3 reasons Jaguars’ Week 18 win was the best of the season

Finishing 3-14 is nothing to brag about. Nevertheless, the Jacksonville Jaguars should be proud of how they ended the 2021 season,

beating the Indianapolis Colts 26-11

. You could see the excitement in Jags’ players after the win and rightfully so. This year didn’t go as plan and they had to endure

the dysfunctional environment

former head coach Urban Meyer created.

There’s nothing better than finishing the season on a strong note. You can go into the offseason with your head up, not having to deal with the bitter taste of the defeat. Moreover, knowing how it feels to win should motivate some of the Jaguars’ young players to work hard in the offseason to pick off where they left off next season.

Keep in mind that all the Jaguars’ wins in 2021 came against winning teams and all of them were meaningful. Beating the Miami Dolphins and ending a five-game losing skid felt great. Pulling off the upset against the Buffalo Bills was equally impressive. Nevertheless, their victory over the Colts was the best of the three, and here are three reasons why.

1. The Jaguars eliminated the Colts from playoff contention.

All the Colts had to do to qualify for the postseason. Easy task, right? Not so much. Even though they were favored to win by 15 points, Indy hadn’t (and still hasn’t) won a game at TIAA Bank Field since 2014, that’s a pretty long streak. That should have been a sign they were going to need to play hard to earn the W. Instead, they were stunned and left out of the playoffs.

Quarterback Carson Wentz played his worst game of the season and running back Jonathan Taylor couldn’t make enough plays. Make no mistake though, the Jaguars earned this win. Their defensive front didn’t stop pressuring Wentz, their back seven was all over the field but more importantly, the offense performed at a high level.

Things got so bad that Colts owner Jim Irsay met with head coach Frank Reich and Chris Ballard after the game to demand answers for his team’s uninspiring performance in the season finale. While the Jaguars didn’t make the playoffs, they prevented their division rival from joining in the fun and that’s a sweet, sweet feeling.