Margin of Error Still Razor-Thin For Jaguars' Pederson

Head coach Doug Pederson will live to fight another day with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but there is no room for error going forward.

Oct 20, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson reacts after an NFL International Series game against the New England Patriots at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Doug Pederson can, for a brief moment, feel a bit of relief after the Jacksonville Jaguars' 32-16 victory over the New England Patriots.

It was the must-win game of all must-win games. If he had lost to a rookie quarterback and a depleted roster after a whole week of preparation in London -- bad news. His Jaguars showed up, posting their best performance on the offensive side of the ball and a solid effort on defense.

Add in a little bit of resilience -- the Jaguars overcame a early 10-0 deficit -- and complimentary football -- an equally dangerous balanced offensive attack, there was a lot for Pederson to like about this victory. But he also knows that the 2-5 Jaguars need to maintain this urgency.

Most importantly, they need to win.

"We've got to duplicate it," Pederson told reporters after the game. "We have to duplicate the energy. We have to duplicate what we did over here. This week in practice has been one of our better weeks of practice, and we've got to be able to carry this all the way back and do it again. I mean, that's what this league is. It's a short-term memory. You just try to go 1-0 each week, but I thought the guys really handled themselves professionally while we were here for the ten days."

Micro focus, macro goal for Pederson. The problem is that each loss further compounds the calamity of this season for the Jaguars. It only heightens the failure of a team that was supposed to be the best in franchise history, touted by owner Shad Khan just before the season.

"Winning now is the expectation. Make no mistake, this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ever. Best players, best coaches. But most importantly, let's prove it by winning now," he had said.

Those words still echo with each passing week. The Jaguars don't have an easy schedule ahead of them. It's a gauntlet, actually. They host a Green Bay Packers team fresh off a win over AFC South rival Houston.

Then it's a trip to Pederson's former team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Who, by the way, are a playoff-caliber team.

Then it's back-to-back games against the two best teams in arguably the best division in football, a homestand against the Minnesota Vikings and a trip to Ford Field to take on the Detroit Lions.

The rest of the schedule after that isn't as daunting, but it's not much easier either. It starts with the rematch against the Texans.

Finding wins is imperative for Pederson. How many he can actually get could be a number Khan might not like.

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