The Jacksonville Jaguars are trying to do something that sounds simple and almost never is: shake off a losing image.
That kind of reputation does not disappear because of one nice season, even one that ends in the playoffs. The Jaguars have made the postseason in just five of the last 26 seasons, and that kind of track record sticks with a franchise. It’s why the default reaction around teams like this is usually caution, not belief.
The good news for Jacksonville is that there are signs of real momentum. Liam Coen is in place as a young head coach with plenty of promise, James Gladstone is an even younger general manager, and the roster is bringing back 20 starters from the 2025 playoff team. On paper, that looks like the kind of foundation that can change a franchise’s direction.
But paper doesn’t erase history. The Jaguars have already lived through the kind of collapse that makes people hesitate.
The 2017 team got painfully close to the Super Bowl, then fell all the way back to missing the playoffs and finishing last in the AFC South the next year. That’s the version of Jacksonville people remember when they hear optimism.
If the Jaguars are looking for a blueprint on how to change the conversation, the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions are the cleanest examples.
Buffalo spent 17 years, from 2000 to 2016, out of the playoffs and carrying the baggage of four straight Super Bowl losses from the early 1990s. Then the drought ended in 2017, and Josh Allen arrived in 2018.
Since then, the Bills have made the playoffs in nine of the past 10 seasons, with Allen guiding them there seven times in eight years, missing only as a rookie. For younger fans, Buffalo has become a winner first and a cautionary tale second.
Even so, the story still feels unfinished without a Super Bowl title. The Bills reached the AFC Championship Game in 2020 and 2024, and lost both times at Kansas City.
Detroit has climbed a similar ladder. The Lions went 11 seasons, from 2000 to 2010, without a playoff appearance and 31 seasons without a playoff victory from 1992 to 2022.
Dan Campbell has changed the tone there, producing a winning record in four of his first five seasons, with the lone losing year coming in his first. The Lions still are not an NFL Blue Blood, but they’re taken far more seriously than they used to be.
That’s the level Jacksonville is chasing.
The cautionary examples are easy to find, too. The Browns, Jets and Raiders remain the poster teams for wasted potential and damaged credibility.
Cleveland has been an embarrassment for decades, with bad draft decisions, awful trades - Deshaun Watson is the headline example - and just one playoff win since 1995. The Jets have mostly been irrelevant since the 1960s, with only those back-to-back AFC Championship Game trips in 2009 and 2010 standing out against a mostly empty backdrop since Super Bowl III.
The Raiders have not won a playoff game since 2002, when they lost to Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII, and in the 23 seasons since then they’ve reached the postseason only twice, losing in the wild card round both times, in 2016 and 2021.
Then there’s Miami, a franchise that has fallen even farther than people usually realize. The Dolphins last won a playoff game on Dec. 30, 2000, against the Colts.
Since Dan Marino, their quarterback history has been thin enough to sound like a movie credits roll - “Key grip Cleo Lemon? Special effects editor Ray Lucas?”
Over the past 25 seasons, Miami has reached the playoffs five times and lost in the wild card round each time. That’s a remarkable drop for a team that once stood alone as the NFL’s only undefeated team to win a Super Bowl in 1972, and now hasn’t won a playoff game since “What Women Want” was the No. 1 movie at the box office.
Jacksonville wants the opposite story.
To get there, the Jaguars need more than a one-year pop. Back-to-back playoff appearances would help, especially since it would be their first such run since the Clinton administration.
But even that probably isn’t enough to rewrite the franchise’s image. A real shift would take something closer to a five-year stretch like Detroit’s, or even a 10-year run like Buffalo’s.
Trevor Lawrence has to be part of it, too. The 2025 season can’t be a one-off. He needs to become the kind of star quarterback everyone expected when he came out of college with a Heisman Trophy and a national title and stepped into the league.
That is a big ask. But it is possible for a franchise to change the way it is seen.
Younger fans come in without the old scars, and they build their opinions on what happens now. If Jacksonville keeps winning, the old reputation starts to fade.
It starts in 2026. The question is whether the Jaguars finally move up the ladder, or get shoved right back into the league’s bargain bin.
In Other News...
Jaguars Defense Has A Week 1 Concern Fans Can't Ignore
Anthony Campanile enters his second season running the Jaguars defense with something this staff has wanted for a while: continuity. There is still plenty of adjustment ahead, though, because the secondary is getting a new look with Travis Hunter and Antonio Johnson moving into starting roles, and new defensive pass game coordinator Mathieu Araujo bringing a different coverage scheme into the mix.
The bigger early concern may be what happens behind them. Jacksonville has to replace Devin Lloyd after his departure in free agency, leaving Ventrell Miller and Branson Combs to take on more responsibility at linebacker, while the pass rush still leans heavily on veterans Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen with a young group of backups behind them. On paper, the pieces are there, but the Jaguars will find out quickly in Week 1 whether all of those moving parts are ready at once. [Read more 🡒]
Travis Hunter Just Changed A Big Jaguars Week 1 Debate
The Jaguars first unofficial depth chart for Week 1 offered an early glimpse at how they plan to use Travis Hunter, and it comes with a notable twist. After spending most of the conversation around him as a receiver, Hunter is now listed as a starting cornerback and a backup wide receiver, a sign that Jacksonville is already adjusting its plans based on the shape of its roster on both sides of the ball.
For a team trying to sort out its wide receiver depth while also tightening things up defensively, Hunters placement could matter in more ways than one. His usage may end up influencing not just how the Jaguars line up in the secondary, but also how snaps are distributed in the passing game as the season gets underway. [Read more 🡒]
Browns Already Have A Week 1 QB Issue Jaguars Fans Should Note
The Browns have settled on Deshaun Watson as their Week 1 starter against Jacksonville, but the quarterback picture behind him already looks more fluid than a clean depth chart. Shedeur Sanders is expected to back him up, and the Browns also carried rookie Taylen Green onto the 53-man roster after placing Dillon Gabriel on injured reserve, keeping a young arm in the mix as they head into the opener.
Todd Monken did not sound like a coach intent on keeping Green parked on the sideline for long. He said the rookie could see some playing time in the season opener, praising Greens athleticism and intelligence while also stressing that he still has skills to refine. For the Jaguars, it is a reminder that Week 1 could feature more moving parts at quarterback than the usual opening-day matchup suggests. [Read more 🡒]