1-2 and a Sliver of Hope

On a day when the NFL's most dominant team of the past decade got drilled by one of the worst and several more games went down to the last play, Jacksonville's Josh Scobee experienced a little deja vu as he nailed a 51-yarder (the last time the Jags beat the Colts it was a 53-yarder that won it) to help the Jags knock off the Peyton Manning and the Colts at home. Both teams surprisingly stand at 1-2 behind the unexpected division leader, the Tennessee Titans, at 3-0. 

In what was as close to a "must-win" as week 3 can be in the NFL, the Jaguars got the job done against a team that many picked to be playing in Tampa this upcoming February. Manning played a mediocre game, throwing two picks (one of which was returned for a touchdown) but did orchestrate what would have been a game-winning 77-yard touchdown drive in barely over a minute.

The Jags' defense once again looked sluggish early, allowing a touchdown on Indy's first drive of the game that looked easy. The Colt's offense moved the ball throughout the game, but Manning uncharacteristically missed some open receivers and his All-Pro receivers returned the favor with some drops. In fact, one could argue that Indianapolis's sloppy offensive play kept the Jaguars in the game during the first half. 

Meanwhile, the Jags found their ground game (both Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for over 100 yards) and David Garrard finally looked like the QB he was last year, completing 16 of 22 passes but without a touchdown. The Jax receiving corps has yet to impress (with Jerry Porter already banged up and Dennis Northcutt leaving the game with an injury) as RB Jones-Drew caught the most passes for the most yards on a variety of screens. At one point, the Jags drove the ball 82 yards in 12:18, draining most of the fourth quarter and finishing it with 3 points by Scobee.  

While both teams need to play with some urgency, neither team is panicking and life does get a little easier for both of them in the upcoming weeks. Jacksonville plays Houston next week while Indy rests and then plays the same struggling Texans team the following week.