Jaguars named one of the most statistically ‘unlucky’ teams of 2022

The Jacksonville Jaguars should have more than three wins, given their performances on the field. The Jaguars have the seventh most offensive yardage through the first 10 weeks of the season and the 12th fewest points allowed.

On an almost weekly basis, Jacksonville has had a chance to win and, more often than not, the team has come up short.

According to Bill Barnwell of ESPN, those difficulties can only be chalked up to bad luck. In a post published Thursday, the Jaguars were listed by Barnwell as one of the most unlucky teams of 2022:

There’s a universe in which the Jaguars are this year’s Giants or Jets. They have held fourth-quarter leads in seven of their 10 games. They’ve been favored to win by ESPN’s win expectancy model for at least one fourth-quarter play in eight contests, with the losses to the Chiefs and Eagles as the exceptions. The other teams that fit that criteria are the Bengals, Dolphins, Eagles, Titans and Vikings, and they’ve gone a combined 27-5 in those games. The league as a whole is 148-58-2 in those moments. The Jags are 3-5.

…Second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence is too good of a player to make subpar decisions near the goal line. He’ll get better. Whether you want to chalk this up to variance or player development is up to you, but I would expect the Jaguars to score more often the next seven weeks.

While other “unlucky” teams on Barnwell’s list haven’t had fumbles bounce the right way, it’s tough to say misfortune is the reason the Jaguars are 3-7. Jacksonville has blown opportunities to score game-winning touchdowns and it has given up leads when the defense is asked to make a crucial stop.

The Jaguars are a statistical anomaly in that they keep snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but that’s not the fault of the football gods.