Jags get a big win in Houston yesterday winding their lead in the AFC South. What was the most impressive part of the win yesterday? Do you guys on.
Battle Red Day in Houston, down fourteen thirteen, going right down the field.
To take a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
It was in great response to the Texans trying to grab momentum.
Yeah, this kind of plays into that the will and the resilience of the Jaguars.
Welcome into Jags Am presented by Carshield and Cannannie Stevens, Brian Sexton, and John Oser with me today as we recap one of the biggest games of the year for the Jaguars. We knew it was gonna be a big one going into it. But our first big thing of the day is Cardiac Cats because they made it dramatic. Went right down to the final play of this game and a miss field goal was the difference as the Jaguars is not out of Houston with a win and
a big game for the team this year. Don Peterson talked about it after the game.
I mean, it's game eleven, but they're all they're always big, right, I mean, meantime you play your your division. They're all big games and and you know, obviously we understand what this team did to us, you know, a few weeks back.
And.
It's it is another you know, a game on the schedule, a lot of football ahead still, but.
You know it's big.
I mean, you don't ever want to go oh and two against a division fo you know, any any year obviously, But our guys, you know, our guys will respond again, you know, are just much likely did this week. It's gotta take. It's gonna take a good week of prep and and their their film study and and all of that, but great opportunity. Jodan's gonna be loud. You know, they're playing extremely well. We are too, and it should be. It should be a good matchup.
Brian, we talked ear this week about how this game might have huge implications on the AFC South, almost an AFC South title game early in the year. But they'll live up to the billing.
To you, what's the right way to say this, it's all but over right.
I mean, there are games left to play, and there are six games left.
To play, so there's a lot of football left. Anything could happen.
But the Jaguars now have a commanding two game lead with six to play. They still have the ability to have a big home game, two big home games right against AFC Powers. There's a lot of opportunity for this team to just steamroll their way to the division title. It won't be easy, but it feels like they wrapped it up yesterday.
Yeah, And I think Doug and anybody with experience and the team would tell you it's over as long as they do what they need to do. Meaning if you limp down the stretch and go one and five, you're not going anywhere anyway. So I guess the point is that they set themselves. I was up to concentrate on the number one seed, the number two seed and think
about those kind of things. You don't ignore the division, But now you can, as Trevor said, if they do what they're supposed to do, they don't have to worry about that. And boy, what a difference from last year.
Right.
It's nice to be in the front and not have to try to win every game in a row to win the division. So it's a good spot to be at at this point in the year. 's like a big thing today is gonna be zeroed in. Calvin Ridley had a huge game against the Titans, two touchdowns here at EverBank Stadium, and he had a really big second half yesterday. And he talked a little bit postgame about how while he had to drop early on in the game, he didn't let himself get out of it all.
I'm gonna bounce that every time.
I'm not.
I'm mad about it, but I'm not that mad about it. People everything, it was just like, I make that.
But I'm not dead mad. I'm not out of the game. You know, I'm saying, I'm not out of the game.
I'm ready to make continue to make plays.
I want to don't stop throwing at the ball.
You know what I'm saying.
I'm ready, but i want to make that play. But I'm never out of the game. I may look like I am, but I'm not.
I'm ready to to you to make plays. So what it is.
Calvin says, he's never out of the game. John We certainly saw that in the second half, as he was a crucial part to this kind of comeback, if you will a little bit in the second half and the win.
Well, he was the go to guy, and even when he wasn't producing, receiving, numbers on this team this year, what is it eleven games in He's always been the hardest guy to cover on this team. For the defensive backs, I think it's twelve penalties. Now he's drawing eleven when they needed it. Yesterday he came up big. I had some fans. Oh, he had to drop in the first half. Look, the NFL's hard. You don't catch everything. He has mattered
a great deal. I think this was again, you can count four or five games this year now, Brian, I'm not sure they win three or four games if he's not on the field. I'm not sure they win yesterday if he's not in the field.
The last two weeks, he really has looked John like the number one receiver, a guy who can take over the game. And it's important to remember that when he first got to Atlanta, that was Julio Jones.
He was the accouterment.
This is the first time in his career where he's the legitimate alpha receiver. And if you combine that with the fact that it takes time to develop chemistry with the quarterback.
Right now we are.
Just starting to see the Calvin Ridley, the Trent Balkey and Doug Riederson Peterson thought they were going to get when they made the trade last year. I mean, he ran the same route on the touchdown as on the two point conversion.
How many guys could get away with that, right?
He is tremendous and I think he's got so much upside left.
I can't wait to see what he does in the ring six games of the year.
Our final big thing this week is on the other side of the ball. Pay the man. It's about Josh Allen. He's in a contract year and he's been earning every penny with his play so far this season. Two huge sacks on that last play, that last possession for the Texans, and Trevor Lawrence talked a little bit about the play of Josh Allen yesterday.
They did a great job offensively of being able to do that and extend plays. But then you know, our pass rush really stepped up at the end of the game and got some huge sacks.
I mean you look at both those plays.
To keep them, you know, and almost made it, but to keep them out a field goal range and make that a fifty eight to fifty nine yarder, that's huge. You know, if you let him get some yards there and they're kicking a fifty yarder. That's a big difference. So I mean that won us the game, and our defense really stepped up.
One of them saw the kick go off the crossbar, so it certainly was all the difference. Those sacks definitely played a role in that. Brian, we don't tell the GM what to do very often, but pay the man. Seems like Josh needs to be paid well.
And look, Josh Allen in Detroit in August came into one of our preseason production meetings and said he was betting on himself to finish this year, to finish the play, and he did yesterday. He finished the game with his strongest performance of this season. You know, we can focus on that because he and trayvond we're just wrecking that offensive front and creating havoc. But John, the pass rush over all old yesterday, led by Josh Allen, it got
to the quarterback. It didn't do Week three, Roy Robertson Harris was getting pressure up the middle. You saw ninety one and ninety five and ninety four. They were also making him move his feet. It was a strong performance by the Jaguars pass rush in a game that they needed it led by Josh Allen, who now has a career high twelve sacks.
Yeah, and it shows you how different the game is now. Brian. If you had said twenty years ago, somebody throws for whatever. C J. Stroud threw four over three hundred two touchdowns, you said, oh, they didn't get any pass rush. Oh what a terrible defensive game. Well you can have a good defensive game now and a guy still have those kind of numbers. They did affect CJ. Stroud. They got to him in big moments. I always talk about breaking
serve on defense in this day and age. It felt to me like they affected him enough that it kept them in control of the game. And I know the numbers, and there were certain plays that didn't show that against a guy like c. J. Strodd, you're not going to stop every play very often. They effect to him when it mattered, and they had big stops at the end of the game and any game events is those plays mattered.
And good for Josh Allen. I mean, it's how hard he's worked, how much he's wanted it, how close he's been to see it all come to fruition, and it's pretty cool.
I think it's important.
You mentioned that it's tough the way that the league is set up these days, and the Jaguars saw Tank Dell get them for a couple of plays and then they clamp down on him, and he finished with five catches for fifty yards. He did have the touchdown, So all of a sudden, Nico Collins becomes the guy and then the Jaguars lean towards him. And then there's Xavier Henderson,
the rookie from Iowa State. This quarterback Stroud, within the context of the way that the rules are set up, is a really gifted quarterback and a guy that can make a lot of different throws. The Jaguars came up with the plays John when they needed to. You're not going to keep the numbers from these quarterbacks. That's just not the way the rules are written these days. They want to see they being the league and they want to see these quarterbacks putting the ball up and down
the field. It's just about your defense breaking serve to where three times in the second half of the Jags did that.
There's a lot of good plays on both sides of the football. Yesterday. Coming up after the break, we will go over all of the highlights for you from Jaguars Texans. Move the Freight, Move the Freight, Move the Freight. Magellan Transport voted the coolest office space in Jacksonville. He can apply online at www dot Magellan Logistics dot com. Welcome into jags AM as we get ready to go over some more highlights from yesterday. It's nice to have a
lot of highlights to go over. I'm sure some people didn't like the drama of the game, but made for interesting viewing.
What makes it the number one sport in America?
Sure is?
So it's good. And let's start out with Trevor's first touchdown of the day, as he you know, we saw him set it up and then he hasn't been great on the kind of quarterback sneaks that we've seen from him. At least they look a little more stressful than they should be. John, I think I was sitting next to you and I was like, this is like the most stressful quarterback sneak I've seen.
But I'm sure you didn't like the one handed reach with the ball.
I mean, well, he does it get away with it some times It'll bite him at some point. Look, I get a lot of questions about why don't they quarterbacks sneak want we're not good at it, and it's not necessarily trever. They are not a mammoth the terrifically strong interior line that gets a lot of push, and you know, they haven't been that so far, so it's hard for them to quarterback sneak. So that makes these situations difficult.
The thing that put my heart in my throat. You see how quickly his arm is rocketed backwards. Yes, I was like, oh, you know, he got it over the line, But look how quickly that one goes backwards. You're right, John, it's a dangerous way to play the game.
Hopefully they'll figure out they need that tush push at some point.
Together.
They've got to figure out how to ram it in from a yard out without risking the ball.
Well, maybe we can get Tank to come around.
One six yard carry one And I thought, there you go, boy, because I had made him my hot take last week and I thought, all right, you're on.
And then he didn't see the ball again.
I just well, Travis was out of the game at that point, and so they went a little deeper in running back rotation.
So he had had a six yard rush.
I mean, I still think you're going to see him. He's going to be a solution to a problem at some point this year.
Okay, I was happy to see Deernest in there as well. Let's go to Stroud's touchdown to Tank Dell. So we were worried about this a little bit, just because we know the propensity for the big play for the Texans and just that scrambling ability. And as much as we talked about miscommunication in the backfield, it's really hard when you're expecting your DB's to cover somebody for seven, eight, nine, ten seconds. And that's a lot of what c J. Stroud.
I didn't realize as much until we watched this game yesterday. That's a lot of what he does. His scrambling ability gives him so much time that his receivers find a way to get open, and that's where a lot of those big plays come from.
Well, this was an this was an evolution to his game. Ky.
We didn't see it in the first game that he ran around and made plays on the run. It's something that he clearly is capable of doing it with that receiver Dell, Who's revolt. What a tremendous rookie season he's having. He's so hard to cover.
John. Maybe there's a receiver you recall like him, but he looks different to me.
Yeah, he's hard to cover. And I got some pushback from fans, Oh why the only rush three here? Well, look, they brought a lot of pressure. I don't think overall yesterday they could have pressured him any better. They know he plays this way. If you watch them rush the past or Brian and Kuy there were a lot of times where they were staying in their lanes. They were trying to contain even on that play, instead of going after him. They were sort of playing, you know, angle
defense if you I'm not putting it. I'm not putting that very well. But they were trying to stay in lanes and contain him a little bit. Look, if the blitz worked every time, everybody would do it every play. You can't do it every play. On that play, it got him because they made a play against the good team. That's gonna happen.
Sometimes when you drop eight like that against your rookie quarterback, you're betting that you can force him to make a throw that he doesn't necessarily want to, and it could become a turnover, a takeaway.
It didn't happen.
That was a great throw, dangerous throw back across your body into traffic, but Dell slid away from Rayshawn Jenkins and it was a good throw by c J.
Straw.
But you're gonna drop eight against quarterbacks. That's another thing they do in this league is try to try to create some confusion and give them a different look and see if you can create turnovers.
And if you surprise them with the blitz every time, guess what happens. You know it's a surprise war. So you can pick a part that play. But I thought the defensive plan yesterday against an ascending quarterback was very good.
We'll go to the waning seconds of the first half because the Texans missed a field goal and the Jaguars got the ball back with a little over thirty seconds I think at that point, and then they got a huge play at a Christian Kirk. I think they were just trying to get into field goal territory. They almost got a touchdown on this play and then they chose to go for it. And I talked to I wrote it a little bit about it. I talked to John about it too. I wasn't surprised Doug wanted to go
for it. They didn't get it, and I think that's where you know, Doug always likes to go for it, and then you know, when you don't get it, they criticize. When you get it, you look really smart. So I wasn't against it, and I think it was smart. And I think when you look at the end of the game, you see what sometimes the conservative gets you.
Well, look, Doug, he said right after the game, but I'm going to go forward again. You know, this play didn't work, so by default is a bad play. But I would rather see the ball go forward than back, and it has to go back to the six yard line to get into the end zone. I mean, this is where I think the Jaguars need to focus on finding a way to get a yard or two going forward when.
They want it.
Well, they don't trust the interior on that play. And I'm not trying to bash that, no, it's just it's so far in eleven games that play pushing forward has not developed trust to be used in this situation. A lot of feedback in the ozone about it. You know, dumb call kick the field goal, take the points. Look, if you don't like that approach, don't watch the Jaguars
an because it's going to be him. So I got an email last night saying, I am so tired of watching this team give up field goals they ought to be kicking. And our responsors are you tired of being in first place?
Winning?
Because that's the trade off. Doug believes that the long and short term benefits of aggression in that situation far out weigh the occasional short term risk negative whatever it is. He believed right there he could end the game and it didn't happen, but he believes overall, if he does that ten times and ends the game six times, that's more of a benefit that you can make up for it if you miss it, but it's a kill shot if you hit it.
It may not happen this year, but I would love to see them figure out a way to run the ball in from the one yard line. But again, I mean they're not the Eagles, right, I mean, if the Eagles get the ball in the one yard line, is there any doubt they're scoring? No, Because no one has figured out how to stop that. And with a six
foot six quarterback, it isn't the same dynamic. I totally get that, but I think I'm speaking for a lot of people when I say figure out a way to get the yard when you need the yard.
I'd like to say it too. But I also don't think you need to be silly and continue to drive your head against the wallace NYE.
Right, No, no, no, I'm talking long term, because again, if they're up twenty seven, twenty to seven there, I'm not saying that the Texans can't mount a comeback, but I'm saying the Jaguars are a lot more aggressive in the second half on defense. I just I think that that's that next step you go to instead of walking off the field, you walk off twenty to seven and you say, hey, now we're really coming after you.
And you're getting the ball back after the gap.
Absolutely, Dougast said at time and again the last couple of weeks, we haven't done anything yet, right, right, They're still evolving into who they're going to be as a football team. That's just one of those things on the to do list that they've got to figure out.
All right, we're gonna jump to the second half. Now. That questionable call on Evan we're gonna skip over that the holding call that just ended up being a pick that led to this touchdown from CJ. Stroud where we saw him kind of rushing in which we didn't see him running a whole lot was more scrambling to throw. But it's just he's dynamic in a way, and obviously
the national media talks about him all the time. But he's different than the first time we saw him, because I thought he was great the first time we saw him, and now he's like, maybe he's a little too confident, maybe because some throws I think are a little not quite there yet. But he's feeling himself and he's making some of the throws, so that's probably why he has the confidence.
Yeah, he's a good player and still evolving, which makes him a good because he's clearly adapting to what defenses are trying to do, which is that second step. You know, he takes certain things away, then he answers it by being able to counter that. He's gonna be good for a long time. He's a good player. Jarrisaid, for you other way to beat him. He's not God. He didn't score forty two points. They stay scored twenty one. So
they figured out a way to beat him. I thought they contained them, They got them off the field a lot, and at the end of the game they limited that last drive as much as they needed to.
This was the only game worth watching in the early window yesterday, and it has a lot of people around the league saying this is going to be a great matchup for years to come.
It was a fun football game to watch.
And I know Trevor said after the game he hopes that the teams in the division aren't that good. It's better for this. This guy's good and this team is good. Depending on what happens in Indianapolis, this is going to go from a division that was sort of also ran oh the South, they're not that good to one of the better divisions in football. And that's just Jack's gotta buckle up and get ready for it because it's going to be a fight every Sunday.
That was a great answer on Trevor's parton I don't want them to be good. I want I want him to be you know. Yeah, he was to Dominator right, so of course he doesn't like it. When when the question was asked, I was like, I don't particularly like I worked for the Jag. Yes, yeah, you'd rather see j Stroud stink and he doesn't stink.
Certainly does not.
That's gonna be a prime time game next year, you watch it, I sure hope.
So it's gonna be a good one to watch both times that they play each other. Let's talk about that Trevor to Calvin Ridley touchdown and then the two point conversion that was the exact same play. Because it went so well the first time, they just did it again right after that, that whole possession. I know they got the p I call to set up the first and goal again for them there, but I was just impressed with them. That was like a That was a little
bit of a shift for me. That was the sequence where I was like, Okay, they're a good team, Like good team needs to score here. They've had problems on the third down, they've had problems in the ren zone, but they found a way and I just you know, I think Etan got stopped on the first one. Was there past you tried to find Kirk I think in the corner maybe one time and then to.
Threw laid over to Farrell on the play right before this, yep, a touchdown I think your point, guy is exactly right. I think about their last seven victories. It's seven out of eight now. They haven't trailed in five of them. They trailed against the Colts in Week six, which, by the way, if you don't beat the Colts in that game, you're tied for first place. So let's call those two
game big games right now. And then yesterday against the Colts, you trailed and you went and scored the next possession. Against this team, you trailed for three minutes and forty one seconds, you went score in the next possession. They're not perfect, but they take control of games and they put their hands around the neck of the games and they choke it out. I mean, they are a really it's sort of my hot take, so I won't go deep into it, but they're doing what they have to do,
and I don't care about close whatever. They're putting themselves in situations at the end of games where they have the advantage. They had the percentage advantage, they kept it yesterday. That's how you grind through a season and get to the postseason.
Well, you think the Eagles mind winning close games?
Right?
They're ten and one. Yesterday they won by a field goal.
It over.
Two before that.
They beat Kansas City at the end of the game, and they beat the Cowboys at the end of the game. All close games. So yeah, that's just the way that the game goes. They're going to be close. It's the National Football League. They are good players on both sides of the ball. I mean, maybe not necessarily in a couple of cities, but in most of them they are really good. So get used to it. It's the dramas
what makes it great. You'd love to win a game by ten and be able to sit back and relax in the fourth quarter, but that isn't what this league is these days.
It's not it wasn't yesterday. Let's put it that way. Because the Texans certainly out of the way.
They wanted to be a guy. They wanted to be close like that, I know.
So I will say it was a little bit stressful, especially that last Texans possion, because I do want to jump ahead to that because we've got to talk about Josh Allen and what he was able to do. I think he got one and a half sacks because that second sack he split with Trayvon, But I don't think
you win the game. You definitely go to overtime if you don't have those two sacks from Josh Allen, because the Texans were really driving at that point, and those two sacks took them out of field goal range because as we saw, the kick went off the crossbar, and just Josh just willed himself in that. He won you the game. In my opinion.
He with Laramie Tunsall yesterday, and Laramie Tunsell is a really good left tackle.
John Yeah, he was outstanding, And it's the little moments that matter in this league. And the first sack people say, well, I didn't matter as much. They got the first down, but right then in that last drive, you're playing against field position and time, and the first sack pushed the Texans back to where, now, all of a sudden, the probably weren't gonna get in touchdown on that drive and they were gonna need a long field goal rather than
a short field goal. And then you had a couple of plays where they were you know, there was a point in that drive where you thought, well, it's gonna be an easy field goal in overtime because they had gotten to this point was about forty five seconds and Josh's pressure and the defensive pressure overall kept that thing to a fifty eight yard field goal when it probably it felt like it was going to be a forty five yard field goal and the defense made it harder.
And that's the game of inches, this saying, that's what honestly, Doug Peterson's really good at putting them in a position where they had the edge in those inches situations.
You know, we've also talked all year long about how Calvin Ridley doesn't get credit for all of the holding penalties and the passes interference penalties that he draws, and maybe he should well. Josh Allen drew a holding penalty on the first drive of the game from Laramie Tunsel. It's like, okay, this it's on now. You know, he should get credit for that. That forced it into first
in twenty and they had a punt. So he was just an overall dominant figure, I mean dominant figure, and when he needed to win the game on the road in the division, it's screaming loud and he comes through with plays like that and credit Trayvon. I mean that was a great pass rush he came to get half that sack.
I know, they probably weren't happy they had to split it, but I'll take it.
By the way, you know how many sacks there Aiden Hutchinson has this year?
How many?
Five?
Okay?
You know how many Tradeon Walker has? Four and a half?
Four and a half?
Okay, all right.
Well we're almost there for all the comparison Choppers, and
then obviously the missfield goal at the end there. I was a little surprised that they didn't try to go for it, to be honest with you, because I thought it was such a long kick, and with the missed earlier and kind of the way their kicking game had been going, I was surprised they didn't try to try to go for it because if I'm the Texans, I'm kind of playing with house money at this point for the season, so I'd be like, why don't you go for it?
But well, I'm glad they did it. I'm sure their analytics or their thoughts was this kid can can't hit that. I was actually watching them during pregame and he was his leg is strong enough to get that kick there. So at that point it was fourth and nine, is that right, fourth and twelve? Yeah, So your percentage of picking that up. Probably your percentage of hitting fifty eight yard field goal are probably higher than picking that up. Again, credit to the jack I were so much of late
game is about creating those situations and those decisions. The Jaguars, you know, manned up for lack of a better word, and figured out a way to keep that to a fifty eight yard field goal. Those are the moments that define seasons.
I it turned out to be the right call to kick it, because I mean he was what one rotation to the football, probably from making it your one closer. Yeah, what they're talking about in Houston this morning is third down and one and fourth down and one throwing it twice right one a Dulton Schultz, and I forget.
Who the other one was two down the side.
They missed both of them and gave the ball to the Jaguars with nine to fifteen to play at their own forty six yard line. Now they're saying, we why didn't you try to run the ball?
Yeah?
I told Kay I thought those were the funniest. We were sitting next to each other in the press box and that was one of the stranger play calling sequences I've seen against the Jaguars in a while and maybe they had a play they believe it was gonna work and be a kill shot, but it should have lost the game. Yeah, because you gave the Jaywars a ball that's your own forty three. I'm sure Doug and trailor anybody would say that's where we have to go in
the game, and they didn't. But right now in the well, always in the league, but right now in the league, it's those little moments. You know, if the Jaguars go down right there and get a field goal that probably feels like a blowout win, they don't get it, and all of a sudden, that's how close it is. People who want these blowouts, they're just not common. It's not set up that way.
If you're looking for a definition of hard to win, right because you always your coaches say how hard it is to win in this league. Yesterday, the fourth quarter from nine minutes on shows you how hard it is. Jaguars got the ball inside Texans territory, couldn't get more than two minutes off the clock. Then the Texans score a touchdown, force a punt, and then have a chance.
At a game winning field goal. It's tough to win in this league.
Right, your Zay Jones putting his foot down an inch inside from that being a black Yeah, it was an inch from being a blowout, and instead it was a It's.
Almost wrenching, right game right almost you just your heart was in your throat as the ball was coming down on target and then it hit some polls.
The other way.
So close, yet so far? All right, coming up, we're gonna do some hot takes after the break. Stay with us here on jags am can sign up your furry friend for the Jaguars Official Four Legged Fan Club for pets presented by Forever That's Animal Hospital. All your pet will receive access to exclusive merchandise, events and sweepstakes throughout the season. Visit Jaguars dot com Slash Promotions Slash four Legged Fan Club to sign up today.
I want the.
Teams in our division to be as bad as possible, So no, I'm not. That's how I see it. And the way they're playing it's exciting. Yes, there's gonna be some I'm sure some great matchups down the road. And CJ's playing, he's playing lights out, He's doing a great job. I need to be a rookie and to play how he is I got a lot of respect for him.
I know that.
I know how hard it is. You know, I've been in that position.
So he's doing a great job and it's gonna be fun for for years to come hopefully.
Oh Trevor Lawrence. We love him for his honesty, and he was certainly honest when he was asked about whether he enjoys that rivalry with c. J. Stroud, because of course he wants them to be bad. He wants everyone else in the division to be bad so the Jigars can be good.
He's the only one you can do anything about that, right, I mean, he can go beat him and keep him behind him.
Absolutely.
I think he deserves some credit, by the way, for you know, I usually don't watch broadcasts and worry about it. Yeah, but even last night on the NFL Network Highlight Show, I watched the first four highlights of c J. Strapp, Yes, and Trevor Lawrence throws for three eighty six or whatever it was three you know people and out played him, but they won and made huge plays in big moments. Terror Lawrences, there are some credit for that's the second
battle between those two. They're one and one. He's two games up in the division one for Trevor.
So here's my hot take.
You ready sorry about that?
No no, no, no, no no.
Here's my hot take, and that is the Jacks are going to see these guys again this year. The way that the AFC is rolling out, The Bills.
Lost a heartbreaker. I'm sure you saw it. It was a great game.
But they're six and six now, and the way that their schedule rolls out, they're behind the Texans at this point, They're behind the Colts at this point, they have a long way to go. I think when you look at the Browns right, they've lost their starting quarterback, they're starting running back, two starting tackles, and maybe the third, and then yesterday maybe the best defensive player in the game, Miles Garrett, leaves the game in the sling and says
he doesn't know what he's going to play again. They're likely because their offense is struggling in so many ways, to start sliding a little bit. Texans have, all of a sudden, the big game against the Broncos this week. If they win this one, I could see them sliding into that wild card spot. And they just have this keep suspicion because I think that quarterback is really good.
That we could see the Texans again this year.
I wouldn't be surprised. I certainly wouldn't be surprised, especially the way things have been playing out and the schedule that they have the back half is a lot easier than what the Jaguars are gonna be.
You certain look at the Bengals too, you know.
I mean, they're coming in here and they struggled offensively yesterday, and they're on the schedule. There's just it works with the way that it rolls out that the Texans playing well, and they have played well, could finding their way into the wild card.
I'd be surprised they play again, But I get your point. You may not be wrong with a hot take.
It's not a.
Mildly we're going hot today, we're hot takes. John was your hot take?
I think I went with so mature and so good, And what I mean by that is the difference between this time last year and this team, maybe not this time last year, but mid season two and six and couldn't get out of their own way in terms of winning. Now. At the top of the show, you asked me biggest impression the will and the inevitability of the win.
On of.
It felt like they were going to figure out a way to win that game. They were the better team, they out gained them in yards, and yet once they got down fourteen thirteen, they didn't blink. And next drive they come back, big time players, made big time plays and you're up seven and the next drive you're up ten. They said, no, no, no, this is gonna be our game. This is our time. That's impressive and to me, that's mature. Sixteen of the last twenty two games they've won. Seven
of the last eight games they've won. They stay ahead of teams. It's not always pretty, but again I keep talking about Doug puts them in situations where their percentages of winning the game are better late in the game. And that's how you have to play in the NFL. And they have become a sure team before our eyes. For whatever they're not, they have a knack for winning. And what I know, we've said that around the Jaguars
for years. Brian about the but boy is it refreshing to see and cool to see and very interesting to watch.
The man it is quick thought.
Calvin Ridley had no catchers in the first half and on those two drives where they went touchdown field goal back to back to grab ten point lead. He had four catches and the two point conversion, So that was really encouraging to see that the quarterback and his number one receiver were on the same page when the game was on the line, when it mattered the most.
Well, and even when they've staggered offensively this season, they've had a tendency to do that big game against the Bills where they had big plays, second half falcons, big plays and second half orand I mean, they come up with big plays when they need to. You love it to be more often and more consistent. And it was funny in the locker room afterward. They felt offensively like they move the ball at will. They really felt like
it could have been a thirty five point game for them. See, you keep feeling like they're close, but short of being like a juggernaut, I'd like to have the team that makes big plays a key times right now, they're that.
And That's where I'm going with my hot take. I'm gonna be a little bit nitpicky today, happy with the win, but I still want more. I talked about that second touchdown from them that getting the offensive pen the PI call, and then going in getting that touchdown to Calvin Ridley finding your best receiver when you needed that touchdown to bounce back after the Texans has just gone and scored.
I want more from that, though. I want them to score before the Texans get the ball back, so that the game is out of reach, so we don't need to Josh Allen massive sacks to set up that field goal.
I want them to close things out and they can, and they're so close to doing it, whether it's you know, getting that touchdown right before they have to take them out right then or later on when I was saying when they could have got that touchdown so that the Texans got the ball back, it wasn't as close as it was. They're right there and I know they can do it, and that's why I am so excited to see how they evolve in the last couple of games.
And these are the games so we've had circled down the calendar and they take on the Ravens the Bengals. I know they don't have Bro, but it's still going to be a huge game. And I'm just excited because I feel like they're right there right there.
Third and two, right, I mean, you've got to be able to convert on third down or two, and that's what they have struggled at. It's the worst conversion percentage they have and that's the thing that has held the back. By the way, I got to give them credit the we're very good and third down yesterday. But if they can convert on third and two on the coal line, it's twenty to seven and a half.
It was first to goal. But you get my point.
Be able to run get that bawl two yards up the field when you want two yards not six two.
And you have a completely different ballgame.
This is a young team and the coach keeps harping on it, so I will too.
They haven't done anything yet.
That's the growth that we could see over the final six weeks that might make all the difference between hosting a playoff game and hosting two playoff games.
I like the sounds of that. Here's hoping all right. Coming up after the break, we'll talk a little bit about what we've got going on this week before Monday Night football. Jag fans, if you want customize Daguars furniture for your home, check out zipchare dot com to browse
all the customizable options. Zip Chair is furniture for fans. Also, Florida Blue is proud to be the exclusive health insurance partner and supporter of the Jacksonville community as the official community partner of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
I mean, very impressed for a rookie quarterback to come in and you know, perform at this level. The way he's thrown the ball, I just really admire his poise. Quite frankly, He's he's putting the ball where he wants to put it, meaning it's very accurate throws.
You know, he's got.
The ability to to escape and move and still keep his eyes down the field. I think that's a that's a unique trait for a young quarterback to be able to do. You know, and they're shooting the ball down the field. You know, they're making making big plays down the field. And it's just what you see is it's gaining it's gaining confidence each week in him and his team. You know, that's a that's a reflection of coach, you know, Ryan Demko, and just been really impressed with him.
Back here in Jags Am Big went over the Texans yesterday a good battle between Trevor Lawrence and c. J. Stroud. But now we get to turn to Monday Night Football and they haven't had that. We haven't had that around here in a while.
Right twenty and eleven December two thousand and eleven. It was the first game after Shad was announced as the prospective owner, and it was the first game after Wayne we we fired Jack del Rio. So it was Mel Tucker's first game as the interim coach, and in came the then San Diego Chargers and walloped him, walloped him
thirty eight to fourteen. However, the Jaguars went one to one on Monday Night Football that year because they beat the Ravens in a four field goal win twelve to seven on Monday Night Football back in late September early October.
Yeah, that was one of the more improbable Jaguars victories of the last fifty. I mean, they played great in that game, great atmosphere, and I expect an unbelievable atmosphere on Monday. It's gonna be cool.
They're eight and seven all time in fifteen Monday Night Football appearances, but they haven't been on Monday Night Football in twelve years. So that's changing, right, I mean, it's obviously changing this Monday. But I'm telling you the way that the national media in the last twelve hours have gravitated towards this CJ. Stroud Trevor Lawrence matchup, this is going to be one of those games that the network say, I want that one for Thursday, and I want that
one for Monday Night. I want that a primetime game. So buckle up, you're gonna see the Jags in a primetime schedule down. I know you're gonna hate it. That's gonna be awesome.
It's not gonna be a lot of one o'clock kickoffs, but the Jags are gonna be a team. They're on Monday Night Football primetime.
We'll talk about it, I'm sure as this week goes on, but it's gonna be a great environment. I'm very excited that Monday Night football is coming back to Jacksonville, so I'm sure all the fans are. It's gonna be a good one against the Bengals. But until Wednesday, we'll see you back here on Jags Am.