Jaguars come back down to earth vs. Lions: 3 observations
The Jacksonville Jaguars’ confidence was sky-high following an upset win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12. But they were in for a rude awakening when they faced a gritty Detroit Lions team that had no trouble disposing of them.
The Lions start off strong, scoring in their first two drives while the Jags couldn’t get anything going on offense. Detroit didn’t take its foot off the gas pedal and ended up cruising its way into a dominant 40-14 win.
Head coach Doug Pederson told the local media after the game that they got off to a slow start and things went downhill from there.
“They executed better than we did”, Pederson said. “We were kind of shocked to start this game, we were not ready. To turn the ball over on the second play of the game, which can’t happen and the defense can’t get off the field the entire game and it’s a combination of everybody. We’re all included, myself included, so it’s something that we have to really look hard at the next couple of days”.
Pederson is correct. The Jaguars must turn the page and prepare to face off against the Tennesee Titans in Week 14. With that in mind, here are three observations from Jacksonville’s loss to the Lions.
The loss to the Lions shows how inconsistent the Jaguars have been in 2022
The Jaguars have won more than six games in a season just one since 2008, so it’s unrealistic to expect Doug Pederson to oversee a turnaround in just one year. Heck, Pederson himself warned everyone that this was no easy fix and it would take time to turn things around.
And so far, the Jags have made strides under Pederson. But they have their work cut out before they can win games on a consistent basis. Following back-to-back wins against the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Chargers, they rode a losing streak for five weeks before finally beating the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9.
Similarly, the Jaguars showed againt the Lions that they could beat a playoff-caliber team only to lose to one of the clubs with the worst win-loss records in the league the following week. With five games left in the season, there might not much to do but to finish strong and build momentum ahead of the offseason.