Moeller: Jaguars Victory was More Than a One-Night Football Stand
By Jeff Moeller
(SportsDay Photo by Nancy Beecher/FL Sports Wire)
The tremors that could be sensed and maybe felt from the raucous, white-towele waving 70,000-plus crowd at TIAA Field Saturday night will have some aftershocks all week long.
The Jaguars’ 20-16 victory over Tennessee was a microcosm of their season. There were some growing pains, some blowouts, and finally some meaningful victories.
From a team that was once 2-6 and reeling toward a likely four or –generous – maybe a five-win season, the Jags have come full circle to a 9-8 campaign. It is a turnaround that probably won’t be fully appreciated until the season is over. The rest of the league finally recognized them with a prime-time broadcast.
This was a year that went from lap dances for a head coach to fans deliriously dancing in the parking lots.
Their victory was more than a one-night football stand; it was the beginning.
It’s real, and it’s far from over. Good teams have role players and have their share of timely plays along the way. Fate and luck play themselves into the picture.
Don’t think so? Just ask the then borderline pathetic New York Jets, who won a meaningless game two years ago against the Rams two years ago and allowed the Jags to select Trevor Lawrence. This is the Lawrence who became the Jaguars signal caller to surpass 4,000 yards passing in a season.
Yes, Jacksonville, you have a playoff team for Christmas, and it is your AFC champions. How many of you actually believed the Jaguars could accomplish this? Sit back and smell the garlic crabs and the Mayport shrimp.
It was fitting that linebacker/edge rusher Josh Allen scooped up a fumble and ran it into the endzone for the winning score late in the game. Allen made his presence felt all evening, beginning with a tackle for a loss on the Titans’ Derrick Henry to begin the game.
Allen, who is considered an elder statesman on this relatively young defense, has been criticized for his inconsistent play at times this season, even though he has a team-high six sacks and sixth overall with 57 tackles.
Many expected more, however, from the overall No. 7 in the 2019 draft. Allen was viewed as the leader of this budding defense, and he has quietly proved to have done well in that role.
Role players have helped the Jaguars reach their current status. General manager Trent Baalke often has been overlooked for his work as the architect in the transformation of this team. He started by hiring Doug Pederson, who initially was near the top of the list, but Baalke came back to him at the end.
Baalke drafted linebackers Travon Walker, Devin Lloyd, and Chad Muma this past spring, who have developed into cornerstones, and added key pieces like wide receivers Christian Kirk and Marvn Jones along with, tight end Evan Engram, and guard Brandon Shereff, all of whom fit like the peg in the round hole.
There have been others in the mix, but Baalke and Pederson soldered this roster together that has tightened over the previous 18 weeks. There is a sense of solidness at every position, a sense that hasn’t been here since their last playoff run in 2017.
The Jags will get another shot under the bright lights when they likely host the Chargers –at the time of this writing next week – look for another Saturday night game.
Win or lose, Jacksonville will be alive again with its new-found football frenzy.
And it should be for quite some time.
(Columnist Jeff Moeller covers the NFL and other sports for the Florida Sports Wire and SportsDay.)
