The Jaguars bullied the bullies on Sunday

The Jacksonville Jaguars picked up their ninth win of the season on Sunday, beating the Seattle Seahawks 30-26, guaranteeing the team’s first winning season since 2007, coincidentally the last time the Jaguars made the playoffs. While the score was close, in reality the Jaguars dominated the football game from beginning to end because they dominated the lines of scrimmage. The Seahawks scored a quick 14 points in a few minutes that pushed the score closer, but at one point the Jaguars were up double digits.

The Seahawks are accustomed to bullying other teams around, in part because they typically dominate the line of scrimmage on defense. That wasn’t the case on Sunday, as the Jaguars offensive line kept quarterback Blake Bortles clean, which enabled Bortles to pick apart the Seahawks secondary. The Jaguars offensive line also pushed around the Seahawks in the run game, allowing a real 100-yard performance without the padding of Bortles running the ball or a fake punt.

The bullies got bullied on Sunday, and they didn’t like it.

“I think it’s a little bit of people aren’t used to getting beat like that by the Jaguars. I think to the first part of what you said there is no reason to take anything from anybody,” Bortles said after the game when asked about how chippy the game was at the end. “We just beat the crap out of you for 60 minutes. I think obviously you have to be smart and understand the situation and what is going on and not do anything stupid. I think this team definitely plays with a little bit of an edge.”

For those unaware, the final minute of the game took about 20 minutes because a few Seahawks players, namely defensive lineman Michael Bennett, tried to make it a fight. Bennette specifically tried to take out Jaguars center Brandon Linder’s knee. Bennette tried to swipe the snap, which he’s done in the past with both the Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and never ever works. Linder didn’t engage as Bennett initially dove at his knees and the ball, but when Linder stepped over Bennett to get out of the pile, Bennett took out Linder’s knee from behind and then proceeded to mount the Jaguars player on the ground and start shoving him in the face. Shockingly, Bennett wasn’t ejected but I would expect him to be heavily fined and suspended.

The situation escalated from there as on the next snap the Seahawks players did the same thing and two of their defensive lineman, Sheldon Richardson and Quinton Jefferson, were ejected for throwing punches and fighting. It didn’t end there as Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll sprinted to the middle of the field to yell at his players.

Seattle is used to pushing other teams around, especially with their defense, but they were pushed around by the Jaguars on Sunday and clearly didn’t like it. The Jaguars broke the Seahawks defense and they lost it at the end because they’re not used to getting physically dominated and didn’t know how to handle it.