JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville is struggling and the avalanche of questions are mounting for head coach Doug Pederson and the Jaguars.
Pederson is known for his offensive acumen, but there hasn’t been much of it to speak about this season. The Jaguars are 0-2 and can’t figure things out on that side of the ball. Trevor Lawrence is mired in the worst start of his NFL career, and said Sunday that “we suck right now.” The offensive line is still one of the league’s most frustrating units. Owner Shad Khan boldly proclaimed that this was the most talented team in the franchise’s 30-year history, and it has hardly delivered on that statement. Jacksonville heads to Buffalo for Monday Night Football facing the very real prospect of an 0-3 start.
Recommended Videos
Pederson has tried to downplay the issues as a things as simple as communication and execution. But these problems emerged in the second half of last season’s implosion and have dragged across the seasons. Jacksonville has lost seven of its last eight games as the noise and dissatisfaction picks up.
“I don’t let it affect me. I just know it’s a business that is one week — it’s a week-to-week business, and we’ve talked about this a lot,” Pederson said. “The thing for me too is yes, we’ve got to correct the negatives and the things that are going wrong, but I’ve also got to look at the positive in what’s being put out there.”
The positives are sparse. The defense has played well enough to win both games. It limited Miami, the league’s most explosive offense in 2023, to 20 points in the opener. They allowed just one touchdown to the Browns. That should have been good enough to win.
The Jaguars have played two solid quarters of football this season, the first half at Miami in Week 1. Jacksonville has been inconsistent at the very best on the offensive side of the ball. It scored 17 points (all in the opening half) against the Dolphins. The effort in Week 2 against the Browns was far worse. The Jaguars started that game like they ended against Miami, which put them in a hole that they couldn’t get out of. Cleveland was far from clean, committing 13 penalties for 100 yards and essentially giving the Jaguars the ball back with more than a minute to play because of those.
“There just has to be an awareness. Just a sense of urgency by everybody, the entire football team really, when we head into these games,” Pederson said. “But I think we can maybe mix some things up and just a little more attention to detail and practice as we go each week.”
There are numerous reasons for Jacksonville’s woeful start. The ground game was OK against the Browns. But the Jaguars have consistently struggled to convert crucial third- and fourth- and short situations. The red zone offense is a mess.
The Jaguars missed a 43-yard field goal and mustered just a pair of field goals on drives that went down to the Cleveland 2. A penalty wiped out a touchdown pass to Christian Kirk. Lawrence had 16 passing yards at halftime. Outside of a 66-yard completion to Brian Thomas Jr. and then a few solid throws late in the fourth quarter, the passing offense was ineffective. The pregame hamstring injury to Evan Engram was a blow, but that shouldn’t suck the life from an entire offense.
The Jaguars have scored 30 points in their first two games, tied for the 10th-fewest through the first two games in franchise history. The 2013 team holds the low bar in that stretch, scoring just 11 points in the first two weeks and eventually starting 0-8. The last Jaguars team to start with 30 points in its first two games was the 2012 team, which finished 2-14.
The Jaguars have much of the same talent that they’ve had each of the last two nine-win years so the offensive struggles are perplexing Pederson and his staff.
A good part of the blame rightfully falls on the shoulders of Lawrence, the franchise quarterback with a $275 million contract who has yet to play consistent football since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2021. Lawrence was superb in the second half of 2022 when he played some of the best football in the league to help Jacksonville win the AFC South and reach the divisional round of the playoffs. He hasn’t been able to recapture that since. Lawrence appeared as frustrated as he’s been on Sunday following the loss to Cleveland.
Lawrence is fighting through the worst statistical start to his career. In his first two games, Lawrence is 26 of 51 passing for 382 yards and a touchdown. His completions, attempts, yardage, completion percentage and touchdowns are the lowest through two games in his career.
Trevor’s numbers through 2 games
| Year | Passing (Comp/Att) | Yards | TD-INT | Completion percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 26-51 | 382 | 1-0 | 51% |
| 2023 | 46-74 | 434 | 2-1 | 62.2% |
| 2022 | 49-72 | 495 | 3-1 | 68% |
| 2021 | 35-59 | 433 | 4-5 | 59.3% |
“I mean, they understand they have to play better,” Pederson said. “We have to coach better. It’s a group effort. It’s no particular one person or one position group or one side of the ball. I think there are obviously enough mistakes to fix enough things we can get better at. But the fact that the players are united and locked in and focused that way is a good sign.”