2011 Jacksonville Jaguars season


The 2011 season was the Jacksonville Jaguars' 17th in the National Football League. It was also their ninth season under head coach Jack Del Rio, but he was fired on November 29 after going 3–8 in the team's first 11 games and replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. Del Rio finished his tenure in Jacksonville with an overall 69–73 record in the regular season and 1–2 in the playoffs. He was also just 4 wins shy of surpassing his predecessor, Tom Coughlin, as the winningest head coach in Jaguars history. The Jaguars had hoped to improve on their 8–8 record from 2010, but exceeded their loss total in Week 13, and were officially eliminated from postseason contention. With the 10th pick in the 2011 NFL draft, they selected quarterback Blaine Gabbert from the University of Missouri, and Gabbert would replace Luke McCown as the starting quarterback in Week 3.
The 2011 season saw a dramatic increase in production from the Jaguars defense. This was due in part to offseason acquisitions Dwight Lowery, Dawan Landry and Drew Coleman in the secondary; linebackers Clint Session and Paul Posluszny; and defensive linemen Matt Roth and John Chick. The development of players such as Terrance Knighton, Tyson Alualu, and Jeremy Mincey also helped improve the pass rush. Even after suffering a multitude of injuries, the Jaguars defense managed to finish with the sixth-ranked overall defense in the NFL. Jacksonville's offense, however, was not as efficient. The Jaguars finished last in the NFL in passing yards and total offensive yards gained in 2011.

Offseason

Undrafted free agents

PlayerPositionCollege
Armon BinnsWide receiverCincinnati
Cameron BradfieldTackleGrand Valley State
Cole BrodieCornerbackSouth Dakota State
Greg EllingsonWide receiverFIU
Matt EstradaSafetyNorthern Arizona
Tommy GallardaTight endBoise State
Wade GraysonGuardArkansas
Brandon HarperGuardDuke
DuJuan HarrisRunning backTroy
T. J. HeathCornerbackJacksonville State
Dontrelle InmanWide receiverVirginia
Jalil JohnsonCornerbackJackson State
Andrew LewisDefensive tackleSyracuse
Mike LockleyLinebackerFlorida Atlantic
Scott LutrusLinebackerUConn

Preseason

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1August 11at New England PatriotsL 12–470–1Gillette Stadium
2August 19[2011 2011 Atlanta Falcons season|Atlanta Falcons season|Atlanta Falcons]W 15–131–1EverBank Field
3August 27at Buffalo Bills1–2Ralph Wilson Stadium
4September 1St. Louis RamsL 17–241–3EverBank Field

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 5: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

The loss ended the Jaguars' seven-game home winning streak against the Bengals and marked their first home defeat to Cincinnati since the 1995 season.

Week 14: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers


Awards and records