The Jacksonville Jaguars head into the bye with a 3-7 record and minimal hopes at reaching the playoffs. While the latest loss, a 27-17 defeat at the hands of the perennial AFC powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs, was a relatively respectable one, it also didn’t inspire much hope that the Jaguars are going to finish the season on a tear.
With eight weeks and seven games left in the 2022 season, most experts seem convinced that the Jaguars are a team with a promising future, but there are mixed reviews about the team’s current state.
Some dropped Jacksonville close to the bottom of their power rankings after the loss to the Chiefs. Others were impressed by the Jaguars’ resiliency after falling in a 20-0 hole against a buzzsaw.
Here’s what pundits think of the Jaguars after the Week 10 loss:
Touchdown Wire (Mark Lane)
Jaguars ranking: 21 (last week 21)
Getting beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs on the road by 10 points isn’t as bad as it could have been for the Jaguars. Aside from falling down 20-0 at halftime, Jacksonville didn’t allow the game to get too out of hand. The Jaguars are more poised to make the jump than some of the other teams in the twenties.
USA Today (Nate Davis)
Jaguars ranking: 24 (last week 25)
Sunday, they pulled off the first successful onside kick to start a game in six years. It was downhill from there.
NFL.com (Dan Hanzus)
Jaguars ranking: 28 (last week 27)
You have to tip your cap to Doug Pederson: Opening a game at Arrowhead with a successful onside kick is the good stuff. Unfortunately, that felt like the highlight of the game for the underdog Jags, who showed they weren’t ready to hang with one of the elite teams in football. To Jacksonville’s credit, they kept the game from getting ugly after falling behind Kansas City 20-0 in the second quarter. Trevor Lawrence elicited praise from Tony Romo on the CBS broadcast and continues to look more comfortable running the offense as the season progresses. His connection with Christian Kirk — 105 yards, two touchdowns — is one of the positive subplots of a developmental season.
ESPN (Michael DiRocco)
Jaguars ranking: 26 (last week 26)
Jawaan Taylor has been better in 2022 than he was in his first three seasons when he gave up a league-high 40 sacks in 49 games and had a pass block win rate of 84.5% (which ranked 56th among offensive tackles). Taylor has given up four sacks and has a pass block win rate of 87.6% (39th among tackles), and he had a two-game stretch earlier in the season when he played the best football of his career. He has done enough for the Jaguars to consider signing him to an extension — but the team could still let him walk and go with third-year player Walker Little in 2023 because it’s already over the projected cap and has four players with cap hits of $19 million or more already on the books.
Pro Football Talk (Mike Florio)
Jaguars ranking: 30 (last week 26)
“They have a lot of potential” has been this team’s motto for years.
CBS Sports (Pete Prisco)
Jaguars ranking: 28 (last week 26)
This season is done. It’s about 2023 now as they head to their bye. They have lost some tough games this season, but losing to the Chiefs wasn’t one of them.
Yahoo Sports (Frank Schwab)
Jaguars ranking: 25 (last week 24)
Travon Walker, the first pick of the draft, is having a fairly quiet rookie season. He has 2.5 sacks in 10 games. His Pro Football Focus grade is 75th among 119 qualified edge defenders. He has had some good moments but there haven’t been enough of them. It can take pass rushers time to develop, and seeing more out of Walker is key for the Jaguars over the last seven games.
