The Jaguars enter Week 10 with playoff hopes alive and a gaggle of divisional rivals upon the horizon.
If the season ended today, the Jaguars would sneak in as the seventh seed in the AFC.
The promising thing for Jacksonville is that this team is very much still growing and coming into their own, despite injuries across the roster. Notably, penalties, which have been a huge issue for almost the entirety of the season, vanished in the second half of last week’s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
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In fact, the offense committed zero penalties, allowing Travis Etienne and the Jaguars’ strong rushing attack to seal the victory. The team’s ability to convert long, successful drives into points, however, remains problematic.
Despite a 5-3 record, the Jaguars rank just 24th in points per drive. A large reason for that is the team’s struggles finishing long drives. As mentioned, the Jaguars rank just 24th in points per drive, yet rank eighth in plays per drive and 19th in yards per drive. Certainly, those are not among the league’s best, but they are far better than a mere 24th in points.
Turnovers have actually been a bright spot for the Jaguars offensively this season; however, two costly interceptions and a fumble in the endzone have spun would be easy points into opportunities for opposing teams.
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Those mistakes cost the Jaguars a game against the Bengals and nearly cost them against the Chiefs and Raiders as well. It goes beyond that, though.
Looking back at the Rams game, the Jaguars had seven offensive drives end in scoring position and came away with a total of seven points.
As stated, Jacksonville is no doubt moving the ball. The team is entering the red zone at a pretty decent clip, 32% of the time. For reference, that ranks 15th in the league. That said, once they get inside the red zone, the Jags begin to stumble. On the season, they rank 27th in scoring from inside the red area, just 4.41 points per trip.
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The rushing attack is as strong as always, but Trevor Lawrence and the offense haven’t exactly found their rhythm inside the 20-yard line. On the season, the Jaguars are completing 51.4% of passes, 29th in the NFL. The two red zone interceptions also rank just shy of the lead, held by the Dallas Cowboys with a total of three.
It’s no surprise as to why the Jaguars rank 31st in EPA/dropback and 28th in success rate through the air in that area of the field. It is encouraging, however, to see the addition of Jakobi Meyers, a player who has racked up 45 career receiving touchdowns.
His arrival and the return of the Jaguars’ run game should do wonders for an offense still working themselves out of their chrysalis.
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