Can the Jacksonville Jaguars win the division?
The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated division rival Tennessee in heart stopping fashion on Thursday night. Jacksonville wrestled the lead away from Tennessee in the fourth quarter thanks to a 63-yard punt return by rookie receiver Rashad Greene.
This huge shift in field position helped set up a Blake Bortles touchdown pass to Julius Thomas with 3:30 remaining in the game. Jacksonville added a late field goal and held Tennessee out of the end zone on the game’s final play to preserve the lead.
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At 4-6, can Jacksonville use this exciting finish at home to build momentum and actually steal a division title? Looking at the AFC South division as a whole, I think Jacksonville has just as good of a shot as any other team to come out on top. In a quarterback driven league, the Jags probably have the most stable quarterback situation of any team in the division right now.
In my opinion, the Indianapolis Colts (4-5) would be the biggest threat to the upstart Jaguars. However, with star signal caller Andrew Luck currently on the mend with a lacerated kidney and partially torn abdominal muscle, I find it hard to feel confident that 40-year-old Colts’ backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck can hold down the fort for an extended time. Even if Luck does recover from his injury situation, his 74.9 passer rating this season is a new career low. In my view, Luck has seemingly lost his confidence at times this year which has caused him to go into an extended slump.
Nov 2, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers defensive end Kony Ealy (94) knocks the ball away from Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Jacksonville’s other main threat in the AFC South is the Houston Texans who are also an underwhelming 4-5. With a two game winning streak and coming off a shocking win at Cincinnati, Houston happens to be riding high now. However, I find it hard to bet that the Texans can sustain this momentum against tough AFC East opponents like New York, Buffalo, and New England with such instability at quarterback. The Texans will now turn the keys to their offense over to the very underwhelming Brandon Weeden.
As for Tennessee, I believe they are essentially out of contention in the AFC South with a dismal 2-8 record. However, Jacksonville does have one more game against the Titans this season on December 6th. Being that Jacksonville themselves are used to the role of playing spoiler, it would behoove the Jags not to look past a scrappy division rival who will certainly be out for revenge.
That brings me to my next reason to feel good about Jacksonville’s chances to win the AFC South. Besides the Atlanta Falcons (6-3), whom the Jaguars will meet on December 20th, no other team remaining on Jacksonville’s schedule has a winning record at the moment. Furthermore, the aforementioned Falcons contest will be held inside the friendly confines of EverBank Field.
Sep 13, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; A general view of the stadium before the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Also in Jacksonville’s favor is the fact that their offense is finally getting healthy at the right time. Slowed by an ankle injury earlier this season, free agent tight end Julius Thomas is now starting paying dividends in the red zone. Receiver Rashad Greene was recently activated from injured reserve, and running back Denard Robinson has been limited by a knee injury thus far. All three of these offensive weapons played a key role in Jacksonville’s exciting win on Thursday night.
Unfortunately for Jacksonville, their defense hasn’t been so lucky when it comes to the injury bug. Last year’s surprising Pro Bowler Sen’Derrick Marks will no longer be anchoring the defensive line because of a triceps injury that ended his season on November 15th against Baltimore. Despite this setback, Jacksonville has proven that they can still win tough defensive minded games within their division as evident by the 19-13 slugfest against Tennessee on Thursday night.
Head coach Gus Bradley’s tenure in Jacksonville hasn’t always been pretty. In fact, there has been plenty of bumps in the road more often than not. Jacksonville’s embarrassing 51-17 loss to New England in week three is a prime example of that.
However, I feel as though Bradley is starting to leave his imprint on this team and his players have taken to the identity of their coach. This is a scrappy group that has more guts than I thought, and their talent is starting to come to the surface. I don’t expect a Super Bowl championship from this bunch anytime soon, but a division title would be a huge step in the right direction.