Big Cat Country
Jacksonville just blew a 19-point fourth quarter lead to Davis Mills and the Texans — trips to the water cooler haven’t been a little duller this week.
Still, as head coach Liam Coen said Monday, the Jaguars have more games left to play.
“This [past] game can’t beat us again. It can’t beat us on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. because we’re kicking off against the Chargers and have a very quality opponent coming into town.”
“It’s hard to move forward, but come Wednesday, we’re preparing for another opponent. When the players get back in the building, we are preparing for another opponent. We’ve got to get this tape fixed and corrected and moved on, but I’m not worried about losing the team by any means.”
As Week 11 approaches, we rounded up the latest NFL power rankings to get a sense of how the Jaguars are viewed nationally.
Despite Sunday’s implosion in Houston, you knew they’d make the AFC playoff field over the Chiefs if the season ended today (it doesn’t), right?
The wheels could come off, quickly.
Non-QB MVP: RB Travis Etienne Jr .
He has been the Jaguars’ best player all season and is on pace for a career-high 1,239 yards rushing. He’s averaging 4.9 yards per carry, which would be the second highest of his career if it holds. With Travis Hunter on IR and Brian Thomas Jr. dealing with an ankle injury, the offense has pretty much run through Etienne the past two games.
The Jaguars have been beaten fairly convincingly in three of their last four games—with an overtime win over the Raiders their only victory since early October—and significant issues have emerged. Opposing defenses seem to be catching up to Liam Coen’s scheme, and Trevor Lawrence hasn’t shown the growth most expected to see under the new head coach. Jacksonville’s secondary remains a liability too. After blowing a 19-point second-half lead to the Texans, the Jags need to find answers quickly if they hope to stay in the playoff picture.
No sugar-coating here: This was one of the worst regular-season losses in franchise history. The Jaguars were beating the Texans and backup QB Davis Mills soundly on Sunday, up 29-10 thanks to good special teams and defense and just enough offense. Next Gen Stats gave them a 97% chance to win at that point. Somehow, Jacksonville’s defense allowed Mills to squirrel his way out of multiple sacks and lead three touchdown drives in just over a quarter, with a defensive TD tacked on as time expired for an additional layer of torture. Jacksonville is a one-point overtime win over Las Vegas away from having lost four straight. Liam Coen is facing his first crisis as Jaguars...
