After dropping two close games to AFC opponents, the Jacksonville Jaguars needed a big showing on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills to avoid an 0-3 start, from which very few teams have ever rebounded to make the postseason.
Instead, Duval got demolished.
Jacksonville allowed Buffalo to score on its first six drives, including touchdowns on the Bills' five first-half possessions, and jump out to a 34-3 lead by halftime in a 47-10 mauling on Monday night.
Following the devastating defeat, the Jags had few answers for why they played so poorly but knew one thing: They aren't ready for prime time.
"It's real shocking. Very disappointed. You hate to say it, but the reality of it is this is who we are right now," Jaguars coach Doug Pederson told reporters. "We're not a very good football team and we've got to get it fixed. We've got to come up with some answers and we've got to do it in a hurry."
Jacksonville just couldn't keep up with Buffalo on Monday night. While Josh Allen and the Bills offense ran roughshod over the Jags defense, Trevor Lawrence and the offense struggled to counter. Their first drive after Buffalo's opening TD march resulted in a three-and-out. The Jags followed that with a long field-goal drive, an interception and a punt. Meanwhile, the Bills were scoring at will.
The game got away from Jacksonville quickly, and so might its season.
"It's just one of those times where we don't have any momentum," Lawrence said after the game. "It seems like everyone takes their turn on making a bad play at the wrong time, including myself. It seems really difficult to go forward. Can't find that rhythm right now, and we all share in it."
Lawrence, who signed a massive $275 million extension in the offseason, will surely shoulder much of the blame for the Jags' 0-3 start and awful evening in Orchard Park. Pitted against Allen, the signal-caller was unimpressive, taking four sacks and finishing 21-of-38 passing for 178 yards, a third-quarter TD and an awful interception, on which he overthrew Brian Thomas Jr. on first down. He was replaced by backup Mac Jones with 7:45 left in the game.
Duval finished with just 239 total yards, averaged 3.5 yards per play and converted just two of 13 third-down attempts.
"At the end of the day, when we step on the field, we've got to make the plays. I think that's what we're lacking right now," Lawrence said. "We're in position to do it, and we're not doing it."
What was once a promising and highly anticipated campaign in Jacksonville is quickly souring, as the Jaguars slip out of playoff contention. Jacksonville has now lost eight straight games with Lawrence at quarterback dating back to last season when the team crashed out of an AFC South title. Now, the Jags will be lucky to stay competitive in a division led by the ascending Texans.
In the offseason, owner Shad Khan said the 2024 Jaguars were the "best team [ever] assembled" by the organization and that "winning now" was the priority. Three weeks into the regular season, Jacksonville is winless and arguably a worse team than last year's collapsing outfit.
Jacksonville does have a great opportunity to turn its season around in the upcoming weeks with back-to-back games against AFC South rivals Houston (2-1) and Indianapolis (1-2). Turning two against C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson could flip the Jags' season and the division on its head. But that would require Jacksonville to put together a complete performance, something that wasn't on display in close defeats to Miami and Cleveland and wasn't even a possibility Monday night in Buffalo.
"No one's going to feel sorry for us. This is who we are right now, and it's not very good," Pederson said. "We've got to be honest with ourselves and I've got to be honest with myself and just keep plugging away."
Added Lawrence, "No one's coming to save us."
