Analyst predicts tough start to season for Jaguars, hurting playoff chances

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a difficult start to the 2026 regular season that they will have to navigate. However, SI's Connor Orr believes that the first few games on the schedule will give the Jaguars fits.

>Orr recently put together his 100 predictions for the 2026 NFL season, and at No. 32, he predicted that the Jaguars would start the season 0-3.

>To begin the year, the Jaguars are at home against the Browns, at Denver, and then home against New England. In Weeks 5 and 6, the Jaguars then take on Philadelphia and Houston in London.

"Jacksonville has an interesting and sticky Week 1 opponent, hosting the Browns, before visiting the Broncos and hosting the Patriots," Orr wrote. "Todd Monken is a total wild card offensively, with a wide breadth of plays he can draw upon, and Deshaun Watson may still have a few turn-back-the-clock weeks left in him before age and injury catch up."

The last team to start 0-3 and make the playoffs was the 2018 Houston Texans. Since 1979, only six teams have started an NFL season 0-3 and made the postseason, according to NBC New York.

>So if Orr's prediction were to be true, it would present the Jaguars with a very difficult challenge to overcome.

>Following a 13-win season, many analysts are down on the Jaguars after a quiet offseason and a draft class that went against the grain.

>That said, the continuity of being in the same offensive and defensive schemes for a second offseason can be a catalyst for improved play. Liam Coen has also stressed the importance of having urgency this offseason, so last season's results become the norm and not the outlier.

>This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Slow start predicted for Jaguars in 2026 NFL season