By Hays Carlyon
You are experiencing the lowest moment in NFL history, Jaguars.
Congratulations.
The Jaguars endured their 20th-consecutive loss in a lopsided 37-19 defeat to Tennessee on Sunday at TIAA Bank Field.
- Straight. Losses.
This doesn’t happen to established franchises. Tampa Bay has the NFL record of 26, but that was as an expansion team. That streak by the Bucs ended in 1977, the same year “Star Wars” came out.
The Jaguars have been around 25 years prior to this streak beginning.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan is now 70 games under .500 since buying the team in 2012. He’s 41-111 counting a 2-1 playoff record.
Khan just can’t get it right. Unfortunately, it appears the situation is tracking that way again.
First-year coach Urban Meyer has made mistake after mistake in an 0-5 start.
There were plenty on Sunday, ending a game week that started with Meyer having to apologize for his conduct after a loss in Cincinnati.
“Desperate for a win, but we can’t worry about the past,” Meyer said.
The Jaguars had a first down at Tennessee’s 5-yard line down 31-19 with 10:55 to play. They never gave the ball to running back James Robinson (149 rushing yards). Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called three passes. Lawrence scrambled for four on third down.
That set up a fourth-down-and-1 situation. The Jaguars gave the ball to journeyman Carlos Hyde (who missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury). Hyde lost 4 yards and center Brandon Linder was hurt on the play.
Game over.
“I just met with Bev and we talked about it,” Meyer said. “I don’t micromanage who’s in the game. I should have — James is running really hard, but so is Carlos. I’ve got to go find out if something was dinged up with James on that situation.”
Robinson was fine.
What about sneaking it with Lawrence?
“He’s not quite comfortable with that yet,” Meyer said. “We’ve been practicing that. I know that might sound silly, but when you’ve never done it, it’s something that we need to continue to make that, so you can make that call in that critical situation.”
The 6-foot-6 Lawrence said he is comfortable running the sneak.
“I feel comfortable,” Lawrence said. “Obviously, I haven’t really ran it before in a game, but I feel comfortable. It’s something we’ve worked. … A QB sneak is something we can all get to and I feel comfortable with.”
What should be holding the team back, a rookie quarterback, is actually one of the few positives. Lawrence continues to play well.
Meyer and his staff continue to botch the kicking game. Matthew Wright missed an extra point and a field goal. The Jaguars have missed all four field goal tries this season and are 9 of 12 on extra points.
Defensively, there were numerous breakdowns in coverage with some playing man and others playing zone at times.
“Kind of asked that same thing on the sideline, and we’ve got to get that corrected,” Meyer said. “I see the same thing you see. I see a defense that sometimes plays outstanding, elite football, like the first half against the Bengals and the latter part of the game of the one we just played. But then we’re putting pressure on the quarterback and the guy is wide open. That was a miscommunication. It was man coverage, and the guy didn’t cover his man. It’s that simple.”
The Jaguars defense through five games isn’t showing growth. They have allowed nine rushing touchdowns. Titans star running back Derrick Henry, a phenom at Yulee, ran for three on Sunday.
Opposing quarterbacks have combined this season to complete 73.5 percent of their passes, throwing for seven touchdowns with one interception for a passer rating of 115.5. There are only three quarterbacks as of Sunday afternoon with a higher passer rating with at least 50 attempts this season: Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes.
Meyer hasn’t fixed anything and shows little signs that he can be the answer Jaguars fans need.
The 21 players the Jaguars have drafted over the last two years are making minimal impact outside of Lawrence.
The Jaguars have to beat Miami in London on Sunday. The Dolphins have lost four in a row.
The schedule is brutal after the bye week.
The Jaguars aren’t staring at NFL infamy.
They are living in it and will be until this streak ends.
They own the worst losing streak in NFL history for a non-expansion team.
Other than Trevor, there’s little hope.
Meyer continues to be a massive bust thus far.
(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow on Twitter @HaysCarlyon).