Gulf Between Jaguars, Week 11 Opponent's Rebuilds on Display

After the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions started their rebuilds at the same time, the Lions have lapped the Jaguars in a big way.

Dec 4, 2022; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson watches his team from the sidelines against the Detroit Lions in the third quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images / Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars will enter Week 11 against the Detroit Lions as one of the biggest underdogs of the NFL season.

That, more than anything, shows just how wide the gap between the two teams is after both franchises started their rebuilds in 2021.

Since the Lions hired Dan Campbell and Brad Holmes in the same offseason the Jaguars hired Trent Baalke and Urban Meyer, the two teams have gone in opposite directions. They both entered their rebuilds with top picks, a stockpile of draft picks behind them, and a plethora of cap space to add an influx of talent to the roster in free agency.

Each team found its quarterback of the future that offseason, while also working toward flushing the failures of the past. The Jaguars had just gone 1-15 in an uninspired season under Doug Marrone, while the Lions were moving past a woeful Matt Patricia era.

There are some differences, of course. The Lions and Campbell have been able to grow together in the four years since. The Jaguars had the speedbump that is now known as Meyer's failure as an NFL coach, which then led to Doug Pederson being hired by the Jaguars in 2022.

But, still. The two teams started off with a blank slate in 2021. Now, the Lions are in the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the Jaguars are the current favorite to land the No. 1 pick.

When the two teams meet in Week 11, we will see just how big the divide is between the two franchises after they started at the same place.

"Obviously, they've done things well there. They've drafted well, free agents have all been a big part of it. The more success you have, yeah, he's going to lose coaches. He's going to bring new coaches in. Faces are going to change," Pederson said on Wednesday.

"The one thing that I think when you look at Dan [Lions head coach Dan Campbell] and really teams that have had success, it's consistency. It's just doing the same things every single day. Message is the same. The guys work the same and the players buy in. And then when you win—because I've been on that side of it—when you win, everything's great, right? Everything is not easy, but it feels easy, and that's probably where they are right now.”

The Lions have become the perfect picture of what a rebuild should be and what it can turn into. The Jaguars, meanwhile, are looking at their own potential reset of the franchise this offseason.

The Jaguars can only hope that if they do take another swing at the leaders of a new regime, that they get it as right as the Lions did.

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