The Jacksonville Jaguars have had games like this in the past: They outplayed their opponent, only to come up short after being unable to deliver in the game's final moments. Despite a dominant Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers and a still-impressive showing against the Bengals in Week 2, they find themselves looking ahead to the Texans with a 1-1 record.
So what happened? Mistakes, penalties, mental errors, but most importantly, an inability to cement the win. Dropped passes at critical moments, errant throws in the game's final minutes, and a defense that just couldn't make that final stop. While there was a lot to love in the loss, a loss is still a loss, and the Jags took a much-deserved tumble in the NFL's power rankings.
Related: Jaguars legend chimes in on Brian Thomas Jr.’s perplexing lack of effort
Jaguars fall from 19th to 25th in NFL Spin Zone's power rankings
If you've read anything I've written, you know how I feel about NFL Power Rankings—namely, that they're kind of useless. Still, while I'll always take them with a grain of salt, there's a touch of truth to them.
In this case, even though there was more good than bad in the Jaguars' Week 2 loss to the Bengals, they definitely deserved a bit of tumble down the rankings. It's a sentiment that was echoed by new head coach Liam Coen in the post-game presser.
"[We] didn't make enough plays at the end," Coen said on the video below (0:08 mark). "We [didn't] make the play at the end on offense to close somebody out. We had an opportunity in the end zone to catch the touchdown, then we had the fourth down [drop by Brian Thomas Jr.]. We don't make those plays and ultimately gave them an opportunity to stay in the game."
As Jaguars senior writer John Oesher put it: "So much good, too much not good enough." Yep...that about sums it up.
Related: 2 winners (and 2 losers) for Jaguars in Week 2 loss at Cincinnati
Final thoughts
The Jacksonville Jaguars will likely remain at the bottom of the NFL Power Rankings around the league until they prove they don't deserve to be there. Too often, we talk about "bright spots" or "hopeful moments" after a loss instead of "great plays" and "solid performances" after a victory.
There's a lot of good on the Jags roster, but so far, it's been too much of the "not good enough" to earn their place at the top of the rankings.