JACKSONVILLE – Whatever the records, this is big. Legitimately so.
The Jaguars (9-4) will host the New York Jets (3-11) at EverBank Stadium Sunday afternoon – and if that matchup doesn’t sound or look as dazzling as some Jaguars matchups this season, make no mistake:
Dazzling doesn’t matter here. Winning does.
“Where we’re at in our season, every week is really critical,” Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said.
The Jaguars, winners of four consecutive games, lead the AFC South by a game over both the surging Houston Texans (8-5) and struggling Indianapolis Colts (8-5) – with the Texans having won 5 consecutive games and the Colts having lost 3 consecutive games.
The reality of those shifting division sands is this: The Jaguars, while appearing to be peaking at the right time – and while deserving of their status as division leaders and AFC contenders – have clinched nothing to date.
“Our division’s a tight race,” Lawrence said. “It’s not like we’ve got this huge lead and can afford to mess around and lose any game. We’re taking it 1 game at a time and nothing’s bigger than this game against New York Sunday.”
Make no mistake here, either: The Jets are a dangerous late-season opponent. They have a first-year Head Coach, Aaron Glenn, and teams with first-year head coaches typically play hard through season’s end. They have won 3 of the last 6 games and have scored at least 27 points in each of those 3 victories.