SEASON SLIPS AWAY AS JAGS LOSE TO COLTS, FALL TO LAST IN AFC SOUTH

Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire

The Jaguars suffered another crushing defeat at the hands of the Colts Sunday. All is lost for the 2018 season. 

---

The Jaguars 2018 season is over.

Players in the locker room aren’t yet willing to admit it, but this season isn’t going to see the Jaguars earn a playoff berth. Myles Jack and Calais Campbell both talked about having a shot at the playoffs following the loss. But in order to do so the Jaguars would need to win seven straight games and get a lot of help from other teams. The AFC South division leading Texans have won six straight, while the Titans inched above .500 with a win over the Patriots and the Colts took a one game lead over the now cellar dwelling kitty cats from Duval. Players still insist that the Jaguars can get this thing turned around, but the chances of that are slimmer than ever. How can a team that can’t win one stinking game in their last five tries expect to pull off seven straight? And even if they do there’s a good chance the playoffs still won’t happen. There are too many teams with better records than the Jaguars in the AFC right now to think that the playoffs are realistic. Only one team in the AFC has fewer wins than the Jaguars. That team? The 2018 NFL punchline Oakland Raiders.

At 3-6, after a brutal loss to the Colts, this Jaguars season — while the team is not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention — is going to go down as the most disappointing in franchise history.

Against the Colts on Sunday Blake Bortles and the offense did more than enough. The return of Leonard Fournette did, in fact, help the Jaguars offense get rolling. LF27 scored twice on the day and racked up over 100 total yards. Bortles was highly efficient, completing over 68% of his passes and throwing for over 300 yards with two TD passes. And for the most part the receivers did their job.

But, like so many times before in 2018, the Jaguars found a way to lose. Whether you want to blame this one on the horrendous coverage played by the Jaguars defense in the first half that led to 29 Colts point in the first two quarters, or the failures of the kicking game, or the Rashad Greene fumble to end the Jaguars’ valiant comeback attempt, one thing is crystal clear: these Jaguars are really good at finding ways to lose.
​
Whether or not you’ve given up hope on this season won’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Changes will be made this offseason and maybe sooner. A Jaguars team that started the season 3-1 and had legitimate Super Bowl aspirations is now all but eliminated from the playoffs and we’re not even half way through November.

The Jaguars take on the Steelers — in a game that got flexed out of a primetime spot due to the ineptitude of the Jaguars — next Sunday at 1pm at EverBank Field. Whether the Jags win or lose that game likely won’t have much significance to the outcome of the 2018 regular season. But for those still grasping at straws a win would allow you to continue to do so. 

PS: If a miracle does take place over the next seven weeks, I’ll be the first to eat my words. But I’m not holding my breath.