After a comfortable win over the New York Jets in dicey conditions last Thursday night, the Jacksonville Jaguars are now 7-8 and have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs. While they’ve certainly had some help along the way, they’re also hitting their stride at the perfect time.
Winning isn’t easy in the NFL no matter which quarterback you’re playing against. The Jaguars had the benefit of playing against the struggling Zach Wilson on Thursday night, but the Jets’ defense is still one of the better units in the NFL. While the Jets playoff hopes have taken a beating over the last few weeks, they’ll continue to play teams hard with every intention of winning.
Right now, things are coming together nicely for the Jaguars one year removed from a total disaster. The team drafted Trevor Lawrence and hired Urban Meyer in 2021, hoping that the combination of quarterback and head coach could be the best great duo in the NFL. Oh, how wrong they were. Meyer was fired after a disastrous 2-11 start to the season and was embroiled in an offseason scandal. Ultimately, his handling of Lawrence proved to be a decisive factor as well.
The Jaguars moved on and in the offseason hired Doug Pederson, who has so far vindicated the decision. Pederson was excellent during his time in Philadelphia and is rightly credited with helping get the best out of Carson Wentz in 2017.
Schematically, he makes things easier for quarterbacks while simultaneously helping boost their confidence. Look no further than Lawrence for proof. He’s been excellent in 2022 and has been on a tear over the last two months.
Since Week 9, Lawrence is seventh in EPA per play, completing 70 percent of his passes for 1909 yards, throwing 14 touchdowns, and rushing for two more. Lawrence has been much improved overall in his second season in the NFL, but his last seven games really stand out. And those seven games have decisively changed the Jaguars’ entire trajectory this season. They were 2-6 after the loss to the Denver Broncos in London and, despite a clear long-term plan, looked a million miles from the playoffs this season.
Now, 7 weeks later, the Jaguars are in contention for the AFC South crown. They’ve rattled off 5 wins in their last seven games, culminating in Thursday night’s 19-3 victory versus the Jets.
To make things even sweeter, the Tennessee Titans unexpectedly crumbled against the floundering Houston Texans to give the Jaguars the lead in the South. Tennessee is currently in free fall, dropping their last 6 contests as injuries continue to pile up.
At one point the Titans were the runaway favourites to win the division, sitting at 7-3. Now 7-9 and with a pivotal game vs. Jacksonville in the final week of the season, Tennessee suddenly needs to rely on other teams to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Their injury report is a who’s who of important players for the Titans, especially on defense. Not even a team as consistent as Mike Vrabel’s club can sustain such a high number of injuries and keep winning. To make matters worse for them, Ryan Tannehill is likely out for the season meaning its up to either Josh Dobbs or Malik Willis to close out the year.
It’s a blow for the Titans, but it’s also the break that the Jaguars needed. Without those injuries, the Titans could have already won the division by now, but football is football and injuries are an unfortunate inevitability. The Jaguars still needed to put themselves into a position to take advantage, and with two weeks left in the season, they’ve done just that.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.