The Jacksonville Jaguars are 2-1 after defeating the Houston Texans in a gritty, hard-fought win that proved Jacksonville is still a team that should be taken seriously in the AFC South. While there are still improvements that need to be made, the team is slowly getting better each week, giving fans hope that they could end up as playoff contenders this year.
One area that has specifically come a long way is the defense. In 2024 under Ryan Nielsen, the Jaguars had one of the worst defenses in the league. He, along with pretty much everyone else on staff, was fired, and Anthony Campanile was brought in to turn things around.
And so far, he's done so. The defense has been forcing turnovers - so far, they have the most in the league - and has been especially good at pressuring the quarterback in each of their three games so far. Jacksonville has been solid on run defense and at pass rush, and in general, has turned the defense into a respectable unit that could make other teams worry. Considering how bad the defense was last season, it's not something anyone saw coming.
The Jaguars defense is the biggest surprise of the season (so far)
Heading into Week 4, Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon noted the biggest surprise coming from each team, and for Jacksonville, that's the defense.
"Incredibly, the Jags have as many takeaways in three games this season as they had in all of 2024 (nine). What's wild is the personnel hasn't changed dramatically, so new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile deserves a ton of credit. "Brad Gagnon
There has never been any doubting that there is talent on the Jaguars roster, for both offense and defense. But with the arrival of Ryan Nielsen in 2024, the defense plummeted. Nielsen made players put on weight unnecessarily, and alienated them with his bad attitude. His coaching was inconsistent, and rather than match his scheme withe talent he had, he stayed stubborn and ran aggressive schemes that didn't pair well with his existing players.
Campanile being able to turn the defense around so rapidly, without adding a ton of new players, just goes to show that the problem really wasn't on the Jacksonville roster; it was Nielsen. And it's a huge relief that Campanile has been so successful, because without a great defense, no team is going to get anywhere in today's NFL.