The Jacksonville Jaguars had an afternoon matchup on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns for the first game of the year in Jacksonville. This game already had some buzz before kickoff due to the Jaguars deciding to market the stadium as “Treverbank Field” rather than “Everbank Field” which is the actual name of the stadium. After paying a quarterback 500 millions dollars it makes sense to find any possible way to market your franchise in Trevor Lawrence’s name, even if they only changed the stadium name for the day.
After drafting a quarterback 1st overall, paying him half a billion dollars, and naming the stadium after him you would think that the Jaguars would focus the offense around Trevor Lawrence and put him in a situation to succeed. However that hasn’t been the case so far throughout the first 2 weeks of the season. Last week in Miami, Trevor Lawrence played dominant yet threw the ball just once following a Travis Etienne fumble on the 1 yard line on what would have been a score giving Jacksonville a 24-7 lead in the 3rd quarter. Last week’s loss was not due to Trevor or even Etienne though, it was on terrible blocking and catastrophic play calling offensively. This week was more or less the same at home against the Browns in a game the Jaguars lost 13-18.
The Jaguars defense held Cleveland’s offense to just 16 points the whole game, however the Jaguars offensive line and play calling proved to still be the monkey in the wrench. The entire right side of the offensive line for Jacksonville made up by right tackle Anton Harrison and right guard Brandon Scherff have a PFF grade BELOW 50 so far! That is unacceptable no matter what team you are, but especially for a team with the highest paid quarterback in the league and expectations to be contenders. The right side isn’t the only problem either as left tackle Cam Robinson has been a complete liability as a pass blocker allowing 2 sacks already, the same amount as Anton. The only offensive linemen on the team that have played acceptably are left guard Ezra Cleveland and center Mitch Morse. Even then, both of them have allowed a sack already. Overall, Ezra and Morse have been the anchors of the offensive line mitigating pressures allowed, missed assignments, and neither having a penalty yet. 2 decent players and 3 burdens is not a recipe for success though, this line needs to step up and quickly. Healthy starting offensive tackles allowing a sack per week each is simply sickening, if any quality offensive tackle becomes available via trade Jacksonville needs to pick up the phone. Trevor Lawrence through 2 weeks has the least amount of time in the pocket of any signal caller and his line has allowed the most instant pressures immediately shutting down hopes of a gain.
Some of this isn’t entirely the offensive line’s fault though. Numerous plays shut down by horrific blocking were stemmed by even worse play calling. For example this week against Cleveland, the Jaguars on one of the most crucial drives of the game started at the 2 yard line. It should have been a no-brainer to run the ball and give the offense room to function, especially knowing you have a poor offensive line going against Myles Garrett. The play caller decided to ignore common sense and run a play action pass with the primary target being Brian Thomas Jr. on a deep shot. This idiotic decision resulted in instant pressure by a hungry Cleveland defensive line and a safety giving the Browns a bigger lead in the 4th quarter and the ball back.
Offensive coaching for the Jaguars has ultimately been the biggest casualty for the Jaguars team, and it is so bad that they refuse to clarify whether head coach Doug Pederson or offensive coordinator Press Taylor is responsible for the playcalling. The offense came out soft against Cleveland and suffered the consequences as they quickly were facing a deficit. Not to mention the multiple miscommunications on offense forcing wasted timeouts. In the 2nd half the Jaguars offense finally got a bit more aggressive however the red zone play calling was some of the worst I have ever seen. 1st and goal from the 2 yard line in the 2nd quarter and settled for a field goal. 1st and goal from the 19 with under 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, not only fail to score a touchdown, but miss the field goal. 2nd and goal from the 2, pushed backwards and kicked a field goal with under 8 minutes left. No team can win when their red zone drives come up like this, and that has been a pattern for Doug’s and Taylor’s offense since they joined Jacksonville. As Trevor Lawrence said after the game “we suck right now”.
This Jaguars offense has not been what it was supposed to be. Trevor Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr., Gabe Davis, and Tank Bigsby are the only players on offense that have played up to the level expected of them if you ignore the paper. The offensive line was expected to be a weak spot for the Jaguars, but not a crippling unit to the point of costing them games. Outside of the offensive line, Travis Etienne has come up short in big moments, Evan Engram was a ghost against Miami and got hurt just before the game against Cleveland, and Christian Kirk has been a complete nonfactor thus far, if not a negative factor. Against Miami Kirk had one catch for 30 yards and 2 wide open drops in his chest on crucial 3rd downs. Against Cleveland Kirk had just one catch for 1 NEGATIVE yard. Etienne, Engram, and especially Kirk all need to step up. For an offensive head coach running a team that has allocated so many resources into the offense at all levels, starting out 0-2 in games that easily could have, and probably should have been won would make disappointing an understatement.
The defense led by Ryan Nielsen has remained to be very impressive and keep the Jaguars in games, but the offense has to show up to win some games. If this offense can’t get going no matter the situation, then Doug Pederson AND Press Taylor need to be fired before the season ends. Firing important coaches mid season can be risky, but has proven to bring success to teams recently. Some examples of this include the Raiders stepping up after Antonio Pierce took over as the interim head coach for the Raiders last year after firing Josh McDaniels. Pierce went on to remain the Raiders head coach for 2024. Also last year, the Buffalo Bills fired offensive coordinator and play caller Ken Dorsey after a very slow start. Buffalo proceeded to promote Joe Brady from quarterback coach to offensive coordinator, and they had an incredible revelation quickly turning around and winning the division under a revitalized offense. Joe Brady was kept as the offensive coordinator for the Bills going into 2024 and has continued to find success, starting out 2-0. While the Jaguars offensive coaching staff’s fate of being fired hasn’t been foretold quite yet, it is certainly heading in that direction.
Doug Pederson and the Jacksonville Jaguars go into Buffalo for their week 3 matchup as complete underdogs in a slump. The Jaguars will be up against Josh Allen and Joe Brady’s explosive offense. This upcoming matchup will be a massive test for everyone on the Jaguars as the offense needs to step up and win their first game, the defense is facing their strongest opponent yet, and there are plenty of players that need to prove themselves this week. There are a few crucial matchups of the week that will be worth keeping an eye on against Buffalo. The Jaguars’ struggling offensive tackles facing up against the Bills’ hot edge duo in Gregory Rousseau and Von Miller will largely define the offense’s success. Christian Kirk, looking to finally contribute to the offense, will be facing up against Taron Johnson who is one of the best inside corners the league has to offer. The Jaguars interior defensive line needs to show up against Buffalo’s incredible backfield of James Cook and Josh Allen himself, stopping the run will be essential. Finally, the biggest matchup to watch will be between the coaching staffs, the Jaguars could very well win this game but play calling will likely determine the result.