Head coach Doug Pederson earned lots of recognition for helping the Jacksonville Jaguars overcome the Urban Meyer debacle. In his first season at the helm, he took the team to the playoffs and won the AFC South. However, all the good grace Pederson built in 2022 is now out of the window.
Leaving aside that the Jags failed to make the playoffs and have won just three of their last 16 games, Pederson has rubbed people the wrong way for his demeanor during his media availability.
Following the loss to the Houston Texans in Week 4, the head coach threw players under the bus in an effort to protect protegee Press Taylor. He later walked back the comments but the damage was done.
More recently, Pederson got testy when Brent Martineau of Action Sports Jax asked him to break down the game-sealing interception in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Instead of giving a non-answer or saying that he could provide a detailed response once he watched the tape, he responded that he "wouldn't be able to figure it out."
It's fair to say that all the losing is taking a toll on Pederson. Perhaps he knows his tenure as the head coach in Jacksonville is near the end. Then again, that doesn't justify his comments. Either way, it's hard to see the Jags doing much of note the remainder of the season. With that in mind, here's a power ranking of the AFC South ahead of Week 11.
4. Jacksonville Jaguars
2024 record: 2-8
Previous ranking: 4
The Jaguars were historically dreadful in Week 10. Mac Jones, filling in for an injured Trevor Lawrence, barely cleared the 100-yard mark and the offense had a time of possession of 17:41, marking only the second time in franchise history that they held the ball for fewer than 20 minutes.
Missed this yesterday: The Jaguars' time of possession of 17:41 against the Vikings was the second-lowest in franchise history. Lowest is 16:43 against Texans in 2012. Those are the only times in franchise history the Jaguars have had a time of possession of less than 20 minutes.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) November 11, 2024
The silver lining is that the defense came through. Darnell Savage, Montaric Brown and Foyesade Oluokun all had interceptions. As a whole, Jacksonville held star wide receiver Justin Jefferson under 50 yards, and cornerback Tyson Campbell had a pretty good game. Similarly, Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker consistently rattled quarterback Sam Darnold, registering a combined 10 total pressures.
3. Tennessee Titans
2024 record: 2-7
Previous ranking: 3
Like the Jags, the Tennessee Titans have only mustered two wins this season but they have one fewer loss because they already enjoyed their BYE. It looks like they benefitted from the early break, as they've been playing a bit better, even if it hasn't translated into the win column.
Although the Titans lost to the Los Angeles Chargers, they gave them everything they could handle. Sophomore Will Levis, in particular, had his best game of the season, going 18-of-23 for 175 yards with two touchdown tosses. On top of that, he added 41 yards with his legs. While that kind of production won't pop off the stat shit, it's most definitely a step in the right direction.
Heck, Levis' performance becomes more impressive when you take into account that the Tennessee offensive line was far from great, giving up a jaw-dropping seven sacks and a concerning nine quarterback picks.
2. Indianpolis Colts
2024 record: 4-6
Previous ranking: 2
The Indianapolis Colts are barely holding onto the second place in this rankings. If the Jags or Tennessee weren't nearly as bad, Indy would probably be third or even last in the division. Either way, it looks like the Joe Flacco experiment isn't working the way they thought it would.
Expected to give the team a spark, Flacco was underwhelming in the loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 10. Meanwhile, sophomore Anthony Richardson has seemingly gotten lots of empathy across the league after getting benched. The truth is that head coach Shane Steichen didn't handle the quarterback situation well, and it's now coming back to haunt him.
1. Houston Texans
2024 record: 6-4
Previous ranking: 1
Suddenly, the Houston Texans don't look like the hottest team in the league. Similarly, C.J. Stroud hasn't played as well as he was early in the season or last year. In his defense, his protection has been dreadful and he's been without some of his top targets in recent weeks.
Having said that, it wasn't long ago that Trevor Lawrence found himself in a similar situation — without a competent supporting cast — and was heavily scrutinized for the dropoff in his production. Nevertheless, Stroud hasn't gotten nearly as much criticism as his Jaguars counterpart. This doesn't mean that he should or shouldn't.
The point is context is necessary to evaluate a quarterback's performance and the Texans' struggles go beyond Stroud.