If someone read my posts about the Jacksonville Jaguars this year, they'd probably think I was bipolar. Hopeful, pessimistic, optimistic, frustrated, depending on the day. But it's actually not me that's biplar; it's the Jags. One week they are beating the Colts or the Broncos and the next week they are losing to the Bills or the Browns (the Browns, really?!!). One week they are losing at the last minute to the Steelers, another week they are surviving the last minute against the Texans.
I suppose that is the common denominator to their season, games going down to the last minute. Their biggest wins and losses are by the same number of points, a mere one touchdown. It seems that they could play the best team in the NFL or at the local Pop Warner park, and the outcome would still come down to the final minutes.
I have not been a Jags' follower long enough to know the real differences between last year's team that looked so good in the playoffs against Pittsburgh and New England to this year's team, a staple of inconsistency (with the exception of QB David Garrard). I guess it's possible that the whole NFL is just a notch better this year, but that's hard to believe. So I guess I just keep coming back to this same conclusion, that Jacksonville's offensive line, receiving corps, and defensive secondary aren't quite good enough.
The season isn't over, and it's even redeemable. But to say that today's game against the Bengals is a "must-win" (I hate the phrase, actually) is an understatement. They pretty much all are from here on out.
P.S. - As I write, the Jags trail 21-3 to the Bengals in the third quarter.
Keywords: Cincinnati Bengals, David Garrard, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL
