6. Jacksonville Jaguars
Last week: 8th
The Jacksonville Jaguars absolutely embarrassed the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon.
Jacksonville needed to get the bad taste of their loss against the Denver Broncos out of their mouths from last Sunday, and they did exactly that. They absolutely stomped the Patriots to the tune of 35-6, taking advantage of seemingly a million mistakes by Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
Even though it felt like the Jaguars didn’t have to really “do” much with Maye constantly setting them up with great field position or making bad mistakes at the worst time, the Jaguars still had to convert once they got into the red zone.
And that’s where Trevor Lawrence really shined in this game.
And that was really the area this game was dominated by the Jags. They were 5-for-5 in red zone opportunities, and the Patriots were 0-for-3. That included a red zone interception by Travis Hunter, whose playmaking ability was finally on display.
When the Jaguars are executing like we saw on Sunday in the passing game, and big plays are getting made by just about everyone, they are nearly impossible to defend.
5. Los Angeles Rams
Last week: 2nd
Even at 1-2 so far this season, the Los Angeles Rams have losses against the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos, two of the top four teams on this list.
And they've been playing shorthanded most of the first three weeks of this season.
Not to make excuses for a team's results, but the Rams playing without Puka Nacua and Myles Garrett (among others) is rather significant, and they haven't exactly looked bad in all three of their games.
They got smacked around in Week 1 against the 49ers, but that was also a weird environment against a familiar opponent. The team we saw against the New York Giants as well as the 1st half against the Broncos? That's the team we expect the Rams to be most of the year.
This is still one of the league's elite teams, but the pressure is on to start racking up wins in the month of October. They open up October with games against the Eagles and Bills, which will be huge for them getting back above .500 and getting back on track.
It's a long season, so there's no reason to panic about the Rams. But the blown second-half lead against the Broncos was a rough one, and a deflating loss for this team. They've got to prove their mental resolve against another quality opponent.
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