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One obvious mistake is killing the jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) have struggled to get off to a fast start this season, playing from behind in almost every game early this season.

In eight games this season, the Jaguars trailed in the first half of six of those contests, including trailing by 10 or more points in the first quarter of five of those games. It's so hard to win in the NFL when you get off to a slow start and fall behind by double digits within the first 15 minutes.

The importance of starting the game with a lead cannot be understated. It gives the Jaguars the opportunity to play looser on both sides of the ball, control tempo and manage the clock, and opens their offensive playbook to a variety of plays to disrupt opposing defensive plans.

For the second straight year, the Jaguars lost 10-0 in the first quarter. They were able to come back all the way and beat the Patriots in Week 7 in London. They weren't so lucky last Sunday, losing at home to the Packers in the final seconds.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson was asked how pleased he is with his team's ability to fight back in games when they fall behind early on. He acknowledged this, but also emphasized how damaging it is to find yourself in such situations so often.

“Yes that's me. “I’m very happy with how we responded,” Pederson said. “You don't want to be down by 10 points, but two weeks in a row we were down by 10 points, but we responded. “The fact that we did what we did at the end to tie the football game, is pretty remarkable considering how many injuries we had towards the end of the game. So that part of it was good, and now we have to kind of carry it over to the first play and go from there.”

A turnaround in the Jaguars' early success could be on the horizon this week as they travel north to play the Philadelphia Eagles (5-2). Although the Eagles gradually improved over the course of the season, they haven't scored a point in the first quarter all year.

Regardless of it being an away game, this matchup will be a great chance for the Jaguars to take an early lead and control the game, something they have failed to do all season.

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