Jaguars dominated a game they should, which is new

The Jacksonville Jaguars dominated the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday to the tune of 27-0 to stay in first place in the AFC South with a record of 4-3 heading into the bye week. It’s the first time the Jaguars have hit a bye week with a winning record since the 2007 season, coincidentally, that’s also the last time the Jaguars made the NFL playoffs. The Jaguars dominated the Colts in all phases of the game, with the Jaguars offense just ripping right through the Colts defense without Leonard Fournette, Brandon Linder, Cam Robinson and Allen Robinson. It was a game that the Jaguars were supposed to win and it was a game they went out and made no doubt about.

That, more than anything, was the takeaway from Sunday’s win. It wasn’t that the defense had 10 sacks again in a game for the season. It wasn’t that Calais Campbell already has 10 sacks, or that the Jaguars eclipsed their win total from 2016 by Week 7. It wasn’t even that Blake Bortles had nearly 300 passing yards by half time.

The Jaguars went on the road against a team they were favored against, that they over matched and completely dominated.

Every fan, and don’t lie, had that nervous feeling in their gut before halftime or when Bortles fumbled that pass that it was going to happen. The Jaguars would tank a game they should win because that’s what the Jaguars have consistently done for the last near decade. It was an important game that the Jaguars really needed to win heading into the bye week and they did it.

That’s a huge step in the right direction for a team that so consistently has fallen on their face.

The Jaguars offense appeared to be a well-oiled machine, even in the passing game. Give Blake Bortles credit, he didn’t just put up big stats on Sunday against the Colts, he actually played well. He still made the pass that makes you go “what in the hell was that?” a few times in the game, but he also had some passes with really nice placement that allowed for the receivers to pick up chunks of yards after the catch. He had one to Marqise Lee over the middle that actually was not behind him, and Lee added a ton of yards after the catch.

Marcedes Lewis’ touchdown reception was probably the best fade Bortles has thrown in his life, putting the ball where only his 6-foot-8 tight end could make the play. I don’t expect that from Bortles week in and week out, because the Colts are just dreadful, but it’s nice to see that the Jaguars can at least pass the ball against an awful defense.

On the other side of the ball, the Jaguars defense kind of made me feel bad for Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett. I’m a fan of Brissett, but it’s not worth it, man. Just stay down. That team’s not worth it!

It wasn’t just that Brissett was sacked 10 times in the game, but because he’s so good at fighting off sacks with was like watching a bunch of guys try to bring down an elephant. Just blow after blow after blow, and one play I thought for sure Yannick Ngakoue broke Brissett in half. Between the Colts offensive line, the receivers not getting open and Brissett in general just holding the ball too long, he’s got to be in a lot of pain on Monday following that beating.

Plus, Brad Nortman had some great punts and Josh Lambo hit all his kicks.

The Jaguars now have their bye week, which will hopefully let Fournette and Robinson heal up, because I don’t think we’ll see the same success against other teams that they had against the Colts against the rest of the schedule.

But drink it in. This has been a long time coming.