Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan laid out an expectation for his team a few days before this season started.
“Make no mistake: this is the best team assembled by the Jacksonville Jaguars ever,” Khan said.
Not too long ago, that best Jaguars team assembled would have seemingly been in great hands with head coach Doug Pederson.
When the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles won the only Super Bowl in franchise history, certain truths seemed apparent when it came to Pederson. He was revolutionizing the game by being more aggressive on fourth downs than any coach before him (that has held true). He was a quarterback whisperer who had Carson Wentz on an MVP track and then coached up Nick Foles to an epic Super Bowl MVP run. He was also a top five, at worst, coach in the NFL. He outcoached Bill Belichick in a Super Bowl. That happened. And he was going to be the Eagles’ coach for a long time. That was Pederson’s second season as head coach.
On Sunday, as the Detroit Lions crushed the best team the Jaguars have ever assembled 52-6, which is the worst loss in Jaguars history, those days of Pederson being a star in the coaching industry seemed like a lifetime ago. The loss dropped the Jaguars to 2-9 and might finish Pederson’s time with the Jaguars.
On Saturday, someone leaked to NFL Media that with the Jaguars’ bye week coming up, big changes could be made including firing Pederson. That’s an underhanded way of finding out that keeping your job might depend on winning at Detroit, but at least Pederson knew the stakes. And like just about everything else since that Super Bowl win with the Eagles, Pederson fell short. The Lions were up 28-3 late in the second quarter. Jared Goff finished with 412 yards for four touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. There have been plenty of embarrassing days for the Jaguars this season, but Sunday was a new low. If the season ended today, the Jaguars would have the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. They also look like a team that should be drafting first overall.
“I can’t control that,” Pederson said after the game, via NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero. “Listen, I’ve been around this league a long time. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen obviously. But at the same time, I have a job to do.”
What happened to Pederson? The easiest way to explain it is he caught a hot streak with a really good Eagles roster and a coaching staff around him that had a heck of a season. Philadelphia went 13-3 that season. Pederson is 42-50-1 with two playoff wins in six seasons since.
The longer answer might have to do with the relationship with his players, particularly quarterbacks, since that magical 2017 season. Pederson’s frayed relationship with Wentz was a key reason the Eagles relationship ended so soon after the Super Bowl. Pederson’s relationship with Trevor Lawrence will be dissected, but at the very least it’s clear that Pederson didn’t get the best out of a quarterback making $55 million per season. Pederson seemed to blame the players at times this season, while going out of his way to protect embattled offensive coordinator Press Taylor. That blind loyalty to his staff was another reason he was ousted in Philly and a reason he failed in Jacksonville. The team’s schemes on both sides of the ball seemed stale. Lawrence was injured and didn’t play Sunday, and Mac Jones hasn’t covered himself in glory in either start replacing him. But it’s not like there was much creativity to help him. And the Jaguars’ defense gave up plenty of points to Detroit.
In February of 2018, it seemed impossible to think that a little more than six years later Pederson could be out of chances as an NFL head coach. He looked like a Sean McVay or John Harbaugh, a championship coach who would be a fixture in the NFL for a long time. Then, as quickly as he seemed to figure out the NFL in Philadelphia, the game suddenly passed him by.
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 11 of the NFL season:
Anthony Richardson: However the Indianapolis Colts got to the point they did Sunday with Richardson, they had to be thrilled at the results.
Two games after an awkward benching, the Colts turned back to Richardson following Joe Flacco’s struggles. And Richardson played his best game of the season and perhaps his best game as a pro, completing 20 of 30 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown, two rushing touchdowns and leading a go-ahead drive late to beat the New York Jets 28-27.
Richardson’s benching was criticized and looked bad when Flacco played so poorly. If that helped Richardson refocus and play like he did Sunday, it will be worth it.
Sam Darnold: It’s simple for Darnold. If he doesn’t turn the ball over, he can be an effective quarterback.
Good Darnold showed up Sunday. After turning it over six times the past two weeks, Darnold was back on track against the Tennessee Titans. Darnold played an efficient, interception-free game in a 23-13 win over the Titans. Darnold lost a fumble but it didn’t cost the Vikings in what would have been a bad loss for them against a terrible Titans (2-8) team.
It will be hard for the Vikings (8-2) to catch the Lions (9-1) in the NFC North, but they still look like a wild-card team. They’ll need Darnold to keep playing like he did on Sunday to get to the playoffs.
Matthew Stafford: Stafford hasn’t had the best season. He has been inconsistent. Last week he didn’t play well in a loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Stafford had one of his good days on Sunday. He had four touchdown passes and the Rams kept their playoff hopes alive for at least another week with a 28-22 win over the New England Patriots. Stafford’s touchdowns included two to Cooper Kupp, one of which went for 69 yards.
It hasn’t been an easy season for the Rams, and the loss to the Dolphins was a huge setback for their postseason chances. But if Stafford is starting another hot streak, the Rams have hope.
Darren Rizzi: Last season, Antonio Pierce got a chance to be the Las Vegas Raiders’ interim head coach. He won a few games, won the fans over with his energy and got hired as the team’s permanent head coach. It’s every interim coach’s dream scenario.
Rizzi, the New Orleans Saints’ interim coach, is 2-0 and has to be feeling pretty good. The Saints played well Sunday in beating the Cleveland Browns 35-14, with Taysom Hill scoring three touchdowns to lead the way. Rizzi’s energy has already gotten positive attention for his energy on the sideline during games. We’ll see what the Saints (4-7) do after the season, but if Rizzi wins enough games he’ll at least get some consideration. That’s all an interim coach can ask.
LOSERS
Antonio Pierce: Speaking of Pierce, his turn as the Raiders’ permanent coach isn’t going that well.
The Raiders look overmatched just about every week, and did again in a 34-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins. They’re 2-8 after the loss. Some of that is the Raiders being far below average at quarterback no matter who they’re playing. That doesn’t explain everything. Las Vegas was competing hard for Pierce last season when he was the interim coach, after he took over for Josh McDaniels. It doesn’t look like a team that is competing at that level this season. It’s not like the Raiders have a long-term commitment to Pierce.
Lamar Jackson’s MVP case: Jackson has been incredible this season. But quarterbacks on teams that don’t win their division don’t often get MVP votes.
The Pittsburgh Steelers got a huge win in the AFC North race on Sunday. Their defense did a fantastic job containing Jackson and the offense produced enough field goals to win 18-16. The Ravens got a Jackson-to-Zay Flowers touchdown with 1:06 left but Jackson was stopped on a run attempt to his left on the 2-point conversion and the Steelers held on.
The Steelers are 8-2 and the Ravens are 7-4. Baltimore still has plenty of time to rally and win the division. Jackson’s hopes at winning a third MVP award might depend on it.
Matt Eberflus: Sunday was the kind of win that might have given some hope for Eberflus keeping his job as head coach in Chicago.
Like the Denver Broncos last week, when they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs on a blocked field goal as time expired, the Bears lost when a 46-yard field-goal attempt was blocked on the final play. The Bears fought hard in their first game after firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron but lost 20-19, their 11th straight loss to the Packers. The Bears, and Eberflus, could have really used that win over their rival.
One of the turning points in the game came in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-3 at the Packers’ 49 with less than five minutes left, Chicago took a delay of game and then punted. Going for it could have helped put the game away. That decision allowed the Packers to drive for the go-ahead score, with the key play being a long catch by Christian Watson that looked like it might have hit the ground as he made the grab. The Bears drove into field-goal range but didn’t try to get much closer than the 46-yard attempt, letting the clock run before trying it on the final play. That was another regrettable decision.
Eberflus has had many questionable decisions the past few weeks. His performance Sunday will be picked apart too.
