Heading into Sunday, there weren’t many positives to take from Jacksonville’s 2021 season. The team sat at just 1-6, and its only win came against another NFL cellar dweller in the Miami Dolphins.
But the Jaguars shocked the league this week with a 9-6 win over a Buffalo Bills team that is considered to be among the most talented in football and is almost guaranteed to make the playoffs. It’s the biggest win this franchise has had in a while, and it certainly caught the attention of the national media.
In his team grades for Week 9, CBS Sports’ John Breech was impressed with the Jags’ play, giving them an “A+” grade for the victory.
Josh Allen might have been the star of the show for Jacksonville, but the Jags were able to win because they got a little bit of help from everyone. The Jags scored on two of their first three possessions and that was mostly because Trevor Lawrence started off pretty hot, going 8 of 11 for 67 yards on those two scoring drives. Carlos Hyde also gave the Jags an impressive performance as he rushed for 67 yards while filling in for an injured James Robinson. Of course, the Jags wouldn’t have won this game without kicker Matthew Wright, who scored all of Jacksonville’s points with field goals from 21, 39 and 55 yards.
Jacksonville had trouble finishing in the red zone, which is part of what allowed this game to remain so close, but the offense did just enough to get the win, and the defense (led by Allen, who had eight tackles, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery) was dominant against one of the most explosive groups in football.
It was certainly an encouraging sign for a Jacksonville team that has come close against likely playoff teams in the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals but came up just short. With a winnable game on the horizon against the division rival Indianapolis Colts, the Jaguars have a chance to get a winning streak going for the first time since Weeks 7 and 8 in the 2019 season.