The horrible Urban Meyer era was so bad for the Jaguars, but look what's come after

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We’ve written A LOT on Urban Meyer’s incompetence during the 13 games he coached the Jacksonville Jaguars last year. Even with him gone, there are still reminders that he was terrible.

Thank goodness that’s behind the Jags. Because the 2022 edition of the team with Doug Pederson at the helm is so much better, a 6-8 team with playoff hopes (!!!) heading into Thursday night’s matchup against the New York Jets, and Trevor Lawrence starting to truly blossom.

The thought that crossed my mind this morning is hopefully not a hot take: Although it was a bad idea from the start to hire Meyer and waste a year of Lawrence’s rookie contract, it actually turned out to help right the ship.

Perhaps without the disaster that was the Meyer Era, the team might not have realized it needed a coach like Pederson with Super Bowl-winning experience who could get the most out of Lawrence.

Heck, you had safety Andrew Wingard say it out loud back in November: “I’m just so happy for Trevor because he had to deal with Urban Meyer last year as a rookie, and I don’t even know if he had a rookie year.”

Rayshawn Jenkins just said last week that the difference this year is: “Coaching.”

Those two quotes feel to me like a team united around the fact that they survived last year’s disaster and appreciate what they have so much more now.

They’re certainly playing like a team that’s so happy to have Pederson and to be rid of Meyer. So … maybe it all worked out for the best!

Quick hits: NHL team holiday wish list … Pro Bowl snubs … and more.

— Here’s what every NHL team should wish for this holiday season.

— Some Pro Bowl snubs from this year’s announcement.

— Our NFL picks against the spread for this week.

— What an upset for Eastern Illinois over Iowa!