Why a Week 1 Win vs. the Commanders Could Be the Spark Doug Pederson and the Jaguars Need
It hasn't been a long time since the Jacksonville Jaguars won a Week 1 game, but it sure feels like it. The last time they did was 725 days, two head coaches and multiple starting quarterbacks ago.
Will that change this Sunday when the Jaguars travel to face the Washington Commanders? Maybe. Maybe not. But there is no question that the Jaguars' first season-opening win since a scrappy 27-20 win over the Colts in 2020 could be the spark that could help the Jaguars' latest rebuild get off the ground.
"To be able to get a win, to start the season 1-0, I think it would be huge for our team, this city, the fan base, all the way around," Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said on Wednesday.
Lawrence knows all too well what Week 1 could mean for a team. The Jaguars didn't go sideways last year all because of a brutal and mistake Week 1 loss to the Houston Texans -- a game the Jaguars were favored in -- but it did set the tone for what would be a nightmare season.
Would a loss in Washington invalidate the Jaguars' months of progress and work under head coach Doug Pederson, like how last year's Week 1 loss felt? No, not unless the Jaguars come out looking woefully undermanned and underprepared like last year. But a win? A win would give the Jaguars a jolt they badly need after last year's 3-14 season.
"We feel great about our game plan and how we’ve prepared ourselves. But, at the same time, if you lose the first game, you’ve got sixteen more. You can still make the playoffs, you still got everything ahead of you," Lawrence said.
"So, we’re going to take it as we go, and honestly, I feel really confident, so there’s no thought of losing, but there’s no thought of ‘if we lose this game, all the work we’ve done is gone’ that’s not how it works either. So, it’s just about having that mindset.”
The Jaguars will, luckily, be led by a head coach in Pederson who has a history of Week 1 success. Pederson went 4-1 in season-openers in Philadelphia, including a 2-1 record against Washington in such games. The only opener Pederson lost was in 2020 when the Eagles finished 4-11-1, leading to Pederson's firing at the end of the year.
Now, the Jaguars are hoping Pederson can take his Week 1 magic and sprinkle it on a franchise that has lost two of its last three openers.
"Listen, you want to win every football game, there’s no question about that, and you want to do the things we’ve talked about," Pederson said this week.
"You want to take care of the football. You want to create turnovers. You want to be able to run the ball, stop the run. Those things we’ve talked about from day one. I think if you do enough of that in any game, your chances of winning are increased, but we just have to focus on us and make sure we’re doing everything we can to give our players everything they need to be successful on game day.”
The Jaguars' focus is beyond Week 1, but there is zero doubt a win over the Commanders could put a pep in the step of a franchise that has deep scars from two consecutive years as the worst team in the NFL.
Week 1 isn't everything; the Jaguars proved that in 2020 when they won in Week 1 before losing the other 15 games on their schedule. But Week 1 can instill confidence in a young team that, to this point, hasn't learned how to win yet.
“We are definitely trying to get off to that fast start. Everything starts with practice today. I told them, win this practice today," Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun said on Monday.
"You don’t win on Sunday, you win in your preparation, just making sure we’re doing everything right to be in the right positions and then being able to make those plays as the week goes on, then we’ll have the confidence to do it in the game. Definitely trying to get off to a fast start, keep our morale high going into the year. Week in, week out, always trying to win that game. If we come off a win, try to win that next game. We’ve got to be able to stack them. That’s how to be successful.”
