Jacksonville Jaguars strive to be like the NY Giants

The New York Giants are 6-1 after beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7. However, they’ve been scrutinized this season for “winning ugly”. In fact, they were undergod against the Jags even though they had the better overall record, and in a league where the bottom line is winning as many games as possible, does it matter how they manage to pull it off? Conversely, does it matter that all of Jacksonville’s wins this year have been by seven points or less?

The answer isn’t black and white but there’s no doubt the Jaguars would like to be in the G-Men’s shoes right now. After all, both teams were seen as rebuilding projects before the start of the season as they had new coaches in place, Doug Pederson and Brian Daboll respectively. But Jacksonville had a promising quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and a better overall roster after going on a spending spree in free agency. Then they beat the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Chargers in back-to-back weeks, which inevitably raised expectations.

However, the Jaguars have come crashing down and have lost four games in a row, mostly because of self-inflicted wounds. Meanwhile, Big Blue has managed to find ways to win even though they have a lackluster wide receiver corps and a roster devoid of playmakers. Nevertheless, they beat Jacksonville in Week 7.

Sure, the Jags came really close to winning the game but ultimately fell one yard short. Of course, one play didn’t decide the game. They committed a shocking 13 penalties, many of them at crucial times. Moreover, their defense had no answer for Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley, who combined for 436 total yards on offense.

Getting flagged at the worst possible time, fumbling in conjunction with an inability to stop the opposing team from racking up yards and turning the ball over close to the goal line, isn’t a winning formula, and even though Trevor Lawrence had a solid game, the Jaguars couldn’t get that elusive win.

The Jaguars will get fan support when they start winning

One thing that stood out during the loss was that it felt like a Giants home game even though the game was held at TIAA Bank Field. Fans of Big Blue showed up to support their team. On the other hand, Jaguars fans opted to skip this one and it’s easy to see why. They’ve heard many times from many head coaches that they will eventually turn things around. Simply, they’re tired of promises and want to see results.

Doug Pederson made it clear when he got the job that this wasn’t going to be an overnight fix and although he’s the right man to right the ship, fans want to see progress and soon. Do you blame them? The Jags have only had one winning season since 2008, so in their eyes, Pederson won’t be any different than Gus Bradey or Doug Marrone until he starts winning.

Make no mistake though, the Jags have a potential franchise quarterback in place and enough talent around him to start winning games. But unless they start playing complementary football and avoid sabotaging themselves, they’ll keep losing. It’s certainly worked for the Giants, who might have a legitimate shot at sneaking into the playoffs.