Jacksonville Jaguars 2017 Schedule: Prime Time Snub Proves Jags Must Earn Spot
By Luke Sims
The Jacksonville Jaguars 2017 schedule will feature zero prime time games, a snub by the NFL that sends a message to clubs: win or else.
The NFL is all about making money and nothing sells like a good prime time game. With that in mind, it makes sense that the Jacksonville Jaguars 2017 schedule doesn’t feature a single prime time game. (Check here for the full schedule)
With less than six wins each season since 2010, the Jaguars have not won enough to warrant a prime time slot. Just 17 wins from 2012-2016, the Jaguars are literally the cellar dwellers of the entire NFL. Does that draw attention? Hardly, at least according to the NFL.
Meanwhile, a popular team with some more recent success, the Philadelphia Eagles, will have half a dozen prime time games. The NFL is clearly betting on teams with more winning history and bigger fan bases as the future draw for the league.
How this will work out in the future as the NFL continues to strive toward parity will be interesting to watch. Theoretically a team like the Jaguars, who believe they can win now, could win against any opponent and make a push for the playoff. “Any given Sunday” has been important in the NFL’s excitement.
Yet nobody outside the Jags’ opponents and the team’s fans will likely watch the team this year. Gone are the typical Jags-Tennessee Titans matchups that graced Thursday Night Football. The only other team that will have a similar fate is the Cleveland Browns (a team the Jaguars play in Week 11 in Cleveland.
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The more immediate question for the Jaguars is whether this pressure and lack of exposure will actually result in a better team. With no prime time games for the first time in franchise history, the Jags are going to be overlooked even more than usual. Team owner Shad Khan can’t be happy about that as he works to build a better brand internationally and locally. Based on his desire to win now, the lack of prime time games may up the heat on general manager Dave Caldwell, executive vice president Tom Coughlin, and head coach Doug Marrone.
But the bottom line is this: Win. If not, teams will no longer be able to get in the spotlight simply for existing.