The Jacksonville Jaguars are dealing with a Trevor Lawrence injury, the league's most ineffective defense, and a 2-9 record that would grant them the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if the season ended today. All of that serves as ammunition against retaining head coach Doug Pederson.
While Pederson deserves credit for getting Lawrence on track in the pros and winning a playoff game, the Super Bowl-winning coach seems to be out of ideas. How else does one explain a 52-6 loss in which the Detroit Lions outgained a Mac Jones-led offense by 475 yards?
If Shad Khan decided to fire Pederson, thus giving them a head start on hiring the next head coach, no one would have batted an eye. In fact, that may have been encouraged. Instead, Jacksonville is operating like everything his all sunshine and rainbows in Duval County.
According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, many people within the Jaguars organization were expecting big changes on Monday morning, with a Pederson firing at the front of everyone's mind. Instead, the Jags kept everyone in place. The fact a 52-6 loss does not cost anyone their jobs is the height of irresponsibility.
Doug Pederson not getting fired after 52-6 loss surprised Jaguars
The case for keeping Pederson is calling this season an anomaly. Two years ago he won a playoff game, and he was 8-3 last year before Lawrence got hurt and the collapse happened. This team has too much talent to have two wins, and a loyal owner like Khan can talk himself into keeping Pederson around.
The case against him can be a complete college thesis. Not only are the Jaguars the worst team in the league as Lawrence starts to plateau, but the lack of motivation and effort on display is shocking. With Pederson seemingly unwilling to boot offensive coordinator Press Taylor, things won't turn around suddenly in 2025.
The two biggest priorities for this Jaguars franchise are making sure Lawrence keeps getting better and improving the league's worst defense. Pederson's hiring of Ryan Nielsen shows he doesn't have a clue on how to fix the latter, and he is unable to make the changes needed to do the former.
The Jags will likely fire Pederson at the end of the season, but Khan is loyal and patient to a fault. There's a non-zero chance the Jaguars could be the worst team in the league while bringing everyone back for 2025.