Not many expected Jacksonville to be a playoff contender in 2021. After all, the team’s 1-15 finish in 2020 handed it the first overall pick in the NFL Draft, and even with a generational quarterback talent in Trevor Lawrence, the roster still had shortcomings.
Despite possessing the most cap space in football this offseason, the Jaguars chose to go for largely value signings over splashy moves in free agency, and the results have been mixed so far.
But now, the Jags have their first win of the season under their belt. Lawrence is arguably the best rookie passer right now, and his decision-making has improved tremendously in a short period of time. The team still has a lot of weaknesses, but it’s playing better. With five teams at one win or less and an additional five with just two wins, the Jags could end up being better than a number of teams in the league.
That’s a big improvement after they looked like the league’s worst in the first couple weeks, and coach Urban Meyer said on Monday that the team has no more room to make excuses.
“I feel good about the second run that we’re going to go on here,” Meyer said after coming off a bye week. “[I feel good] about the efficiency. Now we’ve been in the system for a while and the excuse of a new system and the excuse of a young quarterback is all gone because our young quarterback is playing pretty good”
The short-term schedule is tough, as the Jags head to Seattle on Sunday for a dreaded west coast game, and after that, they have games against division rival Indianapolis, who is playing better after a bad start, and another tough game against San Francisco. But with four remaining division games, as well as matchups against the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets, there are a number of winnable games still on the schedule.
Competing for the postseason may not be in the cards for this team, but it has the opportunity to improve considerably on its one-win finish from a year ago.