The Jacksonville Jaguars are going into their bye week with a two-game lead in the AFC South, with dominant wins against the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots, as well as close wins against the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles. Their two losses came against the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans, both by one possession.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was a finalist for the MVP last year and is having another strong start to the season. Through six weeks, he has the tenth-most passing yards and the most passing touchdowns. He also has a completion percentage of 65.2 percent and is on track to finish the season with a completion percentage of at least 60 percent for his fourth straight season.
Defensively, the Jaguars have been stellar
against the run, allowing the fewest rushing yards and sixth-fewest rushing touchdowns. However, the same cannot be said for their passing defense, allowing the third-most passing yards. Prior to their loss to the Texans, they had also held opponents to 20 points or less in every game.
Here is a look at the good, bad, and ugly from Jacksonville’s first six weeks of the season as they look to reset during the bye week.
The Good
Interceptions: Not only is Trevor Lawrence not throwing interceptions, but the defense has also excelled at taking the ball away, especially by getting interceptions. The Jaguars defense is tied for the second-most interceptions out of any team in the NFL and their takeaways are not coming from just one player. Four different Jacksonville players have an interception. Travis Hunter has two of those picks, including one in the red zone against the Texans late in the fourth quarter. After having the second-most interceptions out of any team in the NFL last year, it is good to see the Jaguars continue that trend this season.
Run defense: The Jaguars were the best run defense in the NFL last season and have continued to excel this year. They have allowed the fewest rushing yards and fewest yards per attempt. Jacksonville is also only allowing opponents to have just 72.2 rushing yards per game which is even better than last year. This is an elite run defense that is going to help the Jaguars win a lot of games this season.
Third down conversions: One of the best ways to ensure you get points every drive is to convert on third down. Through the first six weeks of the season, Jacksonville has been one of the best teams in the NFL on third down, converting 47.9 percent of their third downs, which is the third-highest conversion rate in the league. The Jacksonville defense has been fairly stout on third downs as well, allowing the 10th-lowest conversion rate, which helps put the ball back in Lawrence's hands.
The Bad
Lack of sacks: Jacksonville finished last season with just 32 sacks, the sixth-fewest out of any team in the NFL. The Jaguars only have 11 sacks right now, including having just three sacks in the past three games, which puts them on track to finish the year with about the same number of sacks as last season. The 2025 season proved that defense really does win championships and right now, the Jaguars need to improve when it comes to their pass rush. The name of the game is getting after the quarterback, and when that happens, the entire defense benefits.
The Ugly
Penalties: It is not like penalties are a new issue for the Jacksonville Jaguars. They finished last season with the third-most penalties of any team in the NFL. This year, it looked like the Jaguars had addressed this problem, as they only had eight penalties in the first two games combined. They also only had six games against Houston. However, they had 13 penalties in Weeks 3 and 4. The timing of their penalties is also a problem, as Tuten has had four touchdowns called back due to penalties. Not to mention that these penalties nearly cost them the game against the Philadelphia Eagles. As Jacksonville’s coaching staff is looking at what they need to improve during the bye week, limiting penalties, especially at crucial moments in the game, should be on the top of their list.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Good, bad and ugly from the Jaguars’ first six games of the season
