The Jacksonville Jaguars were expected to bounce back from the loss to the Seattle Seahawks. However, things haven’t gone the way they surely envisioned against the Los Angeles Rams. Trailing 21-0 before halftime, the Jags haven’t been able to get their offense going, while their defense has offered little resistance.

Simply, Jacksonville cannot stop shooting itself in the foot. And to add insult to injury, the refs are making phantom calls.

Jaguars DB Andrew Wingadr was flagged for unnecessary roughness

The Jaguars punted on their first offensive drive. The Rams made the most of their first possession and proceeded to march down the field. When they were knocking on the Jaguars’ end zone,

NFL analyst Chris Trapasso believes that the call is a strong candidate for the worst of the year already. Similarly, Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union said that the refs made their presence felt with a terrible call. It’s hard to disagree with them.

Adrian Hill’s ref crew makes their presence felt early with a terrible call on Wingard for roughness. #Jaguars

— Ryan O’Halloran (@ryanohalloran) October 19, 2025

Sure, you could make the case that it wouldn’t have matter even if the refs had gotten it right, as Los Angeles would’ve scored anyways. But that doesn’t make it less painful.

That said, Wingard was penalized the following drive for pass interference, so things eventually evened out. In fact, he’s struggled to contain tight end Tyler Highbee throughout most of the game.

The Jaguars cannot sop the self-inflicted wounds vs. the Rams

As of this writing, the Jaguars are showing signs of life, but not enough to keep up with the Rams. At one point in the matchup, Los Angeles had more first downs (11) than they had yards (10). Before the first half, Jacksonville had already committed four penalties for 49 yards. One of them, in particular, cost the Jags six points.

In the second quarter, Parker Washington had a touchdown return that could’ve made the game 14-7. However, an illegal block in the back negated the pay. Later in the same quarter,kicker Cam Little missed a 50-yard attempt, making it now four failed field goals this season.

Simply put, the Jaguars are their own worst enemy, and as long as they don’t fix whatever execution issues they’re dealing with, they’ll continue to struggle.

At this point, the 4-2 start seems like a distant memory. And unless the Jaguars turn things around, it will only get worse. Instead of going into the season with a 5-3 record, they’ll need to take a hard look at the mirror to find out when they lost the plot.