The Jaguars got the win they needed to make the playoffs against the Titans last Saturday, but it wasn’t because their offense came up with a top performance at the biggest moment.
Jacksonville trailed all night, but Josh Allen returned a fumble by Titans quarterback Josh Dobbs for a game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The offense produced just 222 yards and the running game was limited to 19 yards on 14 attempts against a Titans team that lost seven straight games to end the year. While the defense came up with the big play in the fourth quarter, the offense was limited to negative net yardage in the final 15 minutes.
The Chargers are not coming into this Saturday on that kind of losing streak and head coach Doug Pederson knows the Jaguars offense can’t take another night off.
“I think the offense needs to have a better game than the other night, quite frankly,” Pederson said, via Garry Smits of the Florida Times-Union. “We didn’t do enough. We had opportunities, [but] obviously missed some opportunities. Sometimes games come down to a defensive battle. But I think overall, offensively, as a group, coaches included, [we] need to need to do a little better.”
The Jaguars have waited several years for a chance to be back in the playoffs. Chances are it will be a short stay if the offense plays like it did a week ago.