The Jacksonville Jaguars are beginning to earn some serious national attention. Following Jacksonville’s 22-17 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals, a CBS Sports HQ panel featuring Pete Prisco, Damien Harris, and Ran Carthon debated whether the Jaguars are now the most complete team in football.“You could make a strong case that they’re the best team in the league,” Prisco said, pointing to Jacksonville’s defense as the biggest reason for the team’s emergence.
The Jaguars are currently 3-1 after bouncing back from their Week 2 loss to the Denver Broncos with wins over the New England Patriots and Bengals. Prisco noted that Jacksonville had opportunities to win the Denver game as well, before letting a 10-point second-half lead slip away.
"They
blew the game at Denver, had a 10-point lead in the third quarter, should have won that game," Prisco said. "But you look at it. They dominated the Browns, who were 3-1. They beat the daylights out of New England last week, and look what they did this week to Buffalo. And then they go on the road and beat a good Cincinnati team."
Harris added that the Jaguars are also good offensively, and know how to start fast, crediting head coach Liam Coen for how well he prepares his team to win.
They have outscored opponents 61-9 through four games in the first half. You know what that means? Liam Coen has this team ready to go. Trevor Lawrence, when he takes the field, he knows what the opening script is. And so do the skill players, so do the guys up front. Defensively, they know who the go-to guys are. They know what the opponent's drive starters are going to be. They know the game plan, and they go out and execute it. And it shows. To outscore opponents by 52 points in just the first half alone... we've talked about teams like the Denver Broncos who like to play from behind? This is a team who knows how to play the right way. You want to get off to a fast start. You want to make a team like the Cincinnati Bengals have to play from behind. They're doing it the right way. They're starting fast. And when you've got the talent that the Jacksonville Jaguars have, the defense that they have, and you're able to outscore opponents and start the game basically with a 14-point lead, you're going to win a lot of football games, and you're going to be tough to beat when it comes playoff time. The Jacksonville Jaguars are for real.
Carthon also praised the balance Jacksonville has displayed on offense and defense, agreeing that the Jaguars have a legitimate argument as the NFL’s most complete team.
“I think the Jacksonville Jaguars have the best quarterback-defense tandem in the National Football League,” Carthon said.
Carthon pointed specifically to Trevor Lawrence’s play and the defense’s ability to create turnovers, describing the combination as an ideal formula for winning. “The true power dynamic here is how great Trevor Lawrence is playing quarterback, how cleanly he’s seeing the football field, and then he’s got a defense to back it up,” Carthon said.
He also had high praise for Bhayshul Tuten, which is particularly notable considering how much criticism the Jaguars received for trusting Tuten to serve as a replacement for Travis Etienne, who left Jacksonville for the New Orleans Saints in free agency.
"That kid has juice," Carthon continued. "He has juice, and he brings an explosive nature to this offense that they don't necessarily have, right? And so his ability to hit those little small creases, it goes from being a four-yard gain to sometime a 12, a 15, and a 30-yard gain. And a 50-yarder called back today, too. And so he can hit those creases."
Carthon then posed the question of whether or not Jacksonville is the most complete team in the NFL; Prisco readily agreed.
"I don't think you can sit here and say, even though they're scoring defense as number one in the league, I wouldn't say they're the best defense in the league, just on paper. They're playing to that now. But they have the two units," Prisco said. "Some teams have the great offense. Some teams have the great defense. They have two together that are right there near the top. And that probably does, to answer your question, probably does make them the most complete team in the league."
The panel did identify areas Jacksonville still needs to improve. The Jaguars committed 13 penalties for 125 yards against Cincinnati, wiping out several major plays, including a long Bhayshul Tuten run and a Travis Hunter interception. Prisco also pointed to Jacksonville’s lack of sacks from Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, despite the pressure the two edge rushers have generated.
Still, those concerns did little to diminish the larger point. Four games into the season, the Jaguars are no longer simply being discussed as a promising AFC contender. National analysts are beginning to include Jacksonville in the conversation with the NFL’s most complete teams, and perhaps the best of them all.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: CBS Sports analysts say Jaguars may be NFL’s ‘most complete’ team
