The Jacksonville Jaguars embarrassed themselves against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. The Jags faced a must-win scenario in Buffalo to have any realistic hope of competing for an AFC Playoff berth. The Jaguars came out flat and fell into a 34-3 hole by halftime, allowing Josh Allen to throw four touchdown passes in just two quarters. Doug Pederson’s team had no apparent plan and looked flatly overmatched.
Head Coach Doug Pederson Is A One Hit Wonder
The sad reality is that Pederson caught lightning in a bottle in 2017. He coached Carson Wentz to an MVP-level season. When he lost Wentz for the season just before the playoffs, he engineered a magical run with Nick Foles, resulting in the Philadelphia Eagles’ only Super Bowl victory. Pederson followed up his Super Bowl run with two nine-win seasons before a disastrous four-win season in 2020, which cost him his job with the Eagles.
Pederson has coaching chops and earned a reputation for getting the best out of quarterbacks. He coached Wentz and Trevor Lawrence to the best seasons of their careers. He helped Michael Vick and Alex Smith reinvent themselves and coaxed Foles into the crowning jewel of his career. It isn’t all flowers and sunshine, though. He stuck with Wentz too long and gradually lost his team as the former first-round pick regressed. Veterans grumbled about picking the wrong quarterback, and Pederson lost the team and his job.
Jacksonville And Trevor Lawrence Must Evolve To Compete
Pederson’s time with the Jaguars has been a roller coaster. He helped Lawrence briefly realize his potential in 2022 when the second-year pro had his best season. He passed for over 4,000 yards and threw 25 touchdowns against eight interceptions. Lawrence engineered a miracle comeback victory against the Los Angeles Chargers. He battled Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs to a standstill in the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs in Arrowhead Stadium before bowing out in the fourth quarter.
In 2023, there were reports of injury but Lawrence gutted it out for 16 games. He managed to pass for 4,000 yards again, but his touchdown passes fell to 21 and his interception total nearly doubled to 14. The Jaguars collapsed after winning eight of their first 11 games in 2023. Including the disastrous start to 2024, the team has lost eight of their last nine games. The only win was supplied by Lawrence’s backup CJ Beathard, who beat the Carolina Panthers to ensure a winning season for Pederson in Week 17 last season.
Lawrence has slowly been slipping into the bottom half of NFL signal callers. A little regression from a fourth-year quarterback is not normally cause for alarm. However, the Jaguars signed Lawrence to a 275m contract and the results so far in 2024 have been disastrous. Over his last eight games, Lawrence is completing 59.6% of his passes and averaging 229 yards per game with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. It is clear that Lawrence is going backwards and at $55 million per year the Jaguars have to do something.
Final Thoughts
Pederson is on the hook for Lawrence’s performance and a string of embarrassing losses. It is debatable whether the blame should fall on Lawrence or general manager Trent Baalke, who is a train wreck himself. Shad Khan laid out $275 million and put his faith in Lawrence and at this point, it is a lot easier to scapegoat the head coach and possibly the general manager and move on to start over in 2025.
The Jaguars’ cupboard isn’t bare, but the franchise quarterback is spoiling on the shelf. The job should be attractive because for all his faults Lawrence is talented. The hardest position to get right is quarterback, and his mere presence with a few other attractive talents like Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker, and budding talent Brian Thomas Jr. makes the Jaguars intriguing for top coaching talent. Jacksonville should be grateful to Pederson for a brief but mildly successful run but must move beyond him to truly ascend.
What do you think, Total Apex Sports fans? Should the Jaguars move on and if so who would you like to see patrolling the sidelines in Duval County in 2025? Please comment below or on my X: @thebubbasq to let me know what you think.
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