JACKSONVILLE – Let’s get to it …

JK from NY & Fernandina Beach, FL

John. Mile High is a tough environment, but it felt like the Jags were not prepared to play their best. The Jags regressed and did not play up to their potential in any phase of the game. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix was too comfortable and Jacksonville did not have did not have an answer on either side of the ball. The Jags lost composure and looked rattled. Was this the worst loss since Week 7 last season against the Rams in London?

This seems a bit of an overreaction, but what is a Monday Morning post-loss O-Zone without a little overreaction? The Jaguars indeed did not play well in a 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., Sunday afternoon. They squandered a 13-3 third-quarter lead, managed just 115 second-half yards and never could get a solid drive offensively in a second half in which the Broncos took over momentum in what for them felt like a very important game. Yes, Mile High is a tough environment – one of the NFL’s toughest. It’s particularly tough in a big game – and after a one-sided loss to the Kansas City Chiefs the previous Monday, this felt really big for the Broncos. And they absolutely played like a motivated team. None of which meant the Jaguars weren’t prepared to play. And one loss after a nine-game regular-season winning streak does not mean there was a “regression.” Was this the Jaguars’ worst loss since Week 7 to the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium in London last season? Perhaps. They only have lost two other games since, with each – a loss to the Houston Texans in the regular season and a loss to the Buffalo Bills in the postseason – decided in the final two minutes. The Broncos were kneeling at the end of Sunday’s game, so maybe this was worse than those two. Whatever. This Jaguars team is good. I expect they will respond well because that’s what they typically have done under Head Coach Liam Coen. They play host to the New England Patriots at EverBank Stadium Sunday. Buckle up.

Whelp, there goes the undefeated season.

The Jaguars will not go undefeated in 2026. There was, of course, only the smallest chance they would go undefeated – a chance so small as to not be a chance at all. What matters is how they respond. This team has been very good at responding under Coen. I will be very surprised if it doesn’t respond well now.

Not Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown’s best game. Here’s to thinking he will shake it off and be ready for the Patriots.

Well, our elite quarterback looked pretty pedestrian the second half of that game. That interception thrown perfectly to a wide-open Denver defensive back turned that tide of that game and we never recovered. What happened to T-Law in the second half? He looked nothing like the elite quarterback we have been seeing since last year and even first half of this game.

The Jaguars never in their history have had an elite quarterback. This perhaps is why many fans and O-Zone readers believe “elite” means never making a mistake and always throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns. This is not remotely the case. Lawrence during the Jaguars’ nine-game regular-season winning streak that ended Sunday was remarkably productive and very close to mistake-free. That is not the norm, even for elite quarterbacks. They have bad throws. They have games in which things don’t go right. What makes them elite is such games don’t happen often and they recover to play well when they happen.

Well, I guess that will wrap up the MVP talk. Don’t know too many MVPs that go 1-7 with a pick to finish a close, winnable game.

A seven-point loss in September to a good team does not define any player’s season. Sunday will not define Lawrence’s season.

Draft, develop and re-sign your great players, right? It’s a good thing we re-signed Devin Lloyd.

It will be easy whenever the Jaguars lose and linebacker Devin Lloyd plays well, which I understand he did Sunday, to believe the Jaguars should have re-signed Lloyd this past offseason. That belief is not shared by the Jaguars.

Mike from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

A 10-point lead in the third quarter and a seven-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Make it past the 50-yard line three times in the second half and only get three points. Had the ball when the game was tied in fourth and miss a field goal. And when we were down for the first time in the game (and season), we get only one first down, punt away, and the defense couldn’t get off the field. SAME OLD JAGS!!

Mark from Orange Park, FL

Why is Rodriguez getting first-down carries? Doesn’t seem to be working out!

Jaguars running back Chris Rodriguez gets carries when he does because he and running back Bhayshul Tuten are both important to the offense, and because runs in some situations set up plays in other situations. Not every play goes for 15 yards or more. This is professional football, not the Southeastern Conference.

Last week I wrote it was a great collective win in all three phases. This week it was the exact inverse. Week to week league.

Just when you think this is the year we have been waiting for, the Jags find a way to not live up to the hype. I knew I should not have sprung for NFL Sunday Ticket.

A great man once said, “This is professional football, not the Southeastern Conference.” The last unbeaten team in the NFL was 54 seasons ago, and teams that win Super Bowls usually do so with two-to-four losses. The Jaguars didn’t play well on Sunday in Denver and they lost on the road to a team that lost three regular-season games last season. This is the sort of loss that happens in the NFL. Even to good teams.

All the bad things happened in this game. Things I thought we had gotten past. BTJ drops, T-Law forcing bad throws, the offensive line getting whooped at times and the pass rush being a complete no-show. Oh yeah and Cam Little missing his first kick in a long while. At least I don’t have to worry about the Jags peaking too early.

I wrote in O-Zone Late Night Sunday night that this was a weird game to analyze, and I still feel that way. The things you wrote were true and the Jaguars still found a way to be 10 points ahead after a less-than-stellar first half and early third quarter. As Head Coach Liam Coen put it, they never seemed to get “in sync” in the second half and still were a play or two from having a chance to win against a really good – and really motivated team. My overriding thought after Sunday is that this is still a good team that had a clunky day. I don’t think this means the team that won nine consecutive regular-season games – and that looked dominant in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns – suddenly stinks. Maybe I’m wrong. I doubt it.

What are the contracts’ totals for our defensive ends? Bo Nix looked mighty darn comfortable all day long.

Broncos quarterback Bo Nix had a lot of time Sunday. Too much time, at times. The Broncos’ offensive line is very good and the Jaguars’ defensive line didn’t have a great game.

Just when you think Brian Thomas Jr. was over “the drops,” here we go again.

Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. appeared to have a couple of dropped passes Sunday. One in particular came in a key situation – the game tied 13-13 and Lawrence just having completed a 28-yard pass to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers for a first-and-10 at the Broncos 38. It was a play that gave the Jaguars momentum after they hadn’t had much in the second half. It’s not fair to say Thomas’ drop cost the Jaguars the game, but that was a key play in a key moment that didn’t get made. It hurt.

God only gave us a successful end of the season last year, with a Week One win this year, to further punish us for daring to have hope. And we deserve as much. I haven’t figured out why yet, but all I know is that we deserve this.

The Jaguars didn’t play great and lost to a good, motivated team on the road by a touchdown. It was a tough professional football loss. It was not a punishment from above.