Jaguars rightfully plummet in power rankings following Week 5 loss

Despite the fact that the Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4, they moved up in Pro Football Talk’s power ranking. However, it was hard to justify their place in the top 10 following their 13-6 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 5 and the Jags have moved down several spots in pretty much every other ranking.

Mike Florio of PFT summed it up best, the Jaguars “won’t be taken seriously until they can consistently beat the Texans“. One week after giving them the tenth spot, Florio placed them at No. 18.  Dan Hanzus of NFL Media also had Jacksonville at No. 25 one week after ranking them 20th. However, the biggest drop might have come from Pete Prisco of CBS Sports, who moved them down from 14 to 26. Here’s what Prisco had to say about them.

"The Jaguars turned into the Jaguars again in their loss to the Texans. There is no excuse for that or maybe they just aren’t that good. Trevor Lawrence has to pick it up."

The Jaguars still have time to climb back in power rankings

Just a couple of weeks ago, one look at social media showed fans thought the national media was sleeping on the Jags. But looking back, most analysts avoided jumping to premature conclusions. As recently as two weeks ago, Jacksonville was at the top of the AFC South but they’re currently third in the division following back-to-back losses.

Simply, the Jags will remain in the bottom half of power rankings if they keep losing. Conversely, if they start winning, nobody will bat an eye if they move back into the top 10. Keep in mind that this is a fluid season and teams that are learning how to win will constantly move around. But if they manage to find some consistency, they will settle, which is why the Jaguars must regroup ahead of Week 6.

Contrary to what Stephen A. Smith suggests, the Jags aren’t five players away from being good. They currently have enough talent on the roster to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league. Had they limited the number of mistakes against the Eagles, they would have come out of Lincoln Financial Field with a win and we would be talking about how they’re for real. Instead, the talk is nowadays centered around the Jaguars needing to fix whatever issues they’re currently experiencing and whether they can bounce back from their loss to the Texans.

On the bright side, the Jags have full control of the narrative and if they can beat the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6 for the second time this season and pull off a win against an improved New York Giants in Week 7, the media will go back to talking about them as a potential playoff contender.