An all-encompassing demise
Looking back, so many little and big things went wrong to sabotage the 2023 season.
That’s why pinning an inordinate amount of blame on anybody — GM, play-caller, head coach etc. — is a foolish exercise. Everybody in all phases had a hand in this demise.
One Jaguars insider had maybe the most succinct description of the team’s decline down the stretch, calling it “death by a thousand cuts.”
While the ax fell on Caldwell and much of the defensive staff, the truth is players are as responsible for getting themselves and coaches fired as anyone.
Virtually the same cast that won the last five games of the 2022 season to gain a playoff berth and reach the AFC Divisional round fell apart one year later.
Blame Baalke, Taylor, Caldwell or injuries all you want, and all were contributing factors, but not moreso than player shortcomings on the field.
Seasons turn for the better or worse on plays here and there. Some are readily apparent in the moment, others not until a division crown evaporates or all playoff hope is extinguished.
The opportunities lost by so much lack of player execution and inexcusable gaffes had little to do with Baalke, Taylor, Pederson or anybody wearing a headset on the sideline or upstairs.
A lot of Jaguars whiffed
How many players on special teams either missed a tackle or failed to take a proper angle on fullback Andew Beck’s 85-yard kickoff return touchdown, which doused the Jaguars’ momentum against Houston in a killer Week 3 loss?
Look at the season-turning 34-31 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. Even with Lawrence sidelined for the last two possessions by an ankle injury, the Jaguars likely win by either Brandon McManus making a 48-yard field goal or backup QB C.J. Bethard’s 43-yard completion to Calvin Ridley in OT not being nullified by an Anton Harrison holding penalty.
Nothing Baalke or Taylor did in those instances altered the outcome, though Caldwell’s defense giving up 354 passing yards to Bengals backup QB Jake Browning certainly didn’t help matters. Neither did those three busted coverages the following week for touchdowns against the Cleveland Browns.
On and on, the Jaguars’ failure in big moments went, but the player culpability was largely minimized by the fans’ wrath directed at Baalke and Taylor.
In the coming weeks, that could amp up again. The Jaguars will essentially fire players by either letting them go into free agency or deciding the price to retain them is too steep. Then the April draft selections will likely put Baalke under scrutiny again.
Sooner or later, almost everybody in the NFL gets sent packing. Eventually, Baalke and Taylor will either get a pink slip or perhaps move on to something better.
For now, the Jaguars must live with the stench of how last season ended and knowing everybody had a part in letting it happen.
So blame Baalke and Taylor all you want. Some of that criticism is warranted. Just don’t forget that players cannot be exonerated.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette