The Jaguars beat the Chargers in Week 3, pulling away in the second half of a 38-10 victory with Lawrence passing for three touchdowns and outgaining the Chargers 413-312. The Chargers played that game without wide receiver Keenan Allen and with Herbert dealing with a rib injury.
“They’re different; we’re different,” Pederson said. “That was a long time ago. There are some new faces on their side. There are some new faces on our side. You’re not going to trick anybody. It just comes down to execution, both sides, them and us.”
Pederson added of using Week 3 to prepare this week, “You go back and you watch it and you see, just from an Xs and Os standpoint and personnel standpoint, kind of how we attack them and how they attacked us, both sides of the ball and special teams. Then you kind of look at the whole body of work since, and if there’s anything that’s changed and why it’s changed, and then you put your game plan together that way.”
The Jaguars enter the postseason as a young team, with guard Tyler Shatley the lone player who has played a postseason game with the team. That was following the 2017 season, when the Jaguars won the AFC South and made the AFC Championship Game. Eleven other players have postseason experience with other teams, with Pederson having coached the Philadelphia Eagles to three postseason appearances from 2017-2019 – a run that included a victory in Super Bowl LII following the 2017 season.
“It’s one thing to get through the regular season,” Pederson said. “Last week was a playoff game for us, and we understand that. The physicality and the speed of that game, it’s just going to carry over to this game. Having gone through it now with this team, I think it prepares you for what’s coming next.