The Jacksonville Jaguars were the worst team in the NFL in 2021.
The organization was filled with dysfunction and a lot of that was brought on by former head coach, Urban Meyer.
But, through three weeks this year, the Jaguars look like a good football team.
Most importantly, they look like an AFC South contender.
The South is having a bad start to the year as the Colts, Texans, and Titans all have one win.
But Jacksonville sits atop the division and it does not seem to be a fluke.
The addition of Doug Pederson as their new head coach has opened things up for the offense.
Second-year QB Trevor Lawrence seems to be figuring out NFL defenses and his production confirms it.
Lawrence has thrown for 772 yards and six touchdowns with one interception in three games.
After throwing more interceptions than touchdowns last year, he is showing massive improvements.
The most impressive win of the season came in Week 3 for the Jags.
They went on the road to the Los Angeles Chargers and dominated them for four quarters.
Jacksonville recorded 413 yards of total offense and was surprisingly able to hold the Chargers to only 10 points.
The whole defense has seemingly taken a step forward this year for the Jags.
In Week 3, they held the Chargers to only 26 yards rushing.
As well as making life difficult on star QB Justin Herbert.
Herbert was battling a rib injury in the game but Jacksonville did what they needed to slow him down.
Through three games the Jags are tied for fourth in points allowed with 12.7 and seventh in yards allowed with 306.7.
It is very impressive to see the turnaround of this whole team in one off-season.
But do they have what it takes to continue this high level of play for the rest of the season?
Dominate The Division
The best chance the Jags have of making the playoffs is by beating the lesser teams in the AFC South.
Their aforementioned run defense can be a big reason why they make a playoff run.
In Week 2 they hosted the Colts, which is one of the top rushing offenses in the NFL.
Yet they destroyed their division foes by shutting down the run game.
Jonathan Taylor had only 9 rushes for 54 yards in that game and the Jags’ defense exposed Matt Ryan.
Ryan threw three interceptions in that game and the Jaguars won 24-0.
This defense is no fluke: they have spent years of draft picks acquiring talent on that side of the ball.
The Jags are getting key contributions from three first-round picks on that defense.
Travon Walker, Devin Lloyd, and Josh Allen were all top picks.
Lloyd has been especially great leading the team in tackles and interceptions so far this season.
Jacksonville still has five division games left including two against the reigning division champion Tennessee Titans.
But having a great run defense in a division with teams that love to run the ball bodes well for their chances of winning.
This Jags team is young, full of energy, and led by the right head coach which should cumulate in an opportunity to win the South for the first time since 2017.
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