The media often says that good teams find ways to win.
Uh, if that’s the case, then are the Jaguars a good team?
In the last three weeks, the Jags have crushed the Cowboys in Dallas, beat the Texans on a last-second Hail Mary and on Sunday, came back to beat the Browns in dramatic fashion. In their wins over the Texans and Browns, they had leads heading into halftime and in both games they had to use fourth quarter magic to pull out wins.
Down 20-17 to Cleveland with 2:46 remaining in the game, it looked like Jacksonville may be heading for a loss. But Maurice Jones-Drew broke off a 75-yard screen pass to put the Jags on the Browns’ 1-yard line. MJD scored a couple of plays later and after picking off Colt McCoy in the red zone on Cleveland’s final drive, the Jags went on to win, 24-20.
Of course, good teams generally don’t turn the ball over six times like the Jaguars did against the Browns. Yeah they won, but that had to be the ugliest win of any team all year. Phil Dawson also missed two field goals, so who knows how the game would have played out had the Browns’ kicker been more accurate. Shame on Cleveland for not converting the opportunities it had off of the Jaguars’ turnovers, but teams usually don’t win when you throw for a lower yards per pass average and turn the ball over more.
That said, no matter how you shape it, the Jaguars are 6-4. And if the Colts lose to the Patriots on Sunday, then Jacksonville will own first place in the AFC South by virtue of a tie-breaker over Indianapolis.
Their wins appear to be a collection of luck, fluke play and incredible fortune, but the Jaguars are winning nonetheless. If they can figure out a way to keep winning, they won’t need to answer whether or not they’re for real. Their record will speak for them.
