The Jacksonville Jaguars enter their Week 7 bye with a sour taste in their mouth after losing to the division rival Houston Texans.
Still, the Jags are in the driver’s seat in the AFC South. They’re feeling good about where they’re at through a third of the season.
“We strung together some good performances,” safety Eric Murray said Tuesday. “I think the biggest thing going forward is just hitting on consistency and getting back to what we do on a more consistent basis. Not necessarily putting ourselves
in bad positions where we can’t make plays and going off of that but just being more consistent. We are 4-2 at the bye, it’s nothing to be going crazy about. It’s just lock in and keep going.”
As Week 7 approaches, we rounded up the latest NFL power rankings to get a sense of how the Jaguars are viewed nationally.
Pro Football Talk: 4 (last week: 3)
From Mike Florio:
They’re finally getting a return on the Travis Hunter investment.
ESPN: 5 (5)
From Michael DiRocco:
Penalties have cost the Jaguars three touchdowns, including a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs by running back Bhayshul Tuten. It happened again in Sunday’s loss, with a questionable holding call on tight end Brenton Strange. The Jaguars didn’t get points on that possession because QB Trevor Lawrence threw an end zone interception two plays later. Jacksonville did score touchdowns after the other two penalties, against New England and Cincinnati, but it finally caught up to them in a three-point loss to the Texans.
NFL.com: 5 (5)
From Nick Shook:
The Jaguars’ high-scoring loss to the Texans at Wembley Stadium was one of the best games of the season so far. Two division rivals battled for four quarters, and the Jaguars erased a 10-point deficit, but they had to still be irritated as they flew home from their two-week trip after a last-second defeat. Travis Hunter’s emergence should be monitored going forward — his two-way ability is finally adding significant value to the Jaguars’ larger equation.
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Bleacher Report: 7 (5)
From Kris Knox:
Jacksonville features an elite run defense and boasts an offense that can match points with anyone when Trevor Lawrence is taking care of the football. That could be enough for the Jags to control the AFC South and push into the postseason with plenty of momentum. However, it’s fair to wonder if Jacksonville can corral top signal-callers in January.
The Athletic: 7 (5)
From Josh Kendall and Chad Graff:
Fantasy focus: Trevor Lawrence. The Jags quarterback is outperforming his draft position by more than 50 spots. He went off the board an average of 86th, but he’s 22nd in scoring (19.0 ppg) through six games. Lawrence’s EPA per dropback this season (0.20) is nearly twice his career high, and Jacksonville lost Sunday despite a four-touchdown, one-interception performance from its leader on offense.
USA Today: 7 (5)
From Nate Davis:
CB/WR Travis Hunter played a season-high 71 snaps Sunday, quite a few of them impactful, and the Jags lost − through no fault of Hunter, who’s played nearly every defensive snap the past three weeks. Still trying to find his sweet spot, but we may finally be near it. Same can’t be said for WR Brian Thomas Jr.
Sports Illustrated: 8 (2)
From Conor Orr:
It’s hard to penalize the Jaguars that much for a shootout loss to the heating-up Texans. But if Travis Hunter can do this and this in the same game, and we can inch him on the field more after possibly trading Brian Thomas Jr., I like the ceiling for this team.
CBS Sports: 8 (5)
From Pete Prisco:
They have to do a better job rushing the passer if they are to be a deep-playoff team. They have to make a move to get somebody at the trade deadline.
Fox Sports: 8 (5)
From Ralph Vacchiano:
The Jaguars’ offense is finally starting to click, but their 34-31 loss to the Texans in London should be a wake-up call that their defense isn’t everything they thought it was. Maybe they were just tired from a long couple of weeks in London, or maybe the Texans are just starting to roll. But even Houston’s disastrous running game managed to put up 114 yards on the Jags. The good news for them, though, is they have a really soft schedule coming out of the bye week, including games against the Colts and the Giants and two meetings with the Titans. So the Jags have a good chance to get back on their roll.
Yahoo Sports: 9 (5)
From Frank Schwab:
The Jaguars looked very good through four weeks, but the London trip was not great for them. They were very lucky to escape with a 1-1 record on the trip, thanks to Philadelphia’s game-management error gifting Jacksonville a last-second field goal to win. Their defense had a big letdown against Houston as it allowed C.J. Stroud to pick apart the Jaguars. Instead of knocking the Texans out of the AFC South race, Houston now lingers with an easy four-game stretch of its schedule coming up. It was a very disappointing outcome for a team that looked like it was one of the few to look like a trustworthy contender after the season’s first month. Still, a 4-2 start isn’t a bad outcome, and the Jaguars don’t seem concerned.
Where would you rank the team, Jaguars fans? Let us know in the comments!
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