ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith Fails To Give Jaguars Credit for Win Over Bills

You can't win everyone over.

The story from the Jacksonville Jaguars' 25-20 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 should be that the Jaguars are a legitimate contender in the AFC. Instead, though, it appears many talking heads are shifting narratives to downplay the significance of the Jaguars' win.

"We can't look at a team that has the Jets and Jacksonville in their loss column for the season and definitively say, yo, they are going to be the team to beat. They are going to be alright," ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said on First Take on Wednesday.

"Buffalo deserves a pass against Jacksonville. The game is in London, Jacksonville has been sitting there. And Buffalo lost a million guys on defense," Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo said.

"So we have to give them a little break with the Jacksonville game."

Luckily for the Jaguars, and unluckily for First Take, there are never any asterisks placed on an NFL game. The Jaguars were the better team vs. the Bills, just like they were two years ago when Trevor Lawrence and the then-Urban Meyer-led Jaguars beat Josh Allen, Sean McDermott and the Bills.

Now, the Jaguars will have to ensure they don't have a let-down game in Week 6 against the Colts. As long as they continue to take care of business like they're supposed to, then the credit will eventually start coming in.

“Well, that’s just it. We’ve got to continue that, the energy that I saw the last two games on the sidelines in Wembley and Tottenham, the way the guys were flying around, we can’t leave it in London," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Wednesday.

"It’s got to come back with us and we’ve got to experience that again this Sunday. It’s a week-to-week business and the emotions run so high each and every week, you’ve got to be a little bit better each week and the next week and the next week. Keeping it real, keeping it to what we do and our process here, getting better today and tomorrow, just focusing on one day at a time.”