It’s not too late for the Jacksonville Jaguars to turn things around. Far from it. Even after back-to-back losses to start December, the Jaguars are still 8-5 and out in front of the AFC South with tiebreakers in their back pocket to boot.
“The sky is not falling,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Monday. “Obviously yes, we haven’t played our best football the last two weeks and we’ve gotten beat. … You look around the league and multiple teams have had back-to-back losses or more. This time of year is where teams begin to separate, you start to get a better picture or a clearer picture, at least, of the postseason.
“For us, it’s a matter of just continuing to focus on us, be us, be who we are, control the things that we can control. At least go out and not try to lose another football game, if possible.”
Veteran defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot echoed that sentiment later Monday.
“We’ve got four more weeks, another month. We’re definitely still optimistic, we’re 8-5,” Smoot said. “There’s no need to panic, we’re still in a good place. We just need to figure out the problems that are happening and communicate more as a team. We all just need to get on the same page to be able to make a push for these next four weeks.”
Jacksonville has a tough home game up next against the Baltimore Ravens, owners of the AFC’s best record. But after that, the Jaguars will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, and Tennessee Titans — three teams with losing records — to finish the year. Wins against even two of those teams would likely be enough to secure the AFC South title.
The bigger question is whether the Jaguars can right the ship in time to be a contender in January.
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