Last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars lost a close game to the Green Bay Packers. Although the Jags lost, there were a lot of positive things to take out of the game. Optimism was high in Duval as they entered Week 2.
Then Sunday happened.
The Jaguars lost 38-14 to the San Diego Chargers in a surprising blowout. If not for two garbage-time touchdowns, the Jags would’ve been shut out. Their secondary and run game were practically non-existent, and quarterback Blake Bortles threw two picks. The coaching didn’t help either, as head coach Gus Bradley and offensive coordinator Greg Olson had their fair share of stupid calls.
They entered this season as one of the league’s most improved teams, but now they are 0-2 coming off of an awful performance.
Is it too early to press the panic button in Jacksonville?
While the Jaguars’ start is alarming, it isn’t the end of the world yet. Their next five opponents all missed the playoffs last year. Winning at least three of those five could still keep them in the playoff hunt. If they can pull that off, things won’t be as bad. However, if the Jaguars aren’t at least .500 by the start of November, Gus Bradley’s job is as good as gone.
Having running back Chris Ivory and cornerback Prince Amukamara come back from injury in these next few weeks will help. T.J. Yeldon clearly can’t carry a full workload yet, so having a bruiser like Ivory return will help. Amukamara was a bright spot in Week 1, and his presence was clearly missed against the Chargers. While these two won’t completely flip the team’s fortunes around, they’ll help.
With a stacked free agency haul and a great draft class, Jacksonville has the talent to contend in the AFC South. However, time may be running out for the Jaguars to make a big impact.
