Column: Jaguars Still Have Much More to Prove, But Some Respect is Deserved
In the NFL, there is truly no such thing as moral victories. There are games in which a fanbase can live with losing due to glimpses of hope elsewhere. There are games where a scrappy underdog just barely loses to a propped up contender. But for those inside locker rooms and on the sidelines, a loss is the worst result possible no matter the context.
But even with that in mind, it needs to be considered what the Jacksonville Jaguars can gain from Sunday's 33-30 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Jacksonville lost in Nashville for the seventh year in a row and dropped to 1-1 after having a chance to start 2-0, but the Jaguars can still walk away from Sunday's frustrating thought with one thing: respect.
For the last several months, the Jaguars' entire organization had to hear from those on the outside about how bad they would look once the 2020 season began. But through two weeks, the Jaguars have done more than enough to at least earn some respect from their detractors.
Departures of big names like Jalen Ramsey, Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue led to a narrative from the national media, and likely even some within the league itself, that the Jaguars were purposefully tanking the 2020 season.
Through two weeks, though, the Jaguars have done anything but tank. They have fought hard, punching back nearly every time a team has forced them to step up. They have looked exciting, even good at times. They haven't been perfect like some other teams, and they have their fair share of issues, but they also look nothing like the team people claimed they would be this season.
They have averaged nearly 30 points a game and have won a division game against the Indianapolis Colts, who were a trendy Super Bowl pick this offseason. Sure they lost on Sunday, but it was a far cry from the double-digit losses they have become accustomed to in Nashville. If the Jaguars didn't make two costly special teams errors, or if the referees made just a few different calls, then there is a good chance we are talking about the Jaguars as a 2-0 team who is atop the AFC South.
Jacksonville has a far way to go and a lot to improve upon. Gardner Minshew is still taking too many unnecessary sacks. The defense has allowed way too yards through the air and has been unable to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. The team is still getting off to far too many slow starts.
But the Jaguars also have quite a few things that are worth being excited about. The much-maligned run defense looks to have improved. The offensive line has answered the call to step up their game. And Minshew, the former sixth-round pick who people clamored for the Jaguars to upgrade from this offseason, is tied for the second-most touchdown passes in the league through two weeks.
Jacksonville has played tough football over the last two weeks and aside from a few slow starts, they have looked like they belonged. Most claimed the Jaguars would look like an expansion-level team in 2020, but instead they look like a team that nobody wants to have circled on their calendar.
1-1 is no reason to annoint any team, and the Jaguars have done nothing to earn such annointment yet. But they have done more than enough to earn respect; something they seemingly are hard-pressed to find no matter the situation.
The Jaguars may not be a good football team, but they certainly look like they are not a bad one. And until that changes, they deserve more respect than they have been given.
