The Jacksonville Jaguars don’t feel much like a 4-3 team right now. They’re still second place in the AFC South and possess the final Wildcard spot in the conference, but the sentiment surrounding the franchise couldn’t be bleaker.
They’re in the midst of a two-game skid, both losses coming against playoff contenders from the NFC West. That shouldn’t feel like the end of the world, especially considering their current spot in the standings, but the Jaguars have seemingly lost their identity.
All the positivity that Head Coach Liam Coen and his squad garnered in the early season after a 4-1 start has dissipated. Their 35-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in London couldn’t be more sobering. Now, Jacksonville will hope to use its bye in Week 8 to correct course, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Jaguars’ fantasy owners are counting on it.
Coming into Week 7, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offensive line knew that it’d have to do a better job protecting quarterback Trevor Lawrence than it did in the loss to the Seattle Seahawks. In that game, the Jags allowed 33 pressures, leading to T-Law getting sacked a career-high seven times.
With such a low bar, there’s no way Jacksonville wouldn’t see at least some improvement in its next game, right? Even with starting center Robert Hainsey back, the Jaguars were dominated in the trenches once again, arguably worse than in Week 6.
Lawrence was sacked seven times once again versus the Rams, only this time, it came from 34 pressures. It’s hard to expect the Jaguars’ quarterback to put together a good game when he’s under duress on well over 50 percent of his dropbacks.
There’s been a lot of talk about the Jaguars’ rushing attack falling off. The box score against the Rams tells a different story, as Jacksonville gained 94 yards on 19 carries for an average of 4.9 per attempt.
However, their success on the ground came in garbage time, when the game was already out of hand. In the first half, the Jaguars totaled just 26 yards on 10 runs. Still, this could be indicative of a problem that might be plaguing Head Coach Liam Coen as of late: abandoning the run too early.
Jacksonville led with its ground game during its 4-1 start. It’s probably not a coincidence that they’ve gone 0-2 now with their rushing attack neutralized. Travis Etienne Jr.’s fantasy owners will be hoping that the Jaguars can come out of the bye week with a renewed focus around establishing the run in each game.
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