Observations from the Jaguars Week 14 victory vs the Indianapolis Colts

1) Most enjoyable victory of the season.

51 points against the Colts. A Charlie Whitehurst sighting. Nick Marshall got PBUs. Cyprien got an INT. Blake scored 4 TDs. Denard came back to life. This game was perfect for so many reasons.

2) Still alive, barely

Jags are still, somehow, alive in the AFC South race. They need to win out, but the final 3 games are all fairly winnable with the Falcons being frauds, the Saints being mediocre, and a potential TJ Yates lead Texans. That didn't stop the Jaguars against the Chargers and Titans, but they are still hanging on by a thread. If they can, at least, make the final 3 games of the season entertaining, that is more than enough to ask for.

3) Blake rebounded, showed growth.

Blake Bortles was horrific in the first half and that may be putting it nicely. He couldn't land a pass anywhere near a WR, made bad decisions, and fumbled twice. The Blake Bortles of last year, and at some points this year, would press or just deteriorate completely once there were signs of adversity. When you saw him start off bad, you just knew how he'd be the rest of the day. But this game was different and was, in my eyes, the first time we have really seen him make such a dramatic rebound during the course of a game. Hopefully, he can use this as a confidence booster and the next time we see bad Blake during the first quarter, we won't have to worry as much.

4) Denard balled out.

This season has kind of been a lost one for Denard. From injuries to limited playing time to simply ineffectiveness, he has had a lot of struggles this year. But when Yeldon went out with an injury, Denard stepped up and was just as, if not more, effective than Yeldon had been during the game. He showed explosion, vision, and he ran angry. Too many times we forget these players are people, and the emotion factor plays a huge role in their performance. I am of the opinion that the biggest thing Denard has missed this year is confidence, but he looked like he gained most of it back against the Colts.

5) Defense plays its best 4 quarters of the year a week after their worst.

My stance on the talent deficiency of the Jaguars scheme hasn't changed. It was only one game. But, credit where it is due. They played terrific against the Colts, with big performances coming from unlikely players such as Nick Marshall, Andre Branch, and Jordan Tripp. The defense still needs a dramatic overhaul, but it was nice to see them put out an effort like this one.

Weekly superlatives

Offensive Player of the Week: Denard Robinson

This could go to a number of players but considering how the rest of his season has gone, Denard's performance was the most impressive.

Defensive Player of the Week: You name it.

Now this one is truly to hard to narrow down to one player. Come to think of it, I can't think of many defensive players who didn't have a good game. Everyone was good.

Best Play: Branch strip sack/recovery/TD/hahahaha

This was one of my favorite plays of the season for countless reasons, but most importantly it gave the team some momentum going into halftime.

Rookie of the Week: A.J. Cann/Rashad Greene

With all the injuries in the rookie class, this one isn't very hard. Greene had a huge punt return TD, and Cann had another strong performance to add onto his very strong rookie season.

Hanxed It Award: Marqise Lee

Why is it constantly Lee not making an impact when the rest of the offense is? Like I mentioned earlier with Denard, I think it is confidence (along with not being very good but that is a take for a different day.) You can tell he is pressing on the field everytime the ball goes his way, and his skirmish/penalty showed just how much on the verge he is. But you can't get a stupid penalty like that.

Stat of the week: Oh.

(h/t @Tdickman89)

First or second-year QBs with 30+ passing TDs through 13 games in a season. • @DanMarino (1984) • @kurt13warner (1999) • @BBortles5 (2015)

— Tad Dickman (@Tdickman89) December 13, 2015