Jaguars Overwhelmed By Mistakes Early In 2024

The Jacksonville Jaguars have lost two games in two tries to start the 2024 season. It was daunting to beat the Miami Dolphins and the Cleveland Browns to open the season. However, it is hard to argue that the Jaguars managed to give away both games. It does not get any easier in week three, as they are set to travel to Buffalo for a date with the Bills on Monday Night Football. Head Coach Doug Pederson has precious little time to turn the season around and correct the veritable avalanche of mistakes that have put the Jaguars two games back in the division.

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Trevor Lawrence Must Be More Accurate

The Jaguars rewarded Lawrence with $275 million in the 2024 offseason. He is off to a disappointing start in 2024. Lawrence has only completed 51 percent of his passes so far this season. He missed a wide-open Brian Thomas Jr against the Cleveland Browns for what would have been the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars settled for a field goal when they seemed to have momentum and never seriously threatened the Browns again.

Lawrence has not turned the ball over but has only passed for one touchdown. The downfield options are better this season than last with Thomas and Gabriel Davis. Lawrence has consistently missed high when targeting his receivers, and incumbent Christian Kirk has only caught two passes. The Jaguars quarterback lost his safety blanket, Evan Engram, to a hamstring injury during warmups. He targeted his replacement Brenton Strange (six times) against the Browns more than Engram (four times) against the Miami Dolphins. Lawrence has looked to his wide receivers on 27 of his 51 attempts but has only completed 15 passes at a 56% clip.

The more significant issue is that when Lawrence checks down to the tight ends and running backs, he has only completed 11 of 19 attempts at a 57% clip. Checkdown passes should be completed at a much higher rate, but the Jaguars are struggling in this area. Lawrence fails to consistently deliver catchable balls to Travis Etienne Jr. and the tight ends. It must improve immediately for the Jaguars to turn the season around before it spirals out of control.

Doug Pederson Must Find His Mojo As A Play Caller

The Jaguars hired Doug Pederson to develop Lawrence and improve a woeful offense in 2022. After starting 3-7, the quarterback and the team turned the corner and posted a historic home playoff win against the Los Angeles Chargers. However, since beating the Pittsburgh Steelers before the bye week in 2023, the Jaguars have lost eight of 11 games. The offense has consistently regressed, and the "Philly Special" author seems to have lost his flair for the dramatic.

Pederson was dismissed as the Eagles head coach after five seasons and a Super Bowl victory. The knock on the Jaguars head coach in Philadelphia is that he mainly achieved mediocre results besides catching lightning in the bottle during his second season. Nine wins in back-to-back seasons for the Jaguars is impressive by Jacksonville standards. There is no denying at this point that the team has stagnated and could be staring at losing their first four games.

Final Thoughts

It will take a significant philosophical shakeup to restore the luster to what was supposed to be an up-and-coming team. Pederson has to rediscover his inner gambler and instill confidence in his franchise quarterback to push the ball down the field, start putting up points, and lock away victories on Sunday.

The Jaguars have only posted three winning seasons in a row once in franchise history. It is a dubious record that the franchise desperately wants to erase with a franchise quarterback they paid $55 million per year and a coach they paid to be an innovator. Failure in 2024 could send Owner Shad Khan back to the drawing board for both.

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Article originally written by Bob Quinn