The Jaguars played on “Monday Night Football” and most fans probably changed the channel by halftime.
It was bad. As bad as it’s been for the Jaguars in the Doug Pederson era.
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And one of the worst performances in franchise history.
Josh Allen ruthlessly carved up the Jaguars defense and the offensive issues showed no signs of slowing down in a 47-10 Buffalo blowout. No matter the postgame spin, neither Pederson nor struggling franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence have answers for what’s crippling this team.
“You hate to say it, but this is the reality of it. This is who we are right now, and we’re not a very good football team,” Pederson said. “We got to get it fixed. Got to come up with some answers and got to do it in a hurry.”
While the defense was gashed against Buffalo (3-0), the focus, fair or unfair, always shifts back to Lawrence. The team handed him a $275 million contract extension in the offseason and he’s responded with the worst statistical start in his career. He’s lost eight consecutive starts and taken substantial steps backwards since the high point, the second half of the 2022 season.
Lawrence was picked off by Damar Hamlin and managed just a garbage time touchdown in another performance that calls into question his ability to take the Jaguars to the next level. Lawrence was pulled for backup Mac Jones late. Jones lost a fumble on his first dropback and the Bills eventually turned that into a touchdown. Lawrence was 21 of 38 for 178 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He was sacked four times.
Jacksonville has games of 17, 13 and 10 points to start the season.
Jacksonville (0-3) allowed the Bills to score on all five of their first-half drives and gave up 34 points in that span. According to ESPN, it was the most Jacksonville had ever allowed in the opening half of a game. Pederson said that all options need to be considered to shake the team from its funk.
“I mean, you say everything is on the table, we got to take a look at injury,” he said. “You know, tonight we had some guys injured. Could be moved that way. Could be performance. It’s all things we have to evaluate as we move forward.”
This is bad
The Jaguars are 0-3 for the seventh time in franchise history. They haven’t finished with more than five wins in any of the previous six 0-3 starts. Lawrence was a rookie under dysfunctional head coach Urban Meyer during the last 0-3 start.
With the AFC South-leading Texans on tap Sunday in Houston, there’s no easy path to stopping a slump that is threatening to derail the season and potentially Pederson’s time as head coach. Owner Shad Khan declared before the season began that “this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ever.” Khan’s expectation was a return to the playoffs, especially after signing edge Josh Hines-Allen, corner Tyson Campbell and Lawrence to massive contract extensions in the offseason. The start feels like Jacksonville is closer to a top-10 draft pick than the playoffs.
Defense was shredded
Jacksonville had at least been functional on defense in losses to Miami and Cleveland, but Ryan Nielsen’s defense was eviscerated by Buffalo.
Injuries to Campbell and Darnell Savage took the team’s top two defensive backs out of the secondary, and it lost rookie corner Jarrian Jones to a shoulder injury on the first drive against Buffalo. Linebacker Foye Oluokun also left with a foot injury and didn’t return.
In Nielsen’s man-preferred system, losing players like Campbell and Savage and Jones puts an exorbitant amount of pressure on players who aren’t equipped to handle it. Allen took full advantage of that.
The Bills marched right down the field on Jacksonville to start, with James Cook polishing off the opening drive with a 6-yard touchdown. Predictably, the Jaguars followed by going three and out. By the time the Jaguars got the ball back again, the Bills had added another score on a 6-yard throw from Allen to Dalton Kincaid, who made an excellent grab falling down to put Buffalo up 13-0. The Jaguars made it into the red zone after that but stalled out and had to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Cam Little.
Allen was as good as he’s ever been. His touchdown passes went to four different receivers and he was seldom pressured. Allen finished 23 of 30 for 263 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the team with 44 yards on six carries.
The offense remains a mess
The defense’s first bad outing of the season happened amidst a rash of injuries. The offense was and has been just plain dysfunctional.
Lawrence was picked off by Damar Hamlin trying to string together a late drive in the second half. Allen turned that into a Khalil Shakir 27-yard touchdown for a 27-3 cushion.
The pick by Hamlin was an emotional moment. He suffered cardiac arrest during a Monday night game on Jan. 2, 2023, collapsing and being resuscitated on the field. It was Hamlin’s first NFL interception.
Lawrence tossed a 6-yard touchdown to Brenton Strange on the first drive of the second half but that was mere window dressing on a game that felt out of reach by the second quarter.
The questions on Lawrence continue to ramp up with each uneven performance, of which there have been plenty.
“We’re three weeks in; we’re not very good right now. We got two division games coming up back-to-back. I’ll tell you this: No one is going to feel sorry for us, right? I mean, this is who we are right now,” Pederson said. “It’s not very good, right? We have to be honest with ourselves. I’ve got to be honest with myself. Just keep plugging away.”