JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – What a win for the Jaguars. The 17-10 win over the Texans was great, but how they did it was what impressed me.
Foye Oluokun likes to say, “Gritty not pretty.” And that fits this win to a T. It was a rough road to get there, but a win is a win.
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That quote from Oluokun fits, but I feel like this one from “The Replacements” fits better: “You know what separates the winners from the losers? Getting back on the horse after getting kicked in the teeth.”
That was the theme of this game -- getting back on the horse after getting kicked in the teeth.
1. The Jags lost last week and need a bounce back, and they found a way to get it done.
2. There was a busted coverage where Tyson Campbell passed off Nico Collins and no one was there, so he walked in for a 50-yard touchdown. Campbell comes back a few minutes later to force a game-changing fumble.
3. Brian Thomas Jr. has struggled this season and continued to struggle most of the game. In crunch time, the Jags called his number and he got loose for 46 yards to help set up the game-winning TD.
This team got back on the horse to finish the game. That matters. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but games against teams in the division normally aren’t.
That game was personal; it’s pretty clear to anyone watching that the Jags and the Texans don’t like each other. Trevor Lawrence is normally pretty level-headed, but he got a little fiery and had to be pulled away from Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on the field. Getting a win in an emotional game like that goes a long way.
Were there problems on the offense? Oh yes. The drops are an issue for sure. The Texans were daring the Jags to let Lawrence beat them, but the passing game just couldn’t do it. On the flip side, the defense played a great game. Josh Hines-Allen was a one-man wrecking crew.
The box score doesn’t even tell the whole story for this guy. The defense had their third straight game with takeaways. That brings them to nine turnovers this year. They had nine turnovers all of last season. Talk about a difference.
I get it, there was a lot of bad in this game. But just a week ago we were talking about a team that needed to learn how to finish. A week later, they finish. How can you be that upset?