Jaguars owner still cannot believe team missed playoffs last year after epic collapse

Lost in the shuffle of what was a great postseason was how the Jacksonville Jaguars somehow weren't a part of it. The 2022 AFC South champions entered 2023 as a top-eight team in the NFL, fresh off one of the greatest comeback wins in postseason history vs. the Los Angeles Chargers, as well as a halfway decent showing against the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Jacksonville started the 2023 campaign off with an 8-3 mark. Unfortunately, injuries and what have you culminated in a disastrous 1-5 record in their final six games. At 9-8, Jacksonville somehow missed out on the playoffs with the upstart Houston Texans winning the division with a rookie quarterback in C.J. Stroud and a first-time head coach in DeMeco Ryans. It was quite unbelievable.

In the months since, Jaguars owner Shahid Khan still cannot believe his team missed the playoffs.

"You fail as an organization. I look at it as an organizational failure," said Khan, h/t ESPN. "... When we talk to the players -- Trevor [Lawrence], Josh [Allen], all of these players I talked to -- it's like, 'How could this happen?'"

Even after securing finances for an upgraded stadium, Khan knows last season wasn't up to standard.

"Not to be able to win two out of the last six games, it still stings. Even though the season's over, it's like I still can't believe we couldn't do it."

Even though I am very bullish on Jacksonville entering this season, Houston is going to be a problem.

Shahid Khan still cannot believe Jacksonville Jaguars missed the playoffs

Now into his second decade owning the team, Khan has done his best to get it more right than wrong with this North Floridian-based franchise. It may be in one of the smallest markets in the league, but the Jags have established quite a reach overseas, due in large part to his willingness to play one home game in London annually. It's been great for the sport, as well as for his team's growing brand.

However, the Jaguars aren't just some kind of gimmick anymore. This is a serious football team, one that is dead-set on winning. After the utter clown show that was the Urban Meyer era, Khan hired a savvy Super Bowl-winning coach in Doug Pederson, a man who is respected by everyone in the league. He has helped cultivate Trevor Lawrence's talent coming out of Clemson, but still needs work.

And that right there is the biggest issue I have with the franchise. It has nothing to do with Khan's ownership, Pederson's coaching prowess or Trent Baalke's acumen as a front-office executive. It has everything to do with Lawrence living up to the hype. He was tabbed as the next Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning. Through three seasons, he is closer to early Detroit Lions era Matthew Stafford.

The reason I understand why Jacksonville missed the playoffs is because Lawrence did not step up.