The Jacksonville Jaguars have had to listen to a lot of noise during the offseason. After a disappointing two seasons, they changed directions with an entirely new set of leaders. Owner Shad Kahn cleaned house, bringing in new head coach Liam Coen and hiring executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli. He capped it all with my personal favorite, new general manager James "I'll stop with the nicknames soon" Gladstone.
But was it enough? They entered Week 1 bristling with young talent, veteran experience, and buckets of hope and optimism. Now, after dominating the Panthers in nearly every aspect, the league is finally slowing down with the noise, as CBS Sports released its grades for week 1. How'd Jacksonville do?
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CBS Sports grades Jaguars "A" after defense dominates in 26-10 rout
CBS Sports' John Breech gave the Jacksonville Jaguars an "A," with only the Daniel Jones-led Indianapolis Colts scoring higher (did I just say that?). Breech highlighted the offense and defense—both of which played outstanding against a lackluster Panthers—saying, "The Jaguars' rushing attack was nearly unstoppable in this game and that was mostly thanks to Travis Etienne Jr., who rushed for 143 yards on just 16 carries. The Jags defense had its way with Bryce Young with two interceptions and a forced fumble."
We've already talked about how well the offense played, so let's take a look instead at the much-improved Jaguars defense.
Jaguars defense steps up their takeaway game
The Jaguars' defense only had eight takeaways last year—dead last in the league. Week 1 of 2025? Three, not to mention two turnovers on downs. The defense stepped up, and Coen was quick to praise the squad in his post-game conference (4:00 mark): "To get three turnovers—should've been a fourth—and two turnovers on downs? I mean, that's damn good defense."
Even with the great performance, he wasn't about the let the team off the hook for its mistakes, saying (1:10 mark), "Is it perfect? Absolutely not. You're frustrated with some of the penalties that have continued to bite us in the butt, that we did overcome...but that's not something we want to get used to doing. We cannot do those things and expect to win."
Coen wasn't the only one praising the defense's ability to take the ball away. New free agent signing and defensive captain, cornerback Jourdan Lewis, said, "That's the staple of a really good defense—well, a great defense—getting the ball back. We pride ourselves on getting the ball back and being physical. We did a good job today...hopefully [the takeaways] come in bunches."
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Final thoughts
Despite the praise that talking heads and NFL analysts threw the Jaguars' way after the dominating Week 1 performance, the team still has a lot to prove. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence has to play better, and Coen will continue to nitpick until the team gets its penchant for penalties under control.
But 2025 looks promising, and I'm excited to be excited again when Sundays roll around.
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