Jacksonville v Buffalo: A Masterclass

JT: Jaguars, you complete me.

I feel like Dougie P. constantly says the phrase “all three phases,” and I feel that way because he constantly says the phrase “all three phases.” Well, it was finally heard…by…all three phases of the Jaguars football team this past Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. If a better, more complete game, from whistle to whistle, which, yes, is also a synonym for “complete game,” has been played by this Jacksonville team in the past two seasons, under head coach Doug Pederson, then it was certainly not on display for my viewing pleasure (I figured I’d get the obligatory run-on sentence out of the way at the top today). The Jacksonville Jaguars put on a masterclass, a Ted Talk, a clinic, if you will, of a football game from across the pond, to end their two week stint in London. It was such a big win that Pug Dederson exclaimed in his locker room speech afterward that he was sure the flight home was going to be a sweet one. Folks, this wasn’t just a win, this has the potential to be a franchise changing moment (too much?). Think about it, but not too hard, I’m well aware that the cumulative IQ of my readership can least afford to hurt any brain cells. The Jags were coming off of the worst loss imaginable, at home, to the Houston Texans. Just an old fashioned, behind the woodshed beat down. Yes, they sandwiched an ATL victory in between, but that dub means nothing compared to the upside-down, iconic, yellow Mickey D’s “M” that JAX just posted on Buffalo. Buffalo was the beast of the league coming into this game. They, the third and often forgotten team of New York, were putting up NBA type digits on teams like the Miami Dolphins, who scored 70 points the week before the Bills held them to 20. 38, 37, 48. Those are the points Buffalo put on the board in their previous three games. And their defense is nothing to sneeze at either. They held opponents to 10, 3, and 20 in the three games leading up to their Tottenham showdown with JAX. Plus it’s Buffalo. The team that for the past three years has been assumed a playoff spot and whom can easily be seen in the Super Bowl. This is Josh Allen, Stefan Diggs, Gabe Davis, Dalton Kincaid, O’Cyrus Torrence (should have been drafted by the Jags some might say), Von Miller (hurt at the beginning but able to play in this past game), Leonard Floyd, Micah Hyde, and Damar Hamlin (hats off to that kid), that we are talking about. This is a phenomenal team. The best team in the entire league over the past three weeks, save maybe for San Francisco. But frankly I hate San Fran since they closed Alcatraz, not the audio tours, but the actual prison. How can we enjoy a good prison escape movie if they keep closing all of the good prisons from which to escape? Look, what I’m trying to so eloquently put into words, is that beating this Buffalo team as thoroughly and convincingly, and frankly dominatingly (probably not a word) as Jacksonville did could very well be the pivotal moment needed for JAX to officially turn the corner as a franchise. I realize that the playoff win over the San Diego Chargers last year was unbelievably amazing and may also be pointed to as “the one” that changed it all, but the San Diego Chargers are not two things: 1) They certainly weren’t as good as the Buffalo Bills currently are. And B) They aren’t the San Diego Chargers anymore. Why does L.A. have to double up on everything? I’m looking at you the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. What’s the max mileage one has to be from Los Angeles in order for them not to be able to claim you as theirs? I’m sure, with their recent success, they’ve got Mr. Irrelevant’s boys in L.A.’s crosshairs. Hell, even the 49ers don’t play in San Francisco. They reside at Levi’s Stadium in San Jose. I blame all of this incorrect city crap on Jack Kent Cooke and his Redskins. He built Washington’s (abysmally horrible) stadium in Maryland and then renamed the surrounding area “Raljon, Maryland” after his sons, who, mind you, promptly lost the team to the likes of one Daniel Snyder. Snyder, in his infinite wisdom, then proceeded to run the storied franchise into the ground, stomp on it, cover it with manure, and stored construction site port-o-johns on top of it, for the entirety of his tenure. The love I have for that man obviously has no bounds (please read the sarcasm in the room). And now we’ve gotten the obligatory JaguarsTalk tangent out of the way. What in the hell was I talking about?

Ah yes, this Jaguars win over Buffalo, I foresee as being the Johnny Drama Viking Quest (should I italicize a fictional television show that only existed within an actual television show?) “victory” that turns the corner for this Jacksonville franchise. It meant something to beat Buffalo at their peak. Not only did the Jags win the game but they led the entire time. They dominated in almost every statistical category in existence. The Jags had 29 first downs to Buffalo’s 18. The Jags 3rd down efficiency, which remember, was in one of Dan Snyder’s toilets being stored in Raljon, Maryland, all season, against Buffalo was an outstanding 10 for 18. Folks, Jacksonville ran a ridiculous 82 offensive plays to Buffalo’s 54. Let that sink in. A little longer… Okay. Just imagine how exhausted the Bill’s defense was in the fourth quarter. No wonder Travis Etienne Jr. had himself a game. The Jaguars out rushed the Bills 196 yards to 29, and I think Josh Allen was their leading rusher. I could look that up but I’m lazy and you already get my point. As if that weren’t enough to illustrate my theme of total Jacksonville domination let me please get to the climax, the crescendo, the culmination, the coup de grace. And yes, I own a thesaurus. The Jaguars time of possession in this game was an unimaginable 38:12. That’s 64% of the entire game. I rounded up. Now, Josh Allen’s late game, what seemed like 4 second, drive for a touchdown made the game a little closer than I would have liked, but in actuality the Jaguars owned the Bills from the get go.

Trevor Lawrence was phenomenal. He was throwing the ball better than I have ever seen him. Did you see that dime he dropped right into a Calvin Ridley basket on an unbelievably important third down? Of course you saw that because it was the biggest play of the game. And for the cherry on top, T-Law checked to that play after noticing a cover zero blitz leaving a safety, Micah Hyde, one on one with Kenny Rogers (you know, The Gambler, ‘cause Ridley was suspended for gambling. Too soon to joke about? My bad). Trevor then somehow floated that biscuit right in the basket. It was a pass that would have made Craig Laughlin proud. And, mind you, T-Law was under extreme duress. You can’t block everyone on an all out blitz. Lord Farquaad was about to get smacked in the face (literally as they were only calling the helmet to helmet hits on the Bill’s QB). Trevor Lawrence, you keep this up and Shad Kahn is about to be your ambassador of quan. Yeah, T-dog had a couple three fumbles, but one we recovered, one wasn’t his fault, and the other, well that was totally Trevor’s bad. But, why must we bring something horrible into something fantastic. It’s like the guy who shows up to your Sunday BBQ with a sixer of White Claw. Really bruh? Bottom line is Trevor was the Trevor we expect in 90% of the outings state side. It’s your fault, bud, you done showed us what you can do, now we want it all the time.

Sticking with the offense, Big Play Zay was back in action after missing last weeks ATL game. Zay Jones made an immediate impact by catching an acrobatic grab in the back of the end zone, and this time dragging both feet for the score. I really thought we were gong to miss Marvin Jones Jr.’s ability to make big play catches in the paint but… Nope. Unfortunately Zay re-injured himself and wasn’t able to finish the game. I heard from the big guy, D.P., that Z.J. is day to day. That’s a good sign. What’s not a good sign is that our offensive line is still very offensive (the word has two different meanings). Yes Cam Robinson was back but he wasn’t “back” to his old self yet. He should be though. He has zero excuses. He wasn’t hurt. He’s been practicing. He’s all juiced up on roids now, so I expect him to step on that field ready to go. He was responsible for one of Trevor’s fumbles. With Cam back, the Jaguars best overall O-lineman, Walker Little, was moved to guard. He played so well at that position that Hall of Fame Tony Boselli said he believes Little to be the best tackle AND guard on the Jags entire line. That’s a great player for the Jaguars to have, except for the fact that they don’t, because he got injured and it looks like it’s his knee. Not good folks, not good at all. This O-line has been the Eigthch-a-leees heel (oh come on you remember that Wheel of Fortune episode) of the entire team. What Press Taylor plans to do to rework that hot mess will be interesting to see. On a more positive note Calvin Ridley had his coming out party. My man went 7 of 8 for 122 yards. If I were a gambling man I’d bet (I just can’t help myself, Calvin. If you’re reading this then I am… freakin’ surprised, but also deeply apologetic) we’ll see a performance like this one again. He was sure handed and fast all day long. C-Kirk was 6 of 8 for 78, and frankly, minus a few White Claws (see earlier) on offense (the O-line play, the utterly depressing waste of our second and third draft picks this year, selecting two players that have been more detrimental to JAX than helpful thus far), Jacksonville’s O was humming along.

Not to be outdone, the Jacksonville defense wrote their own mission statement, not a memo, but a mission statement that would have made Dicky Fox proud. This group, save one small hiccup against the Texans, have been cooking on all cylinders and firing with gas since the beginning of the pre-season. D-Will had a second note worthy game in a row, ripping the ball away from super star wide out Stefan Diggs to claim his second interception in as many games. It was a pivotal play that stopped a strong drive for the Bills. To keep with this Jerry McGuire theme that has blossomed throughout this column, this is an example of The Things We Think and Do Not Say. Josh Allen (the good one) got himself another sack against Josh Allen (the bad one). Oh no, he did. The refs made what I consider the worst call of the weekend (well, minus Mario Cristobal’s horrific call to run a play instead of taking a knee in victory formation and winning the game). By throwing a roughing the passer flag on an incredibly clean hit, the refs negated a third down sack that would have ended a Bill’s scoring drive. Dare I say though that Josh Allen (the good one) is crushing it this contract season and is providing the only pass rush from the entirety of our defense. No interior push exists and while Travon Walker has proven himself to be an excellent run stuffer, he has shown that he will never be a pass rusher (dreams of Aidan Hutchinson dancing in my head). Might I make a tiny suggestion for the benefit of one Mr. Mike Caldwell, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator? I’ve been making this suggestion since the beginning of time. Move Walker to the interior line and put Smoot or Lloyd on the edge. Better yet, make a trade before the deadline to get the other slice of bread to complete our edge rush sandwich. We can’t go all the way with only one pass rusher no matter how great a year Josh Allen is having. BTW Shad, while you have your check book out for Trevor, you may want to consider stroking one for #41. Show him the money, baby. The beast from Kentucky is earning his next contract in a big way. Let’s hope he gets it in JAX.

There were other great players in this Bills game as well. Engram had a wildly smart play on the on-side kick by knocking the ball out of bounds. Travis Etienne had his second best career game (ironically his first was last year against the Broncos, also in London). He ran like it was his job (I am aware that it is) and it was a delight to witness my man break the goal line, not once but twice. Tyson Campbell was on point, the entire Jacksonville defense, in fact, was tackling like they took their Oluokun pill that morning. It would be interesting to see the yards after catch stat for Buffalo’s offense. I bet it’s in the single digits. I’d look it up, but again…lazy. In truth, I tried googling it for the past 15 seconds but to no avail. It was a valient effort, thus now I need a nap. Let me know your thoughts on this game in the comment section below.