by The Jacksonville Jaguars had every opportunity to make the 2023 season a success. Instead they floundered, culminating in a 28-20 loss at the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon. The Jaguars only needed to beat a 5-11 team to clinch the AFC South. But Trevor Lawrence threw two interceptions and Stacked got up shy of the backline on a decisive quarterback and back from the Titans’ one-yard line. The Jaguars’ last-ditch effort to overcome a 15-point deficit entering the fourth quarter was not enough. And now the organization is embarking on an offseason to find out how such a promising year went so terribly. The Houston Texans, not the Jags, will represent the division in the playoffs.
The Jaguars have been lousy for most of the 21st century, and reached new depths of ignominy when they posted the worst record in the league in 2020 and 2021. (In the latter year, the franchise became a special kind of embarrassment (on the slapstick lead of an overmatched coach, Urban Meyer.) But the team made a quantum leap in 2022. Lawrence, the franchise quarterback they drafted with the first pick the previous season, became one of the best quarterbacks in football. Edge rusher Josh Allen led a ferocious defense. The Jaguars made a late-season charge to win the AFC South, then pulled off a comeback win over the Los Angeles Chargers. They even feared the eventual Super Bowl winners, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the next round.
This season was inverse, as the Jaguars started 8-3 and then faded to the tune of finishing 1-5 to go 9-8. The record was the same a year ago. The feeling around him couldn’t be more different.
Lawrence is the most important position in the game and he certainly did not have the year he dreamed of. The No. 1 overall pick was 1 2021 was far from terrible, but he couldn’t lift an offense that lacked a true No. 1 receiver and exposed depth issues when Christian Kirk lost top target the last month of the season to injury. Lawrence connected closely with Evan Engram and got off some explosive plays with Calvin Ridley, but the passing game didn’t click into better-than-average production. The Jags were 15th in the NFL with 6.2 yards per throw entering the week and 18th in passer rating. Lawrence has a great arm but didn’t get great results from it, and it was the last – and most important – pass of the season. airmailed on Engram’s behalf fourth down. It was the kind of moment when someone like Patrick Mahomes excels.
Of particular concern: Lawrence dropped his interception rate from 2.8% of his throws in his rookie year to 1.4% in 2022. But in 2023 the rate jumped to 2.5%, aided by those two picks on Sunday. The Jaguars have yet to make Lawrence a long-term signal caller, and it’s worth remembering that he played the stretch without one of his cleats and with a shoulder injury sustained by his dog. But he and his team have to grow.
Sticking with Lawrence is an easy call, but the Jaguars face tougher decisions. The biggest of those is Allen, who had 17.5 sacks this season to pace the defense. He is a free agent after making $10.9m in 2023. Someone will pay him handsomely, and it remains to be seen if that will be Jacksonville. Ridley, one of the team’s leading receivers, is also set to make an impact on the open market. And the Jaguars may also want to take a hard look at administrative changes, possibly including (to start) replacing Press Taylor as offensive coordinator. After a last two months like the Jaguars just had, people even higher in the org chart will get some scrutiny.
MVP of the week
Nico Collins, wide receiver, Houston Texans. There were several beneficiaries of the Jaguars’ debacle, none more so than the Texans, who claimed the AFC South as a result. But Houston had to make their own luck, and Collins, the third-year receiver from Michigan, delivered. On Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts, Collins caught all nine of CJ Stroud’s targets and posted 195 yards and a touchdown in a 23-19 win. A 75-yard score on Houston’s first play from scrimmage set the tone, and Collins made another key catch late in the second quarter on third down, setting up Houston’s next touchdown.
The situation of the week
1935. That was the last time an NFL division finished each of its teams with a winning record. That season came before under 35 years the AFL-NFL merger that established the modern league. But the AFC North was victorious on Sunday, when the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Cleveland Browns 31-14 in a game with no promises for either team. (The Browns were guaranteed the AFC’s No. 5 seed; the Bengals were out of the hunt.) The Baltimore Ravens have the best record in the conference at 13-4, while the Steelers closed with three wins to finish 10-7 and extend Mike Tomlin’s career. – a long streak of 17 consecutive years without losing a campaign. Every team in the AFC North, except the Bengals, will continue to play in the postseason.
Video of the week
Does anything sum up Bill Belichick’s season better than the head coach shivering on the sidelines as the New England Patriots lost to the nearly-depressed New York Jets? And Sunday may be the last time we see Belichick in charge of the Pats. Fox insider Jay Glazer, reported Sunday that Belichick will not return to the Patriots for the 2024 season. It was the clearest report yet from a credible outlet indicating that Belichick’s time in New England is up. The game itself was a fitting end to a spirited campaign for the Pats: a 17-3 loss to the Jets, a non-contender in the AFC East. Fittingly if it was Belichick’s last game, the win ended New England’s 15-game winning streak against the team that has gone longer without a playoff appearance (the last was 2010) than any other in the NFL. The Pats finished the season with a 4-13 record, the worst of Belichick’s campaign. At least he – or his potential successor – has great satisfaction in a top-five draft pick.
Elsewhere throughout the series
– The Buffalo Bills aren’t the juggernaut they were last season but there is a noticeable absence of smoking from their game. On Sunday, they won their fifth game in a row to clinch the No. 2 seed in the AFC, which looked pretty remote when they were slumping in the middle of the season. Josh Allen said Sunday was a mirror of the season as a whole: They trailed the Miami Dolphins 14-7 at halftime and were intercepted twice before fighting back for a 21-14 victory. Allen also said that this team is the best he has played for in terms of “spouse”. Meanwhile, the Dolphins seem to have trouble killing games despite their offensive weapons.
— The Detroit Lions, who had a dream season as the NFC North champions for the first time since the division was founded, and there could be a big blow. Tight end Sam LaPorta, who earlier set the rookie catch record at his position with 86 grabs, left the Lions’ 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings after he hyperextended his knee. It was a little strange that LaPorta was in the game at all, as the Lions were all but locked into the NFC’s No. 3 playoff seed and his health for next weekend’s wild-card game should be a priority. Alas, his status is now uncertain, and will be the Lions’ death match for as long as the playoffs last. A flicker Good news after the game from head coach Dan Campbell: “It’s not as bad as it was, but it’s not good news,” he said, adding that the team would learn more on Monday. “I know it looked terrible.”
— The Lions face the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs. Few expected the Rams to do much this season and even fewer (perhaps none) predicted that their fifth-round pick Puka Nacua would help them get there by setting rookie records. for receiving yards (1,486 yards) and catches (105). The usual asterisk has to be added as this is a 17 game season but it’s still a surprisingly impressive performance – and perhaps surpassing – Brock Purdy’s irrelevant heroics from last year. One more note from the game: Matthew Stafford now faces his old team, the Lions, in the wild-card round. Lions fans were mostly behind him when he won the Super Bowl with the Rams. They will not be so accommodating this time.
– Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey began his career on a remarkable run: he hit 35 consecutive successful field goals, the longest streak in league history for a career kickoff. That flawed run ended Sunday when Washington Chiefs’ Joshua Pryor blocked Aubrey’s punt attempt and set up a 66-yard touchdown return by Washington teammate Jace Whittaker. NFL kickers have gradually gotten better and better in recent years, but Aubrey’s streak was excessive even by the exacting standards of his kicking peers.
– Jordan Love’s first full season as the Green Bay Packers wasn’t too bad then. He threw for 30 touchdowns – better than Brett Favre or Aaron Rodgers in their first full seasons (caveat: this was in a 17-game campaign) – and led the Packers to the playoffs after Sunday’s victory over the Chicago Bears. Once again, Green Bay seems to have handled quarterback succession with aplomb.
– Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles employed plenty of starters and suffered injuries to AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts on Sunday but their 27-10 loss to a bad New York Giants team was … ouch. They have now lost five of their last six games as they prepare to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round. Fortunately for the Eagles, the Bucs didn’t look great as they claimed the NFC South by knocking off the worst team in the league, the Carolina Panthers. But this Eagles team looks nothing like the version that came so close to winning the Super Bowl a year ago.
Free NFL card playoff games
NFC: Philadelphia Eagles (5) v No. 4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4)
Green Bay Packers (7) v Dallas Cowboys (2)
Los Angeles Rams (6) v Detroit Lions (3)
AFC: Cleveland Browns (5) v Houston Texans (4)
Pittsburgh Steelers (7) v Buffalo Bills (2)
Miami Dolphins (6) v Kansas City Chiefs (3)
