Josh Allen, a linebacker with the Jacksonville Jaguars, stated that the reason behind the worst collapse in the team's history was that everyone was waiting for that one certain moment to occur. They now have to wait for their next opportunity for the following seven months.
To end the 2022 regular season and win the AFC South, the Jaguars won five straight games. They started the season 8-3, which gave them a 98% chance to make the postseason, but they struggled to a 1-5 record, which was completed by Sunday's 28-20 loss to the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. As a result, they missed the playoffs this season.
"I feel like last year we had a spark and we lit [it] and we just followed that and rode that wave," Allen said. "And then this year we were looking forward too much hoping that it was going to come and it never came.
"... We've got the guys. We've got the talent. We've got the trust. We've got the locker room. We've got the guys that can go out there and put their bodies on the line for each other. But when it's time to put on that fire, we've got to turn it up a little notch."
Head coach Doug Pederson stated that the team's careless football play during the period they were waiting for that spark was the issue. The Jaguars turned the ball over 12 times in their defeats to Cincinnati, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Tampa, and they only converted 52.4% of their red zone drives into touchdowns during their 1-5 season. In addition, he noted, there were four missed field goals, too many failed tackles and penalties.
As a result, they are faced with an uncertain offseason rather than getting ready to play Cleveland in a wild-card game at EverBank Field the following weekend.
"I'm frustrated, I'm disappointed, I'm mad [and] angry [at the way the season ended]," Pederson said. "My heart hurts for the players, and coaches involved. They've worked their tails off. But today's game was sort of our season in a nutshell. The mistakes, the penalties, the turnovers, missed tackles, those are all the things that hurt us down the stretch."
With a sprained right AC joint that kept him out of last week's game against Carolina, quarterback Trevor Lawrence will be one of the main questions going into Sunday's game. In addition to throwing two touchdowns and 280 yards, Lawrence also tossed two interceptions against the Titans.
Lawrence had thrown multiple interceptions just seven times in his previous forty-two games, but that was his fourth time in his last eight outings. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he now has the most multiple turnover games (15) of any player since entering the NFL in 2021.
"I feel like I didn't do everything that I could have done today to help us win and didn't feel like I played my best," Lawrence said. "So it hurts, but at the end of the day, that's what you put on the field."
Lawrence was struggling with a concussion in addition to problems with his knee, ankle, and shoulder. Due to a core muscle issue, receiver Christian Kirk was out for the final five games. Zay Jones, a receiver, missed the entire season due to hamstring and knee issues. Due to a PED ban, left lineman Cam Robinson missed the first four games of the season. Later in the season, a knee injury kept him out of action for an additional four games.
Security Along with Andre Cisco, Tyson Campbell, the cornerback, missed games due to injuries to his quadriceps, shoulder, and hamstring.
All of which, according to Lawrence, doesn't justify what the Jaguars have done on the pitch since their Nov. 6 victory in Houston. If they had won just one of those four games, Sunday's matchup with the Titans could have been meaningless. For this reason, he said, the sudden conclusion to the season on Sunday is so heartbreaking.
"For some reason, we just didn't play as good as a team as the season went on," Lawrence said. "When we needed to be our best, we weren't. And last year was the opposite. When we needed to be our best and had to have it, we were, and we found a way to win up until the divisional [playoff loss in Kansas City]. You just have to bring that every week and there was a disconnect somewhere and we weren't able to put that on the field in the back half of the season like we needed to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs and go on a run."
The Jaguars (9-8) finished with a winning record for the second straight season, their first since 2004–05, despite missing out on the playoffs. That's a step forward if not more than the franchise has shown in almost twenty years. They failed to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since they made four in a row from 1996 to 1999, and Pederson accepted full responsibility for the collapse. However, they had the opportunity to win back-to-back division titles for just the second time in team history.
"It's disappointing the way we finished our season," he said. "It's not good enough. Things start with me, and I have to make sure that I'm holding myself accountable and doing all I can to help our football team win, on and off the football field. But it's just not good enough."
Next Up:
The NFL Playoffs it's time to go hard or go home, as a date in Las Vegas at the Super Bowl is the destination.