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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — The Jacksonville Jaguars‘ 28-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday had a familiar feel. Especially the first part of it.
It’s easy to point to quarterback Trevor Lawrence‘s end-zone interception with less than two minutes to play as the Jaguars’ most critical mistake, but it was another slow start — both offensively and defensively — that doomed the Jaguars. They’ve had to play in catch-up mode often over the last month.
If the Jaguars (2-7) want to string together wins, they have to stop falling behind by double digits and scrambling to make up ground.
Especially with two of the league’s best teams — the Minnesota Vikings (6-2) and Detroit Lions (7-1) — on the schedule the next two weeks.
“It’s been an issue, so it’s something we have to fix,” Lawrence said after the loss to the Eagles. “We gave ourselves a chance to come back and win the game, but we had to have a lot of plays go our way. … We shouldn’t have to do that every week.”
The Jaguars have fallen behind because of turnovers, penalties and blown assignments. Without those early mistakes and slow starts, they could have won at least four more games.
Jacksonville fell behind the Eagles 22-0 thanks to a fumbled punt that led to a touchdown, a sack, a failed fourth-down attempt, and an interception off running back Travis Etienne Jr.’s hands that resulted in another Eagles touchdown.
In Week 8 against Green Bay, Lawrence missed badly on a pass to Christian Kirk and the ball was intercepted, which led to a Packers touchdown in a 30-27 loss.
During a Week 7 game vs. the Patriots, the Jaguars had the ball just once in the first quarter against and trailed 10-0 before the Jaguars went on a 25-0 run that led to a 32-16 victory (the only game they’ve won since Week 5). The Patriots’ touchdown came on a swing pass to running back JaMycal Hasty, who was wide open because defensive end Travon Walker failed to drop into coverage.
In the first half vs. the Bears in Week 6, the Jaguars drove 76 yards and took a 3-0 lead but managed just 35 yards on their next four drives. The Bears went on a 21-0 run before the Jaguars scored their first touchdown in a 35-16 loss.
In each of these games, slow starts in the first quarter have been the culprit. This season the Jaguars average 43.6 yards (31st) and are converting 25% of their third downs (29th) in the first quarter. The number marginally improves if you look at the first half as a whole: 128.4 yards (30th) and 28.9% (31st).
“Those are things that have haunted us this season,” coach Doug Pederson said about the third-down issues.
Unfortunately for the Jaguars, the Vikings and the Lions have top-five defenses on third down in the first half. The Vikings, who the Jaguars play on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX) at home, have allowed a 29.2% third-down conversion rate (second in the NFL) in the first half of games this season.
When asked what could be done to solve the slow starts, Pederson responded with: “Coach better.”
But it’s clearly an execution issue as well, and multiple players have admitted as much.
“It just comes down to shooting ourselves in the foot early,” center Mitch Morse said. “And then our defense has been putting us in great positions and we just have to capitalize. So the unfortunate thing is it is a broken record right now, which is that you have to look at yourself.”
There’s optimism that eventually the Jaguars will get it figured out, Lawrence said.
“Honestly, you feel like you’re going to break through it,” he said. “You’ve had this adversity, and this is the week we’re going to break through it. And we thought this was the week, and didn’t get it done, didn’t finish. So, it is frustrating, but we know it’s going to turn. We have to keep working. That’s all you can do.”
Source: www.espn.com