For the second consecutive year, the Jacksonville Jaguars are off to an 0-5 start.

A 17-9 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday was the Jaguars’ eighth defeat in a row over the past two years. Last year, Jacksonville began 0-8.

Even so, coach Gus Bradley, noted for his optimistic personality, remains upbeat.

“I will share with you the same message that I shared with our team, and probably in the order that I did it,” he said. “As a team, I truly believe we are getting better. When I look at the team across the board, and I think it’s a credit to our team for their spirit, their drive, their intentions and all of that, there are a lot of good things that we can see.

“I wanted to emphasize to them that point because we can’t lose that part. We’ve got to make sure that we add onto that part and continue to grow in that area. I think that’s really important.”

Bradley mentioned players such as cornerback Demetrius McCray, running back Storm Johnson and defensive end Chris Clemons as players who stepped up.

He then added the downside.

“There were some other guys that didn’t get better or weren’t at their personal best, and that’s the challenge for us to get everybody on board and everybody to get better,” Bradley said. “I want to make something clear, that it’s not OK to lose and that’s part of our culture. It is not OK.

“We set up our culture, we strive to get better, we strive to be our best for the very reason so that we have a chance to be our best so we can get to the objective of winning. It’s that strict, and we believe in the process and we challenge our guys, but I want to make sure it’s clear to them it’s not OK (to lose).”

Although the offense struggled and got just three field goals, the Jaguars appeared to get better on defense against the Steelers. They held Ben Roethlisberger’s offense to 10 points, as Pittsburgh’s clinching touchdown came on an interception.

Jacksonville defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks said, “At it one point, it seemed like we were doing a lot of talking and that nothing was going to happen. We understand we’ve got a lot of young guys and just trying to grow them and make sure everybody’s accountable. I think we did a good job of that Sunday. We didn’t get the victory, but I think we made a big stride.”

On losing by eight points after sustaining double-digit losses in their first four games, Marks said, “I’m not going to say it felt better, but I feel like we played better. We gave up 10 points, and we gave ourselves a chance. It’s better than everybody going out trying to make every play and we end up being down by 30 in the first half.”

That was a reference to the Indianapolis game when the Jaguars were behind 30-0 at halftime and quarterback Chad Henne was replaced by Blake Bortles.

Last year, Jacksonville recorded its first victory in Tennessee and wound up going 4-4 in the second half. The Jaguars go to Tennessee on Sunday, and they hope history repeats itself.

REPORT CARD VS. STEELERS

PASSING OFFENSE: D — QB Blake Bortles completed 22 of 36 passes for 191 yards and was the victim of several drops. He also made two bad throws that were intercepted, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

RUSHING OFFENSE: F — The Jaguars ran the ball only 15 times, although seven times, Bortles changed the play from a run to a pass. He completed five passes on those plays but also was picked off once. RB Toby Gerhart was signed as a free agent to key the running game, but he has had foot problems, and he gained just 9 yards on four carries. Rookie RB Storm Johnson made his debut and showed signs of promise, producing 17 yards on four carries. He went out for a time with an ankle injury but is expected to practice Wednesday. The Jaguars have to find a way to run the ball.

PASS DEFENSE: B — The Jaguars sacked QB Ben Roethlisberger four times and limited him to one touchdown pass. He threw for 273 yards but produced just 10 points. Jacksonville held WR Antonio Brown to five catches, the last one a toss in the backfield with two minutes left so Brown could run his streak to 21 games of five catches or more.

RUSH DEFENSE: C — The Steelers ran the ball 28 times for 111 yards with RB Le’Veon Bell gaining 82 yards on 15 carries for a 5.5-yard average. RB LeGarrette Blount added 29 yards on eight carries.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Josh Scobee kicked three field goals, and Jordan Todman averaged 27.5 yards on two kick returns. Ace Sanders, returning from a drug suspension, returned three punts for only a 4.7-yard average. Bryan Anger had a net average of 41 yards per punt. Jacksonville held Brown to 20 yards on four punt returns.

COACHING: C — The coaches simply don’t have enough talent to work with to judge them too critically. For example, the Jaguars started six rookies on offense. They finished with just 15 running plays because they couldn’t extend drives and Bortles checked out of running plays to call for passes. The most positive thing is that coach Gus Bradley doesn’t appear to have lost the team. The Jaguars played hard despite an 0-5 start just as they did last year when they started 0-8.