Coming out of the bye week, there is a sense of optimism in the air in Jacksonville. The Jaguars are just a game out of first place in the division and have a two game home stand ahead of them. The logic has gone that if the team can win these two games to get to 6-4, all bets are off as far as where the team can end up. I'm here to say, don't get your hopes up Jaguar fans.
As hard as it is to believe, the Jaguars are actually coming out of the easy part of their schedule. The Jaguars wins come against teams that are a combined 8-24 and 5 of those wins are from the Indianapolis Colts. The Broncos, Bills, and Cowboys are all really bad football teams. Of the Jaguars next 8 opponents, only the resurgent Browns are below .500 entering Week 10.
In addition, the Jaguars have perhaps the most daunting road task of any team during the back half of the schedule. All 3 divisional road games remain, as well as a trip to the NFC leading Giants. The Jaguars are just 8-16 in road divisional games since the creation of the AFC South, and have only once managed to win more than one divisional road game.If the Jaguars manage to go 2-2 on the road during the second half of the season, that'll be an achievement. Even then, the team will need to sweep it's home schedule to get a playoff run, which will be no easy task.
When looking at the schedule when it was initially released, most people figured the Texans and Redskins games would be tough wins for the Jaguars. However, who would've thought the Browns and Raiders would have suddenly figured out how to play half decent football. This Raiders team is far from the embarrassing bunch who was whipped in Jacksonville in 2007.
The Jaguars have a very tough road to hoe the rest of the way. Would it be nice for the team to have a surprise playoff run? Yes. Will it happen? Probably no.