This is crunch time for the Jaguars

I've been sitting here, fairly silent since the debacle in Seattle. I'm sure many of the players have had the same sort of mental exercise I've had. Just sit back and try to forget where everything went wrong and find out how to move forward. Well, I've finally accepted what happened on Sunday and I'm looking forward to watching this team move to 3-3 next Sunday.

However, this Sunday has to mark a turning point for this team (and Jack Del Rio) for the remainded of the season. This team was riding high after routing the Titans, and has since found itself back in the same situations of off the field incidents that made us scratching our heads last year.

First Quentin Groves misses the flight due to an accident, then budding star wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker misses his bed check, though in the process being the only member of the offense to score in Seattle, and finished off with Maurice Jones-Drew going to the Times-Union about the Jaguars lack of a running game.

When the Jaguars play the Rams in front of 40,000 people on Sunday, we will see what this team is really made of. Is this team going to quit on their season, say it was rebuilding all along, or will they come together and make a run at being 5-3.

I sincerely hope and believe that it is going to be the latter, because I don't think this town could stand to see another dose of the 2008 Jaguars. I believe, however, because I'm looking past the Seattle game that left such a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.

The trip to Seattle saw a team that most likely read their press clippings a bit too much, got inflated, and proceeded to have the air popped out. The team that returned the Jacksonville came back focused and wanting to show that they weren't Troy St. This week, they will play a team that can be called the Troy St. of the NFL in St.Louis.

Following that, they got two other teams stuck in neutral at best in Tennesee and Kansas City. I remember last year when the Jaguars saw a favorable three game slate upcoming against the Bengals, Browns, and Lions. Those games saw the 2008 Jags begin their downward spiral, Mike Peterson's career in Jacksonville end, and most likely put the nails in the coffin for James Harris.

If this team wants us to believe they have learned from the sins of 2008, then we will be 5-3 heading into the back half of the schedule. Even a mediocre team should be able to win all three of these games, even with a trip to Tennessee in the middle of it.

If Jack Del Rio wants to make sure his job description is still "Jacksonville Jaguars head coach" next year, we will be 5-3 after Week 9. With late season showdowns with Indy, New England, Miami, and New York, and San Francisco on the schedule, the time to rack up wins is now. Losing easy games has been an unfortunate hall mark of his time in Jacksonville, and it has to stop now or we will be looking for a new head coach.

If this team wants to regain the good will it lost last week, it will want to be 5-3.

-Jonathan Loesche

PS: BCC Radio goes for a live test run tomorrow night at 10:30 pm. More info to come tomorrow