As much as I love the Jacksonville Jaguars, they sure do win ugly. Actually, that might be why I become a fan in the first place. For every game the Cardiac Cats have rushed for 375 yards and put up 44 points, they've had about 100 more nail-biters that went down to the final play.
The Jags' game against the Cincinnati Bengals was definitely the latter, and Liam Coen's crew had to play all 60 minutes to get the job done on the road.
One member of that crew, Rayuan Lane III, came through in the clutch with a game-saving tackle to prevent Chase Brown from converting a critical fourth-and-10 play for the Bengals. With DBs all over the roster going down before and during the game, Lane's heroics showed that Jacksonville's floor is higher than it's ever been.
With that being said, how high do y'all think this team's ceiling could go?
Rayuan Lane's huge play helped establish the Jaguars as one of the AFC's best
For those who didn't catch the game on TV, Lane had to run down from his spot in coverage and tackle Brown in a way that would keep the back from stretching his arm out and putting the ball over the first-down marker.
Cincinnati's leading rusher landed like The Undertaker had just given him a Tombstone Piledriver, which meant that Lane's mission was thoroughly accomplished.
The hard hit was one of many throughout the day. Both teams were playing like they were desperate to stop themselves from falling behind in their divisions, but Jacksonville's gritty performance at every level of the defense ensured that the Bengals wouldn't be able to get the job done.
At 3-1, the Jags are the best team in the AFC South and one of the highest-seeded teams in the entire conference. After the shocking news that Lane Johnson is retiring and leaving the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville's odds of getting another huge win just rose through the roof.
Jax might need their unheralded contributors again in London, but I have a sneaky feeling that the entire roster will be ready for Philadelphia's physicality.
The Eagles are the perfect team to test the Jaguars' grit and toughness
Johnson's departure isn't the only hit Philadelphia's taken this season. According to Inside the Iggles' Anthony Miller, Philly has 14 players [with] important roles [who] are either on IR, injured but still on the active roster, or out for personal reasons. The worst part is that the Eagles may not be able to improve the roster by adding talent because they travel to London on Friday to play the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, so they have limited options."
As of now, Jalen Hurts will be under center to lead his team through a tumultuous storm. However, Nick Sirianni could be working without any of his best weapons in the passing game. That means the Eagles will have to turn their Week 5 game against the Jags into one of the ugliest contests of the day.
That's probably music to Anthony Campanile's ears, but Jacksonville can't get too confident. The Jags will need to make the same long flight from the East Coast to the UK as their opponent. Also, Liam Coen's group is dealing with a growing list of injuries as well.
Before seeing the first injury report of the week, I'd imagine that Rayuan Lane's work on special teams will be way more important than his play on defense this week. However, this season has been terrible for everyone who thought resting their starters during the preseason would prevent their top guys from getting injured.
We'll keep our eyes peeled and our fingers crossed, but we should all be ready for a close one in London.
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