Back
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are living the good life.
The Jaguars are 6-2 through eight games, are entering a mini bye week after a gritty road win and some tough injuries, and their Thursday Night blowout of the Baltimore Ravens puts them square in the mix for the AFC's top seed.
“I was extremely proud of their process throughout the week. I told the guys it was one of the best short weeks I’ve been a part of in terms of their preparation and their detail," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said after the 33-10 win. "We didn’t have a ton of guys looking lost tonight. You just had a lot of guys just business-like, doing their job, and had some individual performances of guys making plays."
In today's Shipley's Dozen column, we take a look at why the Jaguars are the NFL's most dominant team through the first half of the season, trade deadline takes, and much more. Remember: Shipley's Dozen comes out the morning after each Jaguars game.
There is pretty much zero stat that doesn't reinforce the fact that the Jaguars have been the NFL's most dominant team since Liam Coen was hired. They are 19-6 in that span, and of their six losses only one of them has been by multiple scores. The Jaguars have lost as many games in London as in Jacksonville. They have outscored their last two opponents 75-17. They will not have the NFL's best record after Week 9, because that will belong to the Buffalo Bills or Minnesota Vikings. But they are the NFL's most dominant team.
Simply put, blowouts do not happen at the NFL level the way they have happened with Jacksonville over the last two seasons. It was their fourth win by 20-plus points in 2026, while no other team even has three such wins entering Week 9 Sunday. It was also the fourth time the Jaguars held their opponent to 10 points or fewer in 2026, the most such games in the NFL. Consider some of these other stats:
The Jaguars went with a two-man platoon to replace injured star nose tackle Davon Hamilton on a short week. The Jaguars had Matt Dickerson make the start at the spot next to Arik Armstead, with third-round rookie defensive tackle Albert Regis getting his most playing time in a game to date as his backup. The duo played 22 snaps against the run before the game got out of hand and the backups were put in, and honestly the rotation was closer than I anticipated it would be.
Out of those 22 snaps, Dickerson played 13 to Regis' nine. It is worth noting, though, that Dickerson took the first four snaps of the game at nose tackle and after that point, him or Regis more or less rotated at an even pace. Neither was Hamilton, of course, but they each had some positive reps, including Regis having his biggest flash in the NFL yet with a tackle for no gain on Derrick Henry. They still need to add someone, but they had a good night.
https://t.co/JVwmWxMKfp pic.twitter.com/6AwEV48qsm
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) November 6, 2026
I have covered Trevor Lawrence his entire career, and I have seen him make some absolutely bonkers passes in the past. I mean, even during the Urban Meyer year and the lost 2024 season, he was making at least one or two pass a game that made you think this guy could get a completion at any area of the field when he was on. He has clearly had a lot of highlight throws this season during an MVP-like run, but this one he had to Brenton Strange between three defenders broke my brain.
RIDICULOUS tight window throw here from Trevor Lawrence. pic.twitter.com/3eHN5FGfl5
— Chris Cooper (@ChrisCooper_NFL) November 6, 2026
For most quarterbacks, this wouldn't be a good decision. For most quarterbacks, it would not even be a thought that enters the mind. But Lawrence isn't most quarterbacks, because he has proven he can make these sicko throws at a high rate. He is playing out of his mind right now, and I think we just saw the most impressive pass of his entire season.
Liam Coen was wrongly passed over as Coach of the Year last season. He would have to fend off media darling Ben Johnson and his epic trick plays to win it this season, but that doesn't matter as much as it matters that Coen has quickly become one of the best head coaches in the NFL. Coen, Johnson, Kyle Shanahan, Mike Macdonald, and Sean McVay look like the five best coaches in football right now, putting them in whatever order you want.
What makes Coen and the Jaguars unique is that they have proven they can win different ways. They have aired it out, leaned on the run, leaned on three-receiver sets, leaned on 12 and 13 personnel. They are a different team every week, but the results stay the same. That says as much about their dominance under Coen as anything else.
If you go purely off metrics, Thursday was the worst single-game performance by the Jaguars' ground attack during the Liam Coen era. The Jaguars had just 77 rushing yards, rushed for 2.6 yards per carry, did not have a run go over six yards, and had the worst cumaltitve rushing EPA of any Jaguars game during the Coen era. It was also the first game this season the Jaguars also did not have a single run of 10 yards.
Why was the running game so rough? Perhaps due to Bhayshul Tuten not being 100%, perhaps due to the line, perhaps due to the fact the Jaguars went into chew the clock mode early. Perhaps it was all of it, and perhaps it was none of it at all. The simple fact is we have not seen the Jaguars running game look that lifeless down-to-down at any other point, so I would not quite call it a concern.
The Jaguars will enter the final weekend before the trade deadline knowing what they need and who they want. It does take two to tango, though, and the Jaguars should root for a few different results to convince teams to become sellers. Losses at the trade deadline can often inspire change, and the Jaguars should hope these three teams lose in Week 9 and start a fire sale: the Philadelphia Eag,es (Moro Ojomo), the Carolina Panthers (Derrick Brown), and the Arizona Cardinals (Roy Lopez, Budda Baker).
That the Ravens ... didn't even really try? I get the screens. I even get the Wildcat stuff, though perhaps not to that extent. But they didn't call anything other than the one shot play to try to pick up first downs and score touchdowns. The Jaguars put this game away when they went up 17-3, and it never looked like Jesse Minter's team wanted it after that. The Jaguars went into their stadium and bullied them into unplugging their controller and turning the Xbox off.
The Jaguars getting annoyed with the rain. The Jaguars have played in a ton of rainy games this season, and it has certainly had its impact. Liam Coen said after the game that he would have liked to pass the ball more, but the conditions forced the Jaguars, and the Ravens, to play a sloppy, ground-based game where most plays felt like theywere just running into walls. The Jaguars need a dry game for once.
Bhayshul Tuten. After not practicing in the days leading up to the game due to a foot/ankle injury he sustained last week against the Colts, Tuten was the lead work horse for the first 2.5 quarters of the game on Thursday. He showed some real grit and toughness to fight through it the way he did, and he got another touchdown on top of it.
This is more of an AFC South preview this week since the Jaguars are entering Friday as the only team to have played thus far. The Jaguars could have as big of a lead as four games by the end of Sunday afternoon depending on how the slate of games play out, and the big hope this weekend should be a knockout blow to the Houston Texans.
The Texans would be more or less done for good at 2-6, though they are facing an 0-7 Chargers team that looks like the biggest mess in the NFL. The Chargers have to win eventually, so maybe this is the week, but it feels unlikely. The Colts will play the Dallas Cowboys in a game that would drop them to 2-7 with a loss, but they have already waved the white flag on the season.
As for the Titans, who the Jaguars play next week, they are on a bye. The Sunday rooting guide in terms of the AFC South will more or less come in the form of the Chargers actually trying to look like a team, though stats like this make it tough to believe it happens.
The #Jaguars have scored 103 points in their last three games.
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) November 6, 2026
The Los Angeles Chargers have scored 99 points during the 2026 NFL season.
It is a bit early to think about Week 10 ... until it isn't. The Jaguars will hit the road again in nine days to face the Tennessee Titans in their third AFC South battle of the season. The Jaguars are 1-1 in AFC South play after a close loss to the Houston Texans in London and a complete blowout of the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8. And as far as most things go, the Jaguars and the Titans are living in two different realities as teams right now.
The Titans have of course played better as of late, knocking off the Colts a few weeks ago and taking the Cincinnati Bengals down to the wire. But Liam Coen and the Jaguars are on a different level than the Titans talent-wise on both sides of the ball, especially in the wake of the Jeffery Simmons trade. We will see if the Jaguars look any different as a team by then, but for now the Jaguars' next game looks like a great chance to become 7-2.
Back
Top
| Privacy Statement Terms of Service Contact |
Refresh
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Football Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Football Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.