NFL power rankings Week 8: Jaguars rise after three-phase win over Patriots in London | Sporting News

The Jacksonville Jaguars avoided a complete disaster in London, rallying from an early 10-0 deficit against the New England Patriots with 25 unanswered points.

Could the Jaguars three-phase, 32-16 win over the Patriots at Wembley Stadium be a turning point for their 2024 season?

It has to be, especially with the iron of Jacksonville’s schedule coming up. The Jaguars’ next  five games — vs. Green Bay (5-2), at Philadelphia (4-2), vs. Minnesota (5-1), at Detroit (5-1), vs. Houston (5-2) — should ultimately decide their standing in the AFC’s pecking order. 

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence played his most efficient game of the season, the Jags got a special teams score on Parker Washington’s 96-yard punt return, and the defense held New England out of the end zone in the second and third quarters.

PARKER WASHINGTON. 96-YARD PUNT RETURN TD.

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How high should the Jaguars rise in power rankings after their second win in three games? NFL analysts and writers weighed in on Monday morning:

NFL Power Rankings Week 8: Jacksonville Jaguars

Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: No. 28 (up 2 spots)

Iyer: “The Jaguars got off the mat in London for Doug Pederson to save his job — for now. There’s no rest with a brutal NFC stretch back on American soil against the Packers, Eagles, Vikings, and Lions.”

Taylor Wirth, NBC Sports: No. 27 (no change)

Wirth: “The Jags are playing better, as is Trevor Lawrence. Tank Bigsby and Brian Thomas are two young players they should lean on moving forward.”

Peter Dewey, Sports Illustrated: No. 27 (up 3 spots)

Dewey: “I don’t want to give the Jaguars too much credit for beating New England, but Brian Thomas Jr. is looking like a star in his rookie season.” 

Matt Johnson, Sportsnaut: No. 29 (up 2 spots)

Johnson: “Congrats to the Jacksonville Jaguars for winning a game they had no business losing. As bad as the Jaguars are this season, Trevor Lawrence at least has go-to offensive weapons (Brian Thomas Jr. and Evan Engram) along with a solid supporting cast (Christian Kirk and Tank Bigsby). We’re not going to give much credit to the Jaguars defense for this one, given the opponent. As for Doug Pederson, his days are still numbered.”

Lou Scataglia, NFL Spin Zone: No. 24 (up 8 spots)

Scataglia: “There are few teams in the NFL who needed another win as badly as the Jacksonville Jaguars did on Sunday. This team had the benefit of spending an extra week in London compared to their opponent – the Patriots – and they took advantage by putting 32 points on the board and maybe reigniting some hope for the remainder of this season. The AFC South has seen some crazy second-half surges the last couple of seasons, so who’s to say that the Jaguars can’t get it done again here in 2024? Jacksonville doesn’t have much room for error at this point, but getting a blowout win and putting up some nice numbers in the process was really important for them before they return stateside. If the Jaguars can’t figure out a way to really turn things around this season, we could see this team be in the head coach market to try and get all of these pieces they are so heavily invested in back on track.”

Consensus: No. 27