The Jacksonville Jaguars are teetering on the edge of, as quarterback Trevor Lawrence aptly put it Sunday, “pissing away” the 2023 season.
After finishing November with an 8-3 record, the Jaguars have lost four straight and are now in jeopardy of losing the AFC South crown to the Indianapolis Colts or Houston Texans. Each of the team’s four December losses have been more painful than the last.
A tight overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals was followed by a turnover-filled performance against the Cleveland Browns that still came down to the wire. The Jaguars’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens was close in the second half before turning into a 16-point win for the visitors. But the worst was Jacksonville’s last performance, a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that was even worse than the 30-12 final score shows.
At this point, it’s fair to ask if the Jaguars have checked out mentally with two weeks left in the regular season. Head coach Doug Pederson doesn’t think that’s the case, though.
“I’ve had conversations with players the last couple of days and guys are still locked in and focused,” Pederson said Tuesday. “They know, I might’ve said this after the game, it’s not like they’re going out there and trying to make these mistakes.
“We just have to be more aware of what’s happening. As coaches, we’ve got to continue to coach them up and put our players in positions to be successful on game day. I don’t feel like they’re tuning out at all.”
Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor believes the same.
“I don’t think anybody in our group has lost confidence,” Taylor said. “I think there’s frustration because we’re not performing to the level we expect of ourselves and the standard that we hold ourselves at as a unit. I think it’s all that, I don’t think there’s a loss of confidence, a lack of trust, anything like that.”
The Jaguars’ tailspin can’t continue any further if the team still has postseason aspirations. According to NFL.com, a win Sunday against the Carolina Panthers would give Jacksonville an 81 percent chance at making the playoffs. A loss would drop that number all the way to 39 percent.
If the Jaguars are still locked in, focused, and tuned in on their goals, Week 17 is time to show it.
