JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Yoav from St. Johns, FL
The 2025 Jaguars are the true embodiment of Bill Parcells' quote, "You are what your record says you are." Should've beaten the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans? Then should've lost to the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.
The Jaguars are 6-4 entering their game against the Arizona Cardinals (7-3) at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Sunday. I suppose there could be a lot of discission over where they "should be" through 10 games, but your interpretation – with an assist from Pro Football Hall of Fame Head Coach Bill Parcells – is correct. Could the Jaguars be 8-2? Sure. And they indeed probably deserved to beat the Bengals and Texans on the road. They also could be 4-6, because they indeed easily could have lost to the Chiefs at home and the Raiders on the road. This is a frustrating game pretty much every NFL team and every NFL fan can play. It's a week-to-week league and you're usually going to have at least three or four "coin-flip" games a season. If you're a good team that makes key plays at the end of games, you're usually going to win a higher percentage of those close games than a bad team. Basically, 6-4 is pretty much the record the Jaguars have earned. And it's a good record. They're in it through 10 games. "In it" is where you want to be in mid-November.
Boxcutter Bill from MA
I know fans are going to fan, and every win feels like we will never lose again, and every loss feels like doomsday. The thing we all have to understand is this is professional football. Every team has flaws. Every team deals with injuries. Every quarterback struggles and misses throws. This team is better than the last few years. I'd even say better than the 9-8 team that beat the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs following the 2022 season. We are going to be playing meaningful games into December. This is going to be fun. Can we all just appreciate that? It has been worse. We have had to endure a lot of seasons that were already over at this point in the year. Go Jags!
I doubt fans will "just appreciate this." I expect carnage, chaos and panic after the next Jaguars loss. Then there will celebration and unrealistic expectations when they win. This is because fans fan. It's what they do.
JK from NY & Fernandina Beach, FL
John. Reflecting on the significance of the Chargers win, I can't but help feeling that the Jags have finally turned the corner fully into the Head Coach Liam Coen era. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence will lead the way towards wherever that path may take us. Is Trevor the right man for the job?
We're going to find out.
Daniel from Johnston, IA
I don't think Trevor is the guy long term. At Year 5, there's enough body of work to say no. That said, unlike other fans, I recognize he IS the best quarterback on the roster this year. The question will be do the GM "Trade Machine" engineer something in the offseason?
The salary-cap ramifications realistically will not allow the Jaguars to trade Lawrence in the 2026 offseason.
CaptBob from Jax
I like the new management and love TL, but how do you go on next year without change at the position?
We're going to find out.
Leo from The Zoo
The recipe for success for the Jags looks pretty evident. Run the ball, play fast and attack on defense, create turnovers and dominate on special teams. When we face a team that stacks the box and stops the run, then what? Then we pass to move the chains and win the battle of field position? C'mon Ozone you know how that turns out, don't you? Then we leave our defense on the field far too long. Special teams misses long field goals, etc. When we go to Arizona this week, they are going to stack the box and stop the run. If they do, do you think Trevor can get some first downs and put points on the board.
Yes, I think Lawrence can get some first downs and put points on the board Sunday. He's a lot better doing this when the Jaguars are running effectively. We saw this at least to a degree last Sunday. The Chargers knew the Jaguars wanted to run. They couldn't stop it well enough and Lawrence made multiple clutch throws in the second half as the Jaguars pulled away. Running at least somewhat effectively has to be at least part of the Jaguars' formula for success. This is true for most NFL teams.
Brian from Round Rock, TX
More and more. I learn that it's coaching. It was always coaching, wasn't it, O? HOPE!!!
It's always coaching in the NFL.
Jim from Hilliard, FL
While I realize that power polls from various sports entities is a fun thing to view, it appears YOURS requires little ingenuity or insight, and is a weak effort most unlike the fanciful answers to most O-Zone mail. Kansas City has 5 losses. "Weekly" power polls should reflect "weekly" ups and downs, unlike YOURS, which moves two teams up or down in YOUR standings. P.S., the Jags are NOT the 17th-ranked team. They are one of 14 teams currently IN the playoffs, should the season be ended today. I suggest you look at Prisco's CBS Poll and follow suit.
This is one idea. What I expect I'll do instead is continue to execute the power poll as I choose, which is to rank teams based on how I see them. My thought is far too many "rankers" rank teams based too much on how they fared the previous week, which from this view seems rather silly and willy-nilly in a week-to-week league. By Week 12 of an NFL season, there should be far less movement than early weeks because we have a better long-term idea about the strengths and weaknesses of teams. If the 32nd-ranked team upsets the top-ranked team in Week 8, would it make sense to move the 32nd-ranked team to No. 1? A final thought: If you want to read something that reads like Pete Prisco's rankings, you might try reading … Prisco's rankings. I hear his are almost identical to his. P.S.: Rankings mean nothing – and I know where the Jaguars rank in the NFL standings.
Jeremy from Gilbert, AZ
Hats off to the Jags. They're finding ways to win despite not having a franchise quarterback. This is really impressive by Coen and Co.
And those little lights keep not twinkling.
Chris from Mandarin
Is it really so much to ask for Trevor Lawrence to have a few 300-yard, three-passing touchdown performances in a season? It seems strange that he hasn't had a 300-yard passing game since the Jaguars played the Baltimore Ravens in the 2022 season.
Maybe one reason it seems strange that Lawrence hasn't had a 300-yard passing game since the 2022 season is he had four since then.
Steve from Nashville, TN
If I had a nickel for every time you said "the NFL is a week-to-week league" I would have a lot of nickels. What makes this sport so variable weekly compared to the NHL, MLB and NBA?
I don't cover the NHL, MLB or the NBA so I don't know what defines those sports on a week-to-week basis. The NFL is week-to-week league because there usually isn't an extreme difference in talent from team to team. It's therefore a league of ebbs and flows and critical moments. Even in a "blowout" such as the Jaguars' victory over the Chargers Sunday, a play here or there could have changed the dramatically how that game felt. The Jaguars, for instance, led by one score – 14-6 – early in the third quarter and faced third-and-12 at the Chargers 44. Lawrence converted there with a 21-yard pass to Meyers, leading to a Jaguars touchdown and a 21-6 lead. Had the Chargers intercepted on that play and hit a big play on the ensuing drive, the Chargers likely wouldn't have played nearly as one-dimensionally as they played the rest of the game. It's quite possible the Chargers could have kept the game closer in that scenario and even found a way to win. This is why NFL coaches like to say that most games come down to four or five plays – and it's one reason why upsets are common and why it's a week-to-week league.
Al from Orange Park, FL
What is Parker Washington's contract status?
Washington as a sixth-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft is signed through the 2026 NFL season.
Hobo from Random Locations
What would it take to get a roughing-the-writer penalty? I have seen the hits you have been absorbing over the years. What is considered unnecessary?
My experience is officials tend to look the other way in this situation.
