After what has undoubtedly been the biggest off-season in Jacksonville Jaguars history, they were officially able to kickoff the brand new season Sunday afternoon. This off-season, the Jaguars hired former Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson, who spent the most guaranteed money in a single free agency period with over $157 million dollars, and brought out 12 new starters on both sides of the ball.
On the road versus the newly named Washington Commanders, Jacksonville got off to a nice start on the opening drive, going 60 yards and getting an early 3-0 lead. The remainder of the first half went scoreless as the Commanders stole all the momentum with the intense home crowd. Carson Wentz led the Commanders to 14 consecutive points before halftime with touchdowns to rookie Jahan Dotson and veteran Curtis Samuel.
The Jaguars came out of the locker room in the second half with a much more physical approach to the game and looked like they were going to run away with the victory.
During their first four possessions of the second half, the Jags scored 19 unanswered points, which was set up by two interceptions by both former Georgia Bulldogs, Travon Walker and Tyson Campbell. The Jaguars led the Commanders 22-14 with 11:45 remaining in the 4th quarter prior to Washington rallying back late.
Thanks to a 49 yard touchdown by Washington’s Terry McLaurin, and the game sealing TD by Jahan Dotson with 1:46 remaining in the game, the Commanders sealed the game. However, the Jaguars had their opportunity down 22-28 to put together a potential game winning drive. The Jaguars couldn’t get the job done late as Trevor Lawrence threw his first interception of the season on third down to seal the victory for Washington.
The Jaguars had their opportunities to put this game away and convert points in the redzone but failed to do so consistently. Doug Pederson attempted a two point conversion early in the 3rd quarter and failed. Both Zay Jones and Travis Etienne dropped touchdowns in which the drive resulted in downs. And Trevor Lawrence overthrew both Marvin Jones Jr and Travis Etienne in the first half.
There were still a lot of positives to take away from this game if you are a Jaguars fan. Both James Robinson and Travis Etienne averaged a combined 7.5 YPC, Christian Kirk and Zay Jones combined for 12 catches for 182 yards in their Jaguars debut, and number one overall pick Travon Walker finished with a sack and an INT in his NFL debut.
Luckily for the Jaguars, the entire AFC South went winless in week one of the new season and this division appears to be up for grabs. The Jaguars will look to bounce back in Week 2 at home versus the Indianapolis Colts, who have not won a game in Jacksonville since 2014.
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