In the days following the Jaguars second humiliating defeat of the season, a general angst has come over the fanbase. Some are already writing the season off and figuring Jack Del Rio and David Garrard will be gone at the season's end.
Considering the good feelings that were surrounding the franchise after it's Week One win over Denver, this turn of events is especially disheartening. Now with Peyton Manning and the Colts coming to town, it appears the Jaguars are now in for another round of needing to win to keep the franchise afloat.
Sunday's game vs Indianapolis will be on local TV, but after that things are certainly quite murky. The team still has to sell 6,300 general bowl tickets for the Monday Night Game vs Tennessee in two weeks. If push comes to shove, I'm sure the team will have a similar push to sell tickets for that game as was the case for the Colts game last year. However, after that things aren't looking so hot.
The Texans game last year was the low point in the regular season for the franchise, and unless things turn around in a hurry, I doubt they'll draw better this year. After that, it's a cavalcade of teams that don't draw well and probably will already be thinking about 2011 by the time they come to Everbank Field.
What I'm trying to get at is in just a month, all of the positive momentum this franchise had built up is now in jeopardy. After Team Teal got this time within striking distance of selling out every home game, and a season opener that saw everything go right for the team, the last two weeks have eroded all of it.
If the Colts come into Everbank Field and put on the kind of clinic many are expecting them to, then many in the community are just going to write the team off. It's that simple. At this point, I'll even take a gut punch of a finish like what happened last year. If only to show this city that this team still has life in it.
Jack Del Rio and David Garrard know that they're jobs are almost over. Will they respond with all they have, or have they already laid down and accepted defeat?