Jaguars hold serve at 30th in FanSided.com NFL Power Rankings

Even with the loss on Sunday to the Los Angeles Chargers, the Jacksonville Jaguars hold serve at 30th in the most recent FanSided.com NFL Power Rankings.

Judging by how the Jacksonville Jaguars have played the past four games, it stood to reason the team would show some improvement with Gardner Minshew under center this week against the Los Angeles Chargers.

That was wishful thinking.

While the team did not slip further into the pit of misery in FanSided.com’s latest NFL Power Rankings, there is a case to be made the Jaguars are the worst team in the NFL right now by virtue of its five-game losing streak. Never has a team looked this unorganized and lost on a football field as it has since before the bye week.

Loss after loss, which has resulted in teams running through the Jacksonville defense – sans last week’s loss to Tampa Bay – has proven the Jaguars are a team in desperate need of an off switch to the 2019 NFL season. Unfortunately, there are still three games to play, and Jacksonville figures to be underdogs in all of them.

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"“The Jaguars had dropped their last four games (by a combined 129-47 score) when they took on the visiting Chargers, who had dropped their previous three contests. Rookie Gardner Minshew was back in the starting lineup but it didn’t really make much of a difference as Doug Marrone’s team trailed 24-3 at halftime,” Russell Baxter wrote.“Things got worse in the early stages of the third quarter as the Jacksonville defense continued to struggle as the Los Angeles’ offense rolled up 525 total yards, including 195 on the ground.”"

Credit the Chargers defense – led by coordinator Gus Bradley – for holding the Jaguars at bay almost the entire game. No matter which side of the ball was questioned, there were no answers as Los Angeles scored on seven of 10 possessions for the game.

Minshew, who replaced Nick Foles in the second half of last week’s game against Tampa Bay, didn’t have an answer to what ails this offense. On defense, it was the same old song. Repetition is beginning to become the norm here in North Florida.

"“Minshew threw for only 162 yards and the Jaguars’ ground game was limited to a mere 88 yards. And Marrone’s team has surrendered 174 points in their last five outings,” Baxter added."

After the game, Marrone addressed the defense’s lack of performance, stating it starts with him and the coaching staff, but there must be an improvement from the guys on the field as well.

"“Yeah, there was a lot of busted coverages.  There were busted things, and those are the guys that we have, and we’ve got to do a better job,” he said. It’s a little bit on both.  You can’t just say it’s just the players.  It’s us as coaches, too.  We try to put them in good positions.  We work on things during the week, but if you don’t have that performance on the field, that is a reflection on everyone.”"

With the team officially knocked out of the playoff hunt last night, the focus shifts to the final three games of the season with Oakland next on the schedule. The Raiders were doubled up by the Tennessee Titans, 42-21 yesterday.

"“Marrone’s club battles an AFC West foe for the second consecutive Sunday as the Jaguars make their first appearance at Oakland since 2013,” Baxter adds. “This marks just the ninth time that these franchises will play and the first time since ’16, when Jacksonville fell at home, 33-16. The Jaguars have dropped three straight in this setting.”"

The Raiders are 6-7 this season and not mathematically eliminated from the postseason yet, but are currently ninth in the AFC Conference.