Where Can Sinking Jaguars Find the Positives?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still winless after a road loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday. Coach Doug Pederson is searching for positives, if any, he can take from the defeat.

Sep 29, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter (99) during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars still have yet to win a game. While they played the best game of the season, they are still arguably the worst team in the National Football League. However, Coach Doug Pederson has tried to positive outlook on it all. 

“I think you look at offensively, I think the run game has been positive. I think it was 158 yards or so yesterday. Routed off a couple, Tank [RB Tank Bigsby] had a couple of nice runs yesterday. I do like the fact, even though we may not be connecting on everything, I do like the fact that we are getting guys open down the field, our explosive passes. 

“We missed our fair share yesterday, and it hurt us. But getting BT [WR Brian Thomas Jr.] open down the field and Christian yesterday, and we had Gabe [WR Gabe Davis] a couple of times these last couple of weeks. I mean, it's that stuff is very positive. Now, do we have to improve, pitch, and catch better? Yes, we do.”

Not only were the Jaguars subpar on third down offensively, but their defense was nearly as bad on third down. The Jaguars’ offense converted on four of its 12 third-down opportunities against the Texans.

However, the Texans’ offense converted on seven of their 13 third-down attempts. Pederson noted both the Jaguars offense and defense needed help on third down.

“Defensively, I think with the amount of young players that are playing, you're not seeing a ton of first progression, wide-open, quarterback, put my foot in the ground, throw it to the open guy. It's usually, the quarterback has to move or get to a second-and-third guy. 

“So, we're covering guys up now. Did we make a coverage assignment, a blown assignment in Miami? Yeah, we did. You know, all things we can—have we fixed it since? Yes.”

Pederson tried to keep a positive outlook on everything. As frustrating as it may be to be 0-4, Pederson unquestionably has to keep a positive outlook on the situation. However, the results speak for themselves.

“So, there's a lot of positive that comes out of that kind of stuff,” Pederson said. “We can continue to show our players these things. The effort is there. Tackling – how close are we to getting the quarterback on the ground? 

“Yeah, it might be a negative, but it's a positive to the fact that we've affected these guys. Now, we've got to take the extra step and get them on the ground. So, there's quite a few things I think that we can continue to show our players that are good.” 

Our Jaguars on SI beat writer John Shipley requested 15 minutes to sit down and discuss with general manager Trent Baalke the future of the franchise.

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