Not so long ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars looked like a team on the rise.
Trevor Lawrence’s pairing with Doug Pederson was encouraging.
Watching them rally late in the season to win the AFC South Division and a playoff game made it seem like they were on the verge of becoming a Super Bowl contender.
Now, they’ve lost 17 of their last 22 games.
Some of those losses have been by a single possession.
Their inability to execute down the stretch has come back to haunt them repeatedly.
They were expected to bounce back this season after a disappointing end to last year, but that was hardly the case.
When asked about that, coach Pederson admitted to ESPN that it was difficult to stay focused amid all the struggles and the outside noise:
“But this one was tough. It was tough just to maintain the focus and the drive and each week be competitive, and still give ourselves opportunities to win games,” Pederson said.
The Jaguars will likely part ways with their head coach after their regular-season finale with the Indianapolis Colts.
He doesn’t seem to be on the same page with Lawrence anymore, and since the team gave him a very lucrative contract extension, it only makes sense that they look to build their program around their franchise signal-caller.
Still, there are reasons to doubt whether Lawrence will ever be the superstar prospect he seemed poised to become when he was at Clemson.
On the flip side, they have at least found a legitimate star at the wide receiver position, as Brian Thomas Jr. just had one of the most impressive rookie seasons.
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