After finishing 1-15 in 2020, the Jacksonville Jaguars have started making significant changes to the organization in order to turn things around. After moving on from Doug Marrone, they hired Urban Meyer as their new head coach. Also, they give David Caldwell the pink slip and promoted Trent Baalke from director of player personnel to general manager.
It’s likely both Baalke and Meyer are currently busy looking for ways to improve the team. However, they should take a break to watch Super Bowl 55, where the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This is going to be a historic matchup and one the Jaguars’ brass shouldn’t miss. Even though they won’t be on the field at the same time, Tom Brady, arguably the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, will face Patrick Mahomes, the best signal-caller at this moment. Also, the ‘Bucs’ will be the first team to play the Super Bowl at its host stadium, Raymond James Stadium.
Baalke doesn’t seem like the kind that is interested in watching the Weekend’s Super Bowl halftime show, so here are a few reasons why he should still tune in and three lessons he can learn from the teams that will take the field.
3. The Jacksonville Jaguars need a franchise quarterback to compete.
All four teams that made it to the Conference Championship in 2020 have a franchise quarterback. Although signal-callers may get more praise than they deserved, for teams to have a shot at competing, they need to have one.
Every now a then, a team will make it and even win a Super Bowl on the strength of their defense, but that’s the exception and not the norm. Think of the 2020 Baltimore Ravens or the 1985 Chicago Bears. They won one championship with two of the best defenses in NFL history but weren’t able to get a second one.
Their lack of a franchise quarterback hindered the chances to make it to the championship once again. The 2020 Los Angeles Rams had the best defense in the NFL, but quarterback Aaron Rodgers picked it apart. The Rams knew that they needed an upgrade at quarterback if they want to keep competing and they traded Jared Goff and two first-round selections to the Detriot Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford.
Both the Buccaneers and the Chiefs have two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and due to Mahomes’ presence, Kansas City should continue to be a perennial Super Bowl contender.
2. The Jacksonville Jaguars can’t forget about their defense.
As important as having a franchise signal-caller is, teams can’t neglect the defensive side of the ball. The best quarterbacks elevate other players, but they can’t do it all alone. Although a top unit would be optimal, one that bends but doesn’t break and can make a stop when it matters the most is more than enough.
When the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl in 2010, their defense was second in points allowed. However, they have ranked in the top ten just once since then, and even though they make it to the postseason on a yearly basis, they haven’t played in the Super Bowl since then. As good as Aaron Rodgers and their offense is, they need a defense that can help them win games.
The Buccaneers’ defense ranked eighth in points given up in 2020 while the Chiefs were tenth. Even though Tom Brady threw three interceptions in the NFC Championship game, Tampa Bay still won and that’s because their defense stepped up when they needed it the most. Although an individual defensive player may not have the same impact in a game as a quarterback, a top-notch defense is as good as the sum of all its parts, and the best teams have a well-rounded one.
1. The Jacksonville Jaguars need to shoot for the moon and be bold.
The Jaguars currently hold the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and there’s a 99 percent chance they will use it on Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence even though he’s going to undergo surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.
There’s no risk there, but they had the chance to take a franchise signal-caller in 2017 and they passed up the chance to draft Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in favor of running back Leonard Fournette because they had Blake Bortles.
It’s uncertain if the Jaguars would be a Super Bowl team with Watson or Mahomes at the helm. However, they would’ve been in a better place than they were last season and they would’ve won at least one more game. The Chiefs had a good quarterback in Alex Smith but they wanted a great one and weren’t afraid to move up 17 spots to get Mahomes in 2017’s selection meeting.
Even though the Buccaneers didn’t have to part ways with draft picks to sign Tom Brady, they weren’t afraid to invest as much money as they needed to secure the services of a top-echelon quarterback. They were aware Jameis Winston wasn’t going to get them to the championship and knew they had to allocate a hefty amount of resources to land ’12’ last offseason.
It’s true that the draft is a crapshoot and the wrong decision can hold an organization back for years. The Chicago Bears are a recent example. They thought they had a franchise quarterback in Mitch Trubisky but they are already looking for a new quarterback.
However, if the team wants to turn things around, they need to keep throwing darts until they nail it. Think of the Seattle Seahawks in the early 2010s, they kept looking for a quarterback until they found Russell Wilson. That’s what great teams do, and something the Jaguars should reflect on when they watch this year’s Super Bowl.