The following is an excerpt from Warren Sharp's 2026 Football Preview. In addition to Warren's deep, detailed write-up on all 32 NFL teams, each chapter features page after page of full-color charts, stats, and heatmaps, as well as penalty analysis from Joe Gibbs. Click here for a full FREE chapter from the 2026 Football Preview.
Penalties are an under-discussed aspect of NFL success and failure. Average teams can become playoff contenders with good discipline, and good teams can become great simply by winning the penalty battle.
Let's look at how the Jacksonville Jaguars performed from a penalty perspective in 2025 and where they can improve in 2026.
Jacksonville Jaguars 2026 Penalty Outlook: Discipline, Flags & Hidden Edges
The Good
- Jacksonville’s offense ranked 32nd as a beneficiary of automatic first downs via penalty in 2024 but skyrocketed into the top 10 in 2025, making them the second-biggest improver behind division rival Houston in this category year over year.
- The Jaguars ranked as the No. 1 penalized team on less punitive second-down plays in both raw numbers and with 35.2% of their infractions coming on this down, far higher than the NFL average of 28.2%. The positive is that it resulted in a below-average 19.8% of Jaguars penalties being assessed on third-down plays, compared to the NFL average of 23.8%.
- Additionally, only 25% of the automatic first downs via penalty surrendered by the Jacksonville defense were on third down. The NFL average is 30.9% in this category.
- The Jaguars were a top-five generator of special teams penalties on opponents in 2025.
The Bad
- The Jaguars ranked fourth in penalty per-game average, an outlier in 2025 for playoff teams. Only three of the top-10 penalized regular season teams advanced to the postseason.
- The Jaguars ranked third in penalty per-game average on the road. That could be potentially problematic this season with only six true home games in Jacksonville and 11 road or neutral games.
- The Jaguars averaged the fifth-most penalty yards per game.
- The Jaguars ranked as a top-three penalized offense in per-game average.
Grade: B-
Jacksonville making the playoffs despite being a top-five penalized team was an outlier performance in 2025.
Only three of the 10 most penalized teams were playoff participants last season, whereas six of the 10 least penalized advanced to the postseason.
Jacksonville faces a much tougher road to repeat as AFC South champions this season, and history suggests regression is in store for this team after a 13-4 campaign in 2025.
With that said, this is a solid team.
More importantly, Jacksonville has the Trevor Lawrence and Liam Coen foundation in place for this season and beyond to build around.
That fact alone ensures the Jaguars will remain in the mix in what looms as a three-way race to capture the AFC South in 2026.
This analysis continues in the 2026 Football Preview
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