On paper, the Jacksonville Jaguars squad is the scariest underdog in the Super Bowl picture. On the field, they are their own worst enemy. If the Jaguars ever clean up the yellow laundry suffocating their drives, the rest of the AFC is in serious trouble.
Trevor Lawrence is playing at an elite level, yet Jacksonville keeps shooting itself in the foot with its penalties. False starts and holding calls have already erased 5 touchdowns this season, turning blowout opportunities into nerve-wracking finishes.
Penalties Plague Jaguars Through First Six Weeks
They were disciplined at first, but that early-season discipline has completely evaporated over the last month. The Jaguars committed just 15 penalties over their first three contests, only to implode with 26 flags over a chaotic two-week span.
Penalties are the only reason the Jaguars aren’t standing shoulder-to-shoulder with heavyweight contenders like the 49ers, Chiefs, Vikings, and Bills. Flags single-handedly killed their momentum in an agonizing 34-31 loss to the Texans, dropping Jacksonville to 4-2.
Take away the penalty that wiped out Bhayshul Tuten’s touchdown, and the Jaguars avoid that second loss entirely.
Despite the London heartbreak, ESPN still kept Jacksonville firmly at No. 5 in their latest power rankings, proving the national media knows how dangerous this squad is when they get out of their own way.
“Penalties have cost the Jaguars three touchdowns, including a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs by running back Bhayshul Tuten. It happened again in Sunday’s loss, with a questionable holding call on tight end Brenton Strange,” ESPN’s Michael DiRocco wrote about the Jaguars, as they continued to hold onto their last week’s No. 5 ranking.
“The Jaguars didn’t get points on that possession because QB Trevor Lawrence threw an end zone interception two plays later. Jacksonville did score touchdowns after the other two penalties, against New England and Cincinnati, but it finally caught up to them in a three-point loss to the Texans.”
Liam Coen Owns Up
Head coach Liam Coen knew the penalties would come back to bite them eventually, but Sunday was a cold wake-up call.
“Yeah, that was probably one of the louder atmospheres I’ve been in in a while, especially in those critical moments, to where, ‘Hey guys, I can help you out with my play call,’ maybe shortening it up, trim the verbiage, or call something a little bit more simplified down there where it was in that end zone specifically that got loud, in some of those critical downs,” Coen told reporters before taking on the Texans.
“So I showed the players and coaches a ton of clips of the TV copy, different versions of it to show them.”
Coen continued, “Look, we broke the huddle with eight seconds. That’s not giving you a chance. That’s not giving you guys the best chance to go succeed, and that’s directly on me. And so I think the accountability piece helps. When we can all be accountable to each other and understand where we can be better. But I have full confidence that our guys will go and execute, and the delayed game stuff hasn’t been an issue.”
Unless they find a way to fix it, those penalties will be the exact thing holding the Jags back even in the postseason.
Jaguars Shock ESPN Power Rankings With Top-5 Spot Despite Texans Loss