Latest playoff picture proves Jaguars have the Colts right where they want them

The Jacksonville Jaguars gave fans the classic cardiac cats experience in their Week 12 win over the Arizona Cardinals. It was a roller coaster ride from start to finish, but the important part was that the Jaguars still managed to walk away with the win.

By no means was this a good win. Trevor Lawrence threw three — yes, three — interceptions, and the bad habit of having way-too-many penalties reared its ugly head again. Yet the Jaguars still managed to make the big plays when it counted, and an ugly win is still a win. As Liam Coen said in his post-game presser, "We're not gonna apologize for winning around here."

And let's be clear: this was a win the Jaguars needed. The playoff race for the AFC is still very much up in the air, and that's more true than ever considering their biggest division rival, the Indianapolis Colts, just lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jaguars escape ugly game with critical win to boost playoff position

Prior to this game, the Houston Texans pulled off a crazy upset over the Buffalo Bills, which added to the urgency for Jacksonville. The Texans are also part of the AFC South, and their win put them at 6-5. Had the Jaguars lost, their record would have been tied.

Instead, though, Jacksonville took home the win and improved to 7-4. Even more importantly, the Colts lost to the Chiefs and fell to 8-3, putting the Jaguars within striking distance. Not only could Jacksonville make a wild-card spot, but it's not outside the realm of possibility that they win the AFC South altogether.

The Jaguars have managed (with a little help from the Texans) to leapfrog over the Bills for the No. 6 spot in the playoff race. And in the meantime, the Jaguars still have two upcoming battles against the Colts left on the schedule. Week 12 just made the playoff race much more interesting, but for now, it's looking good for Jacksonville to have secured a place in the postseason.

Of course, for the Jags to do anything except lose once they get there, there will need to be massive improvements. But for now, the resilience and grit the Jaguars have become famous for this season is carrying them through week after week... the ability to find a way to win no matter what.

"Definitely not ideal and probably not a recipe to win every week," Lawrence acknowledged. "But I think just speaks to this team and the resilience and just finding a way to win. just play the next play. That's something we preach all the time is, in this league, stuff's gonna happen. You're gonna deal with some adversity, you're gonna have some bad plays, and how do you just find a way to play the next play and continue to play and see what happens."

Lawrence isn't wrong that this is a good mindset to have. But it would be even better if the Jaguars could figure out a way not to be in this position to begin with. The Cardinals are not a good team, but the Jaguars still struggled against them, like they struggled against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jacksonville needs to do much better if it wants to be taken seriously as a contender, or do more in the postseason besides just getting there and lose. But for now, fans can breathe a sigh of relief as they live to keep their playoff hopes alive for another week.