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The Jacksonville Jaguars are going to fire Gus Bradley, right? Who would continue believing in a head coach in the middle of his third season and whose only win of the year came because of some miraculous 50-50 balls won by Allen Robinson and a 58-yard game-winning field goal?
Well, quite a few people, actually. And they all point to the same thing: 1996.
Back in 1996, the 18-month-old Jacksonville Jaguars were sitting at 4-7 and through a series of flukes, good bounces, and Morten Andersen slipping, they strung together a five-game winning streak to finish at 9-7 and make it into the playoffs.
That five-game winning streak could happen this year, right? We could get on a roll. We could pick up steam. Today's culprit? Pete Prisco, who covered the Jaguars along with John Oehser for that magical 1996 season.
"Just as a reminder, though," Prisco writes. "In 1996 there were fans calling for the head of Tom Coughlin when his team was 4-7. That team ripped off five consecutive victories, won two playoff games, and became the base for a nice four-year run. That isn't to say this team can do that, but it's too early to close shop on the Bradley era, especially midseason.
Stop invoking the 1996 season. Stop it right now.
Yes, the Jaguars once won five games in a row after compiling a losing record. What else does this team have in common with 1996? A defense averaging three turnovers and three sacks a game? A running game worth a damn? A kicker who only missed two kicks less than 40 yards?
This team doesn't even have two healthy wide receivers, much less Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell.
If this team was going to have a miracle run, it was going to be at the beginning of the season, not the end. They played an underwhelming Carolina Panthers, a trash Miami Dolphins, a Matt Hasselbeck-led Indianapolis Colts, a turnover machine Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a Houston Texans team whose best player had diarrhea or something and is almost as dysfunctional as we are.
In short, if we were gonna pull five wins out of our asses, we would've done it by now.
Instead, we've shown ourselves more than able to piss away even the most fortuitous of circumstances.
We're not winning five games in a row this year. We're not winning five games period. We're not even going to get to 4-7 to be able prove me wrong.
Fire Gus Bradley and let Doug Marrone give this team some momentum going into the offseason. Let's see how far this fault line runs. Is it simply the coaching? How much blame does Dave Caldwell deserve? What is Blake Bortles' ceiling?