If you had told the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday morning that they would hold Justin Jefferson to less than 60 yards, sack Sam Darnold three different times and not score a touchdown, the Jaguars probably would have expected for a win that can change the season.

Instead, the Jaguars suffered perhaps the most maddening and frustrating loss of the 2024 season thus far.

This time, it came in the form of a 12-7 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, which saw the Jaguars drop their third game in a row. It was the third straight week the Jaguars lost by five points or fewer, and the Jaguars’ sixth one-score loss in 2024.

That inability to win when games come down to the wire has haunted the Jaguars all season. Now, he has doomed a coaching staff and a front office, shocking a team with playoff hopes to their core.

“I never expected us to be here. We’ve had five or six games, it’s one-score games. It’s tough. As a team, as coaches, we go hard, too hard,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the loss. “And the boys are frustrated and they should be; and they are angry, and they should be because we all are. But we have to channel it in a positive way and prepare for another one.”

This time, the loss came as a result of an anemic Jaguars offense that was without its star quarterback. Despite the Vikings giving the Jaguars chance after chance to take over the game, the Mac Jones-led offense fumbled all but one.

“It hurts him. He takes it hard. I just told him, again, it’s not about one guy. This is a team thing and offensively we haven’t done enough around Mac — and I’m not — listen, it takes 11 men.” Pederson said of Jones.

And for what felt like the first time this season, the Jaguars offense completely and utterly let down the defense. Normally, the two sides take turns. This time, the Jaguars defense forced three turnovers that held the offense to zero points.

“I feel like I lost a battle, a good fight, a good fight, but you want to come out on top. So how do I feel? Pretty upset. Gotta find a way to win these close games,” the linebacker said Jaguars Foyesade Oluokun. .

“The same message throughout the game, even when it comes down to low-scoring games, there are little games you have to win that we didn’t win to help our team win. So we have to find that throughout the game.”

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