JACKSONVILLE – Senior writer John Oehser, senior correspondent Brian Sexton and team reporter/producer Kainani Stevens offer quick thoughts on the Jaguars as they prepare to play the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona in a 2025 Week 12 game Sunday.
John Oehser, Jaguars Senior Writer…
Go for two. The NFL comes at you fast, and the Jaguars' task this week is to quickly follow one of their most dominant victories in memory with another strong – and winning – performance. The reality is while their 35-6 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday was impressive, it will lose some importance if they can't turn it into a playoff push. The Jaguars played with memorable intensity against the Chargers, motivated to show that they weren't the team that lost a 19-point fourth-quarter lead in a loss to the Houston Texans the week before. They used that intensity to dominate all four quarters in all three phases against a good team. That's a difficult task in the NFL and an equally dominant performance Sunday is unlikely. But they must show Sunday they can play at a winning level in consecutive weeks and turn a memorable victory into a stretch that keeps them solidly in the playoff picture. That's attainable for this team and Sunday is a crucial moment to prove that's true.
Getting there. A trend is developing for the Jaguars, one that could bode well as December approaches. That trend is the Jaguars' offense, which has gradually found its footing in the first season under Head Coach Liam Coen, is showing serious signs of growth in three games since a Week 8 bye. Consider: The Jaguars have scored 30, 29 and 35 points in the last three games – a 30-29 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, a 36-29 loss to the Texans and a 35-6 victory over the Chargers. The Jaguars scored on their final six possessions against the Raiders and scored touchdowns on four of five possessions against the Chargers. The offense at times in the Texans game, particularly in the fourth quarter, but still scored 22 offensive points against the No. 1 defense in the NFL. The Jaguars don't feel close to a finished product offensively, but that the unfinished version is starting to produce on this level gives you a good feeling moving forward.