Doug Pederson: Jaguars Are 'Learning How to Finish'

The Jaguars seem to be taking the next after winning seven of their last eight games.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have found their groove. 

Save for one blip against a dominant San Francisco 49ers team in Week 10, the Jaguars have been one of the NFL's best teams over the last two months, winning seven of their last eight games after a 24-21 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Considering the Jaguars started 3-7 in 2022 due to an inability to close games, their recent winning ways and overall consistency have displayed growth. For a young team that was coming off of two No. 1 picks in a row, head coach Doug Pederson is finally seeing the fruits of their labor pay off.

“You know, you take every win and every loss humbly, and that's what we've got to do. It's a great win for our team. Yeah, puts us a few games up, and that was our goal this week, obviously," Pederson said on Sunday. 

"Our guys battled for 60 minutes. We knew it was going to be a tough football game. It's a really good football team here in Houston that plays tough, plays hard and plays until the end. Our guys learned how to -- we're learning how to finish, and really proud of our guys for the way they hung in there today.”

The win over Houston helped Jacksonville avenge their lone AFC South loss, a 37-17 beatdown by the Texans in Week 3. This time around, the stakes were much higher. 

The Jaguars entered the week with Houston just one game behind them in the AFC South. Now, the Texans are two games behind them and have been sent to third-place, and it happened because the Jaguars learned how to win a close game in a hostile environment. 

"We knew coming down here that this crowd was going to be energized for the way they've been playing, and rightfully so," Pederson said. 

"The way their quarterback has been playing, and again, rightfully so. We knew that coming here. I felt like our guys really, for the most part, handled the noise really well, the communication was good. It's a tough place to play. This fan base is jazzed up like they were today, it's hard. It's hard to hear. It's loud on the field. But great road win for us to come here and do what we did today.”