WATFORD, United Kingdom – Senior writer John Oehser, senior correspondent Brian Sexton and team reporter Kainani Stevens offer quick thoughts on the Jaguars as they prepare to play the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium in London Sunday.

John Oehser, Jaguars Senior Writer…

Still critical. We’ve reached the point where the Jaguars must show they can explode offensively. We actually may be past that point, with inconsistency hitting big plays beginning to shape the 2025 season. This need was clear this past Sunday, when the Jaguars’ longest pass play was 26 yards while the Seattle Seahawks hit two “explosive” 61-yard pass plays – one in the second quarter for a go-ahead touchdown and one in the fourth-quarter for a game-clinching first down deep in Jaguars territory in a 20-12 Seahawks victory. The Jaguars’ longest passing touchdown this season is that 26-yarder last Sunday to wide receiver Tim Patrick. A major preseason storyline was that the Jaguars’ offensive explosiveness – particularly wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr., Dyami Brown and Travis Hunter – would make this a dynamic dangerous offense. Instead, the offense has depended on the run. But while a running game is necessary, it’s hard to win in the NFL with all touchdowns on extended, difficult drives. The Jaguars’ passing offense must give the team some easy stuff. That has become critical.
Time to respond. The thought here is Sunday’s game ranks as perhaps the Jaguars’ most important in the first “half” of the season. Part of that is because the most important game in the NFL is always the next game, but this is the Jaguars’ first game this season with a chance to respond to significant adversity. They responded well with a Week 3 victory over Houston after a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Jaguars for the most part outplayed the Bengals and could make a legitimate argument they should have won if not for a questionable fourth-quarter defensive pass interference penalty on Hunter. No such argument could be made about the loss to the Seahawks. The Seahawks led the entire second half, sacked quarterback Trevor Lawrence seven times and at no point did the Jaguars feel in control of the game. The Rams, like the Seahawks, are good and can match the Jaguars’ physicality. It will take perhaps the Jaguars’ best game of the season to win. The first half of the season will be a success whether the Jaguars win or lose Sunday. But winning would say much about this improving team.