Jacksonville Jaguars: Days of Future Past
By Sandlin
Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports
Monday is a day where people associated with the NFL like to overreact to what has happened. So, instead of writing about why the 51-16 drubbing of the Indianapolis Colts yesterday changes the Jacksonville Jaguars season course and how the Jaguars are now unbeatable, I’ve decided to take this piece in a different direction.
The reality is the Jags future seems to be much brighter that their present or recent past. However, this team stacks up very similarly to a Jags roster of old.
There are many similarities between the current Jags makeup and the now iconic (at least around Jacksonville) 1996 Jags–who made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game before losing the New England Patriots, here’s four:
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QB: Blake Bortles / Mark Brunell
Brunell in ’96 and Bortles now are young, unproven quarterbacks with a lot of potential. While the league has changed to be significantly more pass-centric, Bortles is on pace to pass Brunell’s 4376 yard passing mark from the ’96 season–a Jaguar single-season record.
The Jags hit a home run with Robinson in the second round of last year’s draft. He’s been a great target for Bortles to grow with, as was Smith with Brunell.
The “A-team” has been making waves this season. // Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Maqise Lee has been a disappointment so far for the current Jags. Hurns emerged as the stud receiver that the Jags were looking for. Just as McCardell came out of nowhere to be a great compliment to Smith in ’96, Hurns is doing the same for Robinson.
In ’96 the Jags needed help to get into the playoffs. A lot of things had to happen down the stretch for the Jags to get a wild card birth with their 9-7 record. The current Jags will definitely need help getting into the playoffs. The current Jags have no chance at a wild card birth. To make the playoffs, they will need to win the division. They are now one game back with three games remaining in the season. The way tiebreakers could stack up, however, the Jags will likely need to be one game up on the Texans and/or Colts to win the division. Needless to say, the Jags need to win out and finish 8-8 to have a chance.