A Requiem for the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars

A much-maligned quarterback in Blake Bortles, an intersection between reality and fiction as a running punchline on NBC’s The Good Place, and an underdog AFC Championship participant bolstered by the top passing defense in all the NFL. All of these things converge, comprised in a singular entity. The 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars.

It wasn’t the first time the Jaguars appeared in an AFC Championship Game, though it was the first time the team took to the field during an NFL playoff game in a decade. Heck, the 2017 AFC Championship isn’t even the first time the Jags played the Pats for a chance at the Super Bowl. Over two decades ago, the 1996 upstart Jaguars led by Mark Brunell faced off against the last quarterback to appear in the playoffs for the Patriots not named Tom Brady, former Pats great Drew Bledsoe.

I’m sure the loss to the Belichick-Brady axis stings for the Jacksonville loyal who, prior to this season endured their franchise’s abuse, both on the field, and in the media. However, when considering what this year’s Jags team was able to accomplish, as well as the bright future ahead of them, there is nothing left to feel but appreciation.

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The Jaguars were a 3-13 squad in 2016, and I’m sure not even the members of the Duval County faithful predicted a playoff appearance. Jacksonville posting a seven-win improvement in 2017 resulting in their first winning season in a decade is an achievement on its own merits, let alone the team demonstratively holding a 10-point fourth quarter lead in an AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium against the greatest quarterback and coach the NFL has ever seen.

Jacksonville was certainly the Cinderella story of the 2017 season, and had the Jaguars not been looking across the field at Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, they’d likely have represented the AFC in Super Bowl LII. The Jags planted doubt in the mind of the NFL’s greatest, and New England showed that Jacksonville could send them reeling, demonstrating far beyond an inkling of vulnerability. Nevertheless, as they’ve demonstrated time and time again, Tom Brady and the Patriots are resilient, uncanny in all of their revelry and greatness.

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Jacksonville’s winning efforts in 2017 began with a new environment, and a new attitude and the entire team went from bottom feeders to sharks in just a singular season, largely in part to the addition of Tom Coughlin as a member of the Jaguars front office. Many veteran Jaguars focus front and center on the decision to bring in Coughlin as Executive Vice President for Football Operations as the move that turned the franchise in the right direction.

These new Jags are youthful, vicious, and savage, not unlike the avatars adorning their helmets each Sunday this season. They are a team built on pounding the football through the ground game and playing stout, unbreakable defense.

#Sacksonville is ferocious in every sense of the word, playing with absolutely no fear, no matter if it’s Tom Brady, or Nathan Peterman calling the signals from across the line. With what might be the NFL’s best corner tandem of A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey, as well as lockdown nickel corner locking down the slot lack any exploitable weaknesses against the pass. Package in Defensive Player of the Year winner Calais Campbell and rotational rusher Dante Fowler Jr. and the Jaguar defense displays frightening speed suffocating for pass-happy NFL offenses. To say the least, the Jacksonville defense is fun, as is watching them tear offenses apart piece by piece.

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The offense, however, is another story. Blake Bortles has long been dejected by NFL pundits and fans alike. Although this is somewhat justified as his tenure as starting quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride, and primarily with more valleys than peaks.

This inconsistency was further bolstered by the 2017 playoff campaign, in spite of respectable numbers overall for Bortles. Blake Bortles played exceptional on the biggest of stages against New England, adequate in an always tumultuous environment in Pittsburgh, and downright awful against Buffalo, only mustering 87 passing yards against a mediocre Bills defense.

Plentiful questions remain regarding Bortles’ competency to lead a team that otherwise appears poised to compete for the mantle held by Brady, Belichick and co. as NFL’s best. Is Blake the quarterback that arrived to face Buffalo that many questioned his ability to start for a basement offense, let alone a team primed to contend against the AFC’s elite? Or is Bortles the quarterback going toe-to-toe with TB12, a mere four points away from being etched into the annals of NFL history?

Personally, I think the answer to this question lies somewhere in between. Bortles may not have lit up the scoreboard throughout the NFL playoffs, but he did manage to beat what many considered the AFC’s most dangerous team in the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field and made it through three playoff games without turning the ball over.

Additionally, Blake’s top targets this year consisted of Marquise Lee, and Allen Hurns, hardly a receiving pair anywhere near the NFL’s top-10. The Jaguars could also probably use some interior offensive line help, which in turn may help Blake to further his own development. It comes as no surprise that his best game in the playoffs against the toughest opponent he’s likely ever faced in Tom Brady, was also against one of the NFL’s worst pass rushing teams.

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Sure, there is always more work to be done, but the future looks very bright in Jacksonville. The Jaguars are equipped with a top-tier rookie running back entering his second year in Leonard Fournette, an elite defensive unit, and an abundance of young talent that should help them remain in contention with the league’s elite for some time to come.

#Sacksonville remains a young, fast, explosive, and exciting unit that is now bolstered by playoff experience. Through a series of strong drafts as well as quality free-agent pickups like Campbell and Bouye, the Jags have transformed from perennially residing as the butt-end of the joke to a legitimate AFC power plant. This is a new era for Jacksonville football and the expectations have changed.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were the most fun facet of this NFL season, and the #Sacksonville craze shows no signs of ceasing. If Bortles continues his development and shows some marked improvement, there is no reason for this to change anytime soon.

Falling to the Patriots a game shy of the Super Bowl doesn’t mean this year wasn’t a success, and it doesn’t matter whether Tom Brady beat them with 3, or 10, or 12 stitches in his throwing hand; experience is a powerful teacher. As they roll into 2018, no matter who is calling the signals under center, the excitement should remain as the Jags have ascended into the AFC’s elite. Next year the Jags won’t be the NFL’s dark horse, and everyone will know that these Jaguars have teeth.