JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars thought they were making progress.

Even though they were 1-8 going to London, they seemed to be playing better. They posted their first victory against Cleveland in the seventh game of the year and were competitive in three of their last four losses.

Owner Shad Khan was upbeat in London and backed general manager Dave Caldwell and head coach Gus Bradley.

“It’s very, very encouraging to me,” he said. “I have a huge amount of confidence in Dave and Gus and they’re encouraged. Some of these players are the future of the franchise and they will be with us for a long time. It’s very, very important they mature, but we want them to mature quicker.”

And then those players went out and laid a big egg, They fell behind Dallas 24-7 at halftime and ended falling 31-17. They went into the bye week with a 1-9 record for the third year in a row.

Since Caldwell and Bradley took over, the Jags are 5-21.

What was disheartening was that they reverted to their play earlier in the year with missed tackles, gaffes and turnovers against the Cowboys.

It started when Ace Sanders fumbled a punt early in the first quarter with the Jaguars ahead 7-3. The Cowboys quickly scored to take a 10-7 lead and they scored three more touchdowns before the half.

Dez Bryant had touchdown catches of 35 and 68 yards and the Jaguars missed several tackles on each play.

Even Bradley, who is noted for his upbeat attitude, admitted he was angry at halftime with his team trailing, 24-7.

“I didn’t believe we were playing our best,” he said. “I think it’s OK to have those emotions as long as it doesn’t get out of control.”

Now the Jaguars try to regroup during their bye week. Last year, the Jaguars went 4-4 after the bye.

But it will be difficult to repeat that feat because they have only six games left, including road games against Indianapolis and Baltimore and a home game against the Giants. But they host Tennessee and have two games left with Houston.

They need three victories just to match last year’s 4-12 record.

QUOTES, QUOTE

–After the Jaguars took Luke Joeckel with the first pick in Dave Caldwell’s first draft in 2013, they took defensive backs Jonathan Cyprien and Dwayne Gratz, wide receiver-punt returner Ace Sanders and running back Denard Robinson with their next four picks.

All four made mistakes in the game that raised questions of how good that draft will turn out to be.

Cyrpien and Gratz had problems tackling, notably on Dez Bryant’s two long touchdown passes, Sanders muffed a punt to set up a Dallas touchdown and Robinson killed a drive with a fumble although he also ran for a touchdown.

Caldwell’s goal was to build this team through the draft, but he hasn’t hit any home runs yet.

Rookie quarterback Blake Bortles might make it big eventually, but he’s still struggling.

–The Jaguars were frugal in free agent spending the past two years, but Khan indicated they will be big spenders in free agency next March.

They are currently $29.6 million under the cap according to NFLPA figures.

“We were active this year,” Khan said. “Look at our defensive line, which is pretty good and they’re mostly free agents. We’re going to be very active for a number of reasons. Other teams don’t have the luxury we have. They have constraints and can’t sign everyone. We’ll be on the flip side.”

–Since Tony Romo was playing with an ailing back, the Jaguars thought they could pressure him, but they couldn’t get to him. Romo torched them for three touchdown passes. He could have had more if Jason Witten hadn’t dropped a couple of passes.

“A couple of pressures we ran, they did a good job of protecting it and had some explosive plays,” coach Gus Bradley said. “So we stopped doing that and it calmed down some.”

The Jaguars wound up hitting Romo just three times and didn’t get a sack until there were less than nine minutes left and the question was why he was still in the game. Sen’Derrick Marks got the sack and celebrated although it seemed a bit late to celebrate.

The Jaguars went in with 27 sacks for the season or an average of three per game, but the Dallas line won the day.

REPORT CARD VS. COWBOYS

PASSING OFFENSE: D — Blake Bortles had respectable numbers, completing 22 of 37 for 290 yards and just one interception. But he never got the offense rolling after putting together a touchdown drive on the first series. The next 10 drives, not counting a one play possession to end the first half, produced only 11 first downs, 221 yards and no points.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: D — After three good showings in a row, Denard Robinson was held to 60 yards in 15 carries. He had a 32-yard run for the team’s first touchdown but then was held in check and he fumbled to kill another drive. And Toby Gerhart got just two yards in four carries on was stopped short of a first down on fourth and a foot.

–PASS DEFENSE: F — Tony Romo was playing with a bad back but he riddled the Jaguars for 246 yards and three touchdowns. He hit Dez Bryant with short passes that he turned into 35 and 68-yard touchdown plays when the Jaguars missed several tackles.

–RUSH DEFENSE: F — DeMarco Murray got his usual 100 yards on 19 carries and Joseph Randle added 56 yards on seven carries, including a 40-yard touchdown run. The Jaguars had problems tackling all day.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: F — Ace Sanders muffed a punt when the Jaguars were ahead 7-3 to set up a touchdown and after a poor 38-yard punt by Bryan Anger with 31 seconds left in the first half, Dez Bryant went 68 yards with a short pass for a touchdown.

–COACHING: F — The young Jaguars don’t seem to be making any steady improvement under coach Bradley. They show signs of improvement and then regress. Either the players aren’t very good or Bradley isn’t improving them. And covering Dez Bryant one-on-one with 31 seconds left in the first half was a poor move. Bradley believes in press coverage but he has to adjust the players to the system instead of trying to fit the players into his system.