So we enjoyed a few min of Jaguar Glory, now it's turning into Steeler Apologists. When anyone says to you "Big Ben was too sick" just have em' read this
But, to cheer you up, here's some more good praise from the Sports Pundit'o'cracy
Slightly Bizarre Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback decided to acknowledge the Jags TWICE this week. He said...
Four preposterous punts in the same game -- yet the Jaguars prevailed. Holy mackerel, did Jacksonville play defense! The Jags held Pittsburgh to an average of just 3.2 yards per play, well below the NFL average of about 5 yards. You'll watch a lot of football (note: a good idea) before you see harder hitting on defense or better pursuit. Sports radio yaks a lot about "statement" games, which rarely actually happen. Last year Jacksonville had two chances to play a statement game, against Indianapolis in December and against New England in the playoffs, and honked both. But this time Jacksonville seemed totally determined to make its statement, and did. Plus, because Pittsburgh was one play away from the lead until the final moments, this was a rare example of a low-scoring game that was exciting from start to finish. And it ended before midnight Eastern! What more could a football addict ask?
And
Not too shabby, started off critical (which I can live with) and then complemented the game. However, he failed to mention that the Jags nearly converted a Hail Mary pass to Matt Jones. I think Gregg will be a little late to the Jags Party this February.
The Jabba the Hutt of sports writers was kind to the Jags this week as well. Peter King says
And could we please stop the drumbeat to bench Byron Leftwich? I love David Garrard, but he hasn't shown he's better than Leftwich. More mobile, yes. Better, no.
One of my favorite daily reads Dan Shanoff decided a few weeks ago to join the Jaguars Bandwagon (Plenty of seats here folks, but they're getting pricy). I recommend him for daily reading in general, but this particular post is pretty good.
(Here's what those teams - and the Jags - all have in common: Ridiculously awesome defense. But none of the other 3 proved it against competition of the quality that the Jags have so far.)
All-right folks, Time for celebration is over. It's a short week, as I constantly keep reminding myself, so it's time to look ahead to the big show. It's a big game. Jacksonville will be on the inside track to a dominant season if we go into Washington 3-0. Keep the Focus!
-Chris