Fortunately, for the Colts, they didn't clinch the division title on a day when they lost, 44-17. The Jaguars did that in 1998, when circumstances allowed them to clinch the franchise's first-ever division title on a day when the Jaguars suffered a humiliating 50-10 defeat in Minnesota.
Yeah, it was a real hollow feeling, as it would've been for the Colts. How do you celebrate on a day when your chief division rival proved beyond a doubt that it is the superior team?
The Colts will clinch. Oh, yeah, they'll win their fourth consecutive AFC South title. If they don't do it next Sunday, they'll do it the following Sunday or the one after that. They finish with games against Houston and Miami. All they need is one win or one Jaguars loss.
When that day arrives, they'll know, however, that they are not the best team in the AFC South. The Colts know that now. They won't admit it, but they know it. The Jaguars earned that respect in a victory on Sunday that left the Colts battered and bowed.
"We can't say that because we had the opportunity to be where the Colts are right now and we didn't capitalize on it. That's just like Michigan," Marcus Stroud said, referring to the whole Michigan, Ohio State college football debate.
Well, it's actually not the same. Michigan lost to Ohio State.
The Jaguars could've shot their mouths off big-time following Sunday's game. When you rush for 375 yards and so dominate your opponent physically that it can't so much as stop a simple dive play, you can do or say anything you want.
When your first play from scrimmage results in a 76-yard run and your second play gains 18 yards and a touchdown, you can claim the division title flag and the other guys don't dare open their mouths. The Jaguars, however, did none of that. They were cautioned, no doubt, not to humiliate themselves with such bravado.
Jack Del Rio got his team's head straight a few weeks ago. Del Rio let it be known that it was time to get serious about the season. It was time to get it done, which has nothing to do with words and everything to do with actions.
So, Del Rio issued a gag order. His players are forbidden to use the "P" word. Any player uttering the word "playoffs" is almost certain to be fined and vilified by his coach and his teammates.
Del Rio chooses to use the "D" word. His players are not forbidden to speak of their "destiny."
Are the Jaguars a team of destiny?
"I see a long future ahead," Ernest Wilford said.
Yeah, more and more every week the Jaguars are beginning to look like a team headed for the postseason. They have the look of a team getting hot at the right time of the year. The Jaguars may be this year's Steelers.
"This is '06, this is the Jaguars and we're going to take this one game at a time. The next game is against the Titans," Paul Spicer said.
"You have to feel like you're better. There are a lot of games we could look back on and say we shouldn't have lost, but we did," Spicer added.
Specifically, the Jaguars will look back on two losses against the Texans. Just as two losses to the Texans kept the Jaguars out of the playoffs in 2004, they'll cost the Jaguars the AFC South division title this year.
The Colts are going to win the crown, but it was the Texans who beat the Jaguars.
"It is what it is," John Henderson said.
