps at practice last week.
Offensively, Jacksonville was inconsistent against Atlanta in Week 4, but it showed progress against the Bills in some key areas. The Jaguars entered that game ranked 29th in the league in third down success rate (16 of 51).
Against Buffalo, the Jaguars were 10 of 18, including the biggest throw of the game from Lawrence to Calvin Ridley with 3 minutes, 15 seconds to play. That throw was arguably the prettiest of the season for Lawrence, beautiful slot fade that Ridley brought in for 32 yards. Etienne broke off a 35-yard touchdown run two plays later.
The Colts (3-2) are on deck this week at EverBank Stadium, a match that will determine the early frontrunner in the AFC South. Quarterback Anthony Richardson is likely out for a little bit of time with a shoulder injury, which means former Jaguars player Gardner Minshew will be under center on Sunday.
“Two different styles, we got quite a bit of film on Gardner Minshew as well so our defense will be well-prepared,” Pederson said.
The Jaguars didn’t come back from London unscathed. After having their offensive line intact following Cam Robinson’s return from a four-game performance-enhancing drugs suspension, Walker Little suffered a knee injury. Little had started at left tackle in place of Robinson and slid inside to left guard against the Bills.
Robinson wasn’t his best against Buffalo, and the line as a whole struggled against a good Bills defense. Lawrence was sacked a season-high five times. Pederson said Robinson was fine after sustaining an elbow injury, but Little and receiver Zay Jones would undergo MRI’s to gauge the severity of their injuries.