Jets Get First Win of the Season, Placing Jaguars in Driver’s Seat for No. 1 Pick
As the clock ticked down to zero in Los Angeles, a collective yell of celebration went up on separate coasts.
One from the gang green's sideline as the New York Jets notched their first win of the 2020 NFL season, beating the Los Angeles Rams in a 23-20 upset.
The other was from the First Coast, as Jacksonville Jaguars fans relished in the new draft order.
With the Jets grabbing their first win, the Jaguars now own the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Both teams have a 1-13 record now, but Jacksonville moves to the top of the list thanks to a worse strength of schedule. The Jaguars have a .554 strength of schedule, compared to the Jets .593.
Each team has two games remaining on their 2020 regular schedule. Of course, there remains the possibility for the draft schedule to change yet again in the final two games. For the Jaguars to stay at the top of the draft board, they would likely need to lose the final two games. If they do win, they would need the Jets to win at least one more as well.
On the same afternoon the Jets upset the Rams, the Jaguars lost in a 40-14 blowout in Baltimore, the most lopsided loss of Jacksonville's wayward season.
“I mean, I can tell you what I told them in the locker room. I told them that, ‘Hey listen, we came out here today and this team was clearly the better team today. There’s a lot of things that—there’s some things, obviously, I thought we did well and then—but for the most part, I’m not going to point those out. Obviously, we weren’t good enough at all those...'" Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said after the game.
"I told the players after the game, kind of gave them—talked to them about our schedule next week, talked about our mindset, talking about playing our last home game and really trying to put this game behind us quickly and move forward. Meaning that we’re going to try to go on to Chicago, instead of—you know, this team has been going through a lot, they’ve been trying hard—and we understand that and I know they’re professionals. But if we gather up all of us together, coaches and players, the greatest gift that we can all give to each other is the gift of winning a football game. That’s what I told them afterwards.”
The Jaguars face the Chicago Bears (7-7) on December 27 and then conclude the 2020 season with a road game against the Indianapolis Colts (10-4) on January 3 on the road. The Jets will welcome the Cleveland Browns (9-4) next Sunday and then travel for a finale with the New England Patriots (6-8).
The Cincinnati Bengals are two games behind at 2-10-1.
The race for No. 1 is essentially a race for Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawerence. There is more for Lawrence on offense in Jacksonville.
Despite the Jags' enduring a franchise-record losing streak at 13, linebacker Myles Jack insists for the players on the field at least, there is no intention of "tanking."
"I deleted my Instagram and Twitter [but] I still have my Facebook and I still see it from fans," Jack revealed to local reporters on Thursday.
"[Some media] and a lot of fans, they’re definitely [saying that]. You hear it, you can’t run from it. Even when you go out to the gas station and you run into somebody there talking about [Clemson QB] Trevor Lawrence or [Ohio State QB] Justin Fields or the tight end from Florida [Kyle Pitts], all those guys. You can’t run from it. It is what it is and if you turn on ESPN, you’re going to see it too.
"Obviously for me, I’m like, ‘Heck no, I want to win these three, four games’ and blow all that but I get it from a fan perspective. But we’re still out there fighting for our jobs, fighting for our livelihoods. At the end of the day, the NFL doesn’t pay losers, they pay winners. You win, you get rewarded. You lose, it gets kind of ugly. So, from our perspective, we’re like, ‘No, we’re not going out there tanking.’ If anybody’s thinking that, we’re not doing that. I promise you. If it was up to me, we’d be 16-0 right now, but that’s just how it goes. We’re not trying to tank, so [I’ll] throw that out there.”
The 2021 NFL Draft will begin on April 29 in Cleveland, Ohio.
