The Jacksonville Jaguars’ season reached new heights of mediocrity on Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Jared Goff broke out with 412 air yards and four touchdown passes in a dominating 52-6 victory at Ford Field in Detroit.
This crushing defeat of the Jags (2-9) against the Lions (9-1) could have disastrous consequences for the future of the team’s head coach Doug Pederson.
Before the meeting, the journalist from NFL Network Ian Rapoport had confided that team owner Shahid Khan could make drastic changes within the coaching group and the team’s staff.
This 46-point defeat is the worst in franchise history, surpassing a 44-0 defeat suffered in 1995 against the same Lions.
However, things started relatively well for the Jags. Cam Little made a 59-yard field goal on Jacksonville’s first offensive drive of the game.
However, it didn’t take long for the chain to arrive for the Jaguars. The Lions scored four unanswered touchdowns to take a 28-3 lead. David Montgomery reached the end zone twice, while Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown scored the team’s other two touchdowns in first half.
After seeing his ground game dominate the first half, Goff decided to have a little fun in the second half of the match. He threw touchdown passes to Brock Wright, Jameson Williams and St. Brown. With his team ahead, Goff gave way to Hendon Hooker in the fourth quarter.
Limited to seven one-point conversions since the start of the game, precision kicker Jake Bates made a 54-yard field goal to allow the Lions to score 52 points for the second time this season.
St. Brown had its best game of the season with 11 receptions, 161 yards and two touchdowns. The star receiver has scored at least one touchdown in eight consecutive games. Williams added four catches for 124 yards.
In addition to his two touchdowns, Montgomery had 95 total yards in the game. Gibbs may have reached the end zone once, but he did even better with 124 total yards (69 rushing and 54 passing).
Unfortunately for the Lions, this victory was tarnished by an injury to an important player. Star linebacker Alex Anzalone will miss six to eight weeks of activities due to a broken forearm. The Lions were also without Sam LaPorta for this game, who is nursing a shoulder injury.
Big changes coming to Jacksonville?
So it wouldn’t be surprising if Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke are replaced, based on information obtained by Rapoport.
The Jaguars have a bye week next week and the timing would be good. The team is in last place in the American Association South Division.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has struggled since the start of the season, after signing a 5-year contract extension worth US$275 million in June.
Injured, Lawrence was not in uniform for a second consecutive game. Mac Jones got a second start and didn’t put up a great performance. He had 138 passing yards and had one interception.
Pederson is 20-24 in just over two seasons at the helm of the Jaguars, who he led to a division title and a playoff appearance in his first campaign in 2022. The club has maintained a record of 9-8 in 2022 as well as 2023.
Quarterbacks coach Mike McCoy would be most likely to replace Pederson on an interim basis if the Jaguars make a change. McCoy was the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers from 2013 to 2016.
