The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the strongest teams in the NFL's first month of this 2026 season and unlike in previous years, this feels sustainable. Jacksonville have enjoyed and suffered many false dawns in the past. They reached the AFC Championship game in 1999 and that was followed by five seasons missing the playoffs.
They got back to the AFC title game in 2017, coming within minutes of Super Bowl 52. That followed with four straight losing seasons. They reached the divisional round of the playoffs in the 2022 season and what followed was two more missed seasons and the firing of Doug Pedersen as head coach.
But these Jags feel different. They followed up a 13-4 season last year with three out of four wins to start 2026 and they are motivated by Liam Coen, their new head coach. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Coen came on board in 2025 and immediately changed the culture and made this team believe in itself and what he has done is accelerate himself to the very top of the NFL coaching ranks, right up there.
He should be in the same conversation as a Sean McVay and Andy Reid. He won't be Kyle Shanahan yet, but he certainly is moving into that echelon I believe and that will only be helped by further successes this season and beyond. Jacksonville have a real steel about them now because of their head coach.
I've met Coen the last couple of summers, sat down, had long interviews with him. He's a really nice guy, comes across really nice but there's an edge to him. Trevor Lawrence told me during training camp this year that Coen does a great job of instilling that chip on the team's shoulder.
The Jags, by their own admission, left meat on the bone in 2025. They came up short of their expectations given how they were playing at the end of last year so they are a very competent contender as they prepare to take on the Philadelphia Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday. Trevor Lawrence has truly arrived as an NFL star quarterback.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
