Doug Pederson buys himself time as Jaguars avoid catastrophe against Patriots

It was probably harder than it should've been, but the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the New England 32-16 in Week 7. After giving up 10 points early in the game, something clicked and the Jags gave up just six the rest of the way. Similarly, the offense and the special teams did their part on a day in which head coach Doug Pederson needed a win.

With their back against the wall, the Jaguars came through. It helped that they went against a struggling Pats team, but they did enough to come out on top. Relying on running back Tank Bigsby certainly helped. The former Auburn Tiger toted the rock 23 times for 208 yards with one touchdown. Late in the game, he helped Jacksonville take a good chunk out of the clock.

Wide receiver Parker Washington also had a big role in the win, returning a 96-yard punt for a touchdown to make it 22-10.

Similarly, wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. had a stellar game. Aside from catching five receptions for 84 yards, the rookie had a two-point conversion.

As the 33rd Team noted, Thomas became the fifth rookie receiver since 2000 to log more than 480 yards and four receiving touchdowns in his first seven games. The other four were Ja'Marr Chase, Odell Beckham Jr., Marques Colston, and A.J. Green. That's a great company to be with.

Trevor Lawrence, for his part, completed 75 percent of his throws for 193 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.

The defense, for its part, had a hard time stopping the Patriots but did enough during the game to help the offense win the game. Late in the fourth quarter, Travon Walker sacked Drake Maye to effectively put an end to their chances of mounting a comeback. New England had another possession after that, but it was too little, too late.

At least for a week, Pederson can take a deep breath and not worry about getting kicked to the curb.

A Jaguars' win vs. the Patriot will take some pressure off Doug Pederson

One of the biggest storylines surrounding the Jags and Pederson this season has been his job security. He's routinely been brought up when discussing which head coaches are on the hot seat, and rightly so. Jacksonville is 2-5 despite the fact that they made upgrades to the coaching staff and the roster.

To make matters worse, a report surfaced after the Week 4 loss to the Houston Texans that Pederson lost the locker room. He vehemently denied it, and several prominent players stood behind him, but the sour taste still lingered. Fortunately for the head coach and the Jaguars, they beat the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5. This allowed him to take a deep breath.

Unfortunately, the Jaguars got back into the loss column in Week 6, and Pederson's employment once again became a topic of discussion. Had the Jaguars lost to the Patriots, nobody would've batted an eye if owner Shad Khan had fired Pederson. However, the head coach and the team showed enough fight to buy themselves some time.

Granted, it's not a given that Khan would've moved on from Pederson but he would've been justified.

But even though might have been on the line, Pederson told the local media after the game that the only thing he was worried about was coming out with a win.

"The only pressure was just that we needed to win again," Pederson said. "It didn't matter where, obviously we love coming over here, but it didn't matter where. We just needed to feel what winning feels like. Again, proud of the guys, proud of the coaches for the way we worked this past 10 days or so over here, and good way to finish this little run."

Ultimately, the Jacksonville Jaguars showed up in Week 7 and beat the New England Patriots. Things will get considerably harder when they meet the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, but for the time being, they know what winning feels like.

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