The Jaguars Super Bowl Window
I’m sure it has happened before so the Jags are really just the most recent example, but I can’t immediately recall a team’s SB window seemingly opening and closing quite as fast as the Jaguars.
They spent several years in team hell, drafting top 5 and never pulling together despite mild expectation. Then they fired Gus Bradley and hired Doug Marrone and suddenly, out of nowhere, the Jaguars became legit. Genuinely legit. It happened so fast that halfway through last season nobody even considered them legit despite mounting evidence. It wasn’t till late in the season that people finally took notice and went “huh…wait are the Jags good?” They were! A punishing rushing attack and brutal defense kept the mistake prone Bortles from having to win games.
They reach the playoffs, beat the Bills, then come out into a shootout with the Steelers and win. This Jags team is suddenly in the AFCCG. They go into Foxboro and against all odds, actually look like they could win this sucker against the mighty Pats. Then a few bad calls, some poor coaching choices, and some mistakes befall the team and the Pats squeak out a comeback win. Make no mistake, the Jags could have been in the SB with just a few things breaking their way that half. They may have even won it. A healthy and hungry Jags D against Nick Foles is a completely different dynamic than the game we got. Instead the Jags end up a prime example of just how much has to go your way to even reach a SB. The Patriots have really screwed our perspective on how difficult getting that far really is.
But there was reason to hope. Bortles had his best season and seemed comfortable in his game-managing role. The defense was returning. Fournette was coming back. The team started strong, beating a woeful Giants but then clobbering the Patriots. They suffered a divisional crapfest loss to the Titans (which could be chalked up to those teams always doing weird shit) and then beat the snot out of the Jets. They looked to be right on track as the AFCS frontrunner and competitor. Then something broke. They lost by 16 to the Chiefs. Fair enough, the Chiefs are a top 3 team. They lost by 33 to the Cowboys, which at the time looked even worse then it does now. They lost by 13 to the Texans, who were suddenly now relevant. They lost by 6 to the under-performing Eagles. They lost by 3 to the surging Colts. They lost in absolute heartbreaking fashion to the Steelers in a game they should have won easily. Now with the ugly loss to the Bills, the Jags are 3-8 with 7 straight losses. They aren’t losing to garbage, but they aren’t winning against mediocrity and two of the teams they actually beat (Jets and Giants) have proven to be complete dumpsters.
They’ve had injuries, but that almost doesn’t count anymore because pretty much every team that misses the playoffs can play that card every year. This team went from legitimate postseason threat to FIRE EVERYONE very, very fast. So was last year the fluke? Or is this year the fluke? Bortles seems to be regular old Bortles again and he can’t win games on his own. They need offensive weapons outside Fournette. Whatever the case is, stick a fork in DUUUUUUVAL as they are toast for now and we can eagerly await next year to see what this team actually is.
I cant quite put my finger on exactly what it is in Jacksonville that makes failure so alluring to the team. We had a phrase on the Podcast which was that, when things look good, inevitably someone will “Jags it up” and fail. Last season now looks an anomaly, and Jalen Ramsey in particular looks like someone who’s mouth was writing checks his body couldnt cash. I have no doubt he is still an absoloute stud at the position but he’s eating a lot of humble pie right now, and since its being served up by Josh Allen, he’s probably eating it in parking lot on a table thats on fire.
Despite their failure this season, the core elements of a team that can make an AFC Championship run are still there. They just need to break their Bortles addiction, admit he’s not good enough, and either draft a top 5 QB or trade for one. Oh and their Wide Receivers need to remember how to catch. Westbrook & Moncrieff are talents (as demonstrated by Moncrieff’s amazing catch yesterday) but pulling off the odd OBJ catch is no use when you need it consistently.
PS : Fournette throws a weak ass punch. If he gets suspended, he should spend the week on the heay bag. That shot didnt look like it could drop Betty White.
That Betty White comment……HA! Seriously though, I agree with you. The Jags are a team built to succeed just looking at the roster. Obviously they need an upgrade at QB and I would really really consider some depth at running back. I’m not familiar with their cap situation but maybe they consider trying to make a play for Bell…? Fournette can be a good running back but the dude has to stay healthy. You can see that may be an ongoing issue with him.
Betty White can bomb, got a chin on her, but still, she is 96 …
That dumb fight took a lot of press away from the real fight… the struggle of the WR and the DB lying on the ground embracing one another. They layed there for like 15 minutes. At one point I began to question whether or not one or both of them were knocked out. Or if they accidentally got stuck on each other somehow. Either way it was probably the second funniest thing to happen this week after that browns touchdown where the runner jumped into the tacklers arms and his o-line pushed them both in from 5 yards out.
I think its love. The truest love between a man and another man that you can find. And there were balls involved. Its already a RomCom, since the Jags season is a comedy and the Bills are the most romanticised team out there thanks to their lunatic fanbase.
The movie will be titled “Jagged Bill”. Its out next Fall.
Good news! They benched Bortles today.
Less good news! They benched him for Kessler.
“Hey you lost a leg in that accident”
“Well at least I didnt lose both legs”
“Yeh, but you lost an arm as well”.
Wow, they just got ISIS’d.
I’ve been having an internal debate as to whether or not the joke on “The Good Place” about the timeline being so mucked up the Jags are good now is more or less funny after their meltdown.
Let’s be honest, that week 2 win over the Pats was their SB.
meanwhile the pats superbowl will be the superbowl
The Jags were a fluke last year
Still got Miami in Week 16, that’ll end the streak if it’s still going by then. The FUCK was that noise last night? #Frauds
I laughed out loud hardcore on this one, Dave. Great comic! Amazing how the simple ones can be so funny.
I thought before the year the Texans would win the division with a healthy DeShaun Watson, and the Jags would miss the playoffs. But I never thought they would be this bad. As horrible as the defense has been, the problem is of course Bortles. The defense can’t get stops, but it doesn’t help when they’re starting drives deep in their own territory because of turnovers. I just hope they don’t steal Will Grier from the Giants in the top 5 of the draft.
I hate sports.
Here we go Brownies! Here we go!
the Bort has been benched
Any team that has to put pools in their stadium to entertain their crowd whilst watching their team play isn’t deserving of a super bowl window.
Honestly, I think putting the ‘crying Jaguar’ from those Jags first-round-pick injury comics from years ago into the last panel instead of the normal one might have worked better.