LONDON – Let's get to it …
Brian from Wheeling
Gritty not pretty, but good teams stick around and win at the end. Duval.
The Jaguars beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 19-17, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Sunday in a game so wild with so many storylines that it's tricky to analyze all of them in one column – much less in one O-Zone answer. The victory absolutely was gritty and not pretty, and the Jaguars needed something close to a miracle after the Eagles took a 17-16 lead with :08 remaining on Jake Elliott's 48-yard field goal. They got something close to a miracle when running back Ameer Abdullah returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to the Eagles 39-yard line, then got something not quite a miracle but still damned memorable when kicker Cam Little kicked a game-winning 57-yard field goal as time expired. The Jaguars committed a slew of penalties Sunday – too many penalties. They failed to score twice after having the ball at the Eagles' 1-yard line. And all absolutely seemed lost after Elliott's field goal. But you're absolutely correct that good teams stick around and play hard the entire game – and in professional football, you win sometimes when you do that. Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was destiny. But the idea in the NFL is to win however you can, go back and prepare to do the same the next week. This is a good team. It will win plenty of games in one-sided fashion and it already has won twice in that fashion. Getting the tight ones is how you build memorable seasons and the Jaguars are doing that.
Brian from Yulee
How was this a Jags home game? First, they have Jason Kelce commentating. Second, they are talking about the Eagles the entire time. Doesn't make sense.
These are a couple of hot-button topics from Sunday's game. As I wrote in O-Zone Late Night late Sunday night, I'll address them for the sake of not ignoring them but I won't dwell on the issues because I have little to add. Sunday was a Jaguars home game because the schedule said it was a Jaguars home game. Eagles fans dramatically outnumbered – and out-hollered Jaguars fans – because the Eagles are a legacy team from a very large city and their fans travel well. Even internationally. Many Jaguars fans were also upset that former Eagles center Jason Kelce seemed partial to his old team while commentating the game on television. I understand why this irritates fans. If I were a fan and listening to the broadcast, I expect I also would have been irritated. I can't explain, nor do I much care about, what commentators say about the Jaguars and that's why I'm not emotional about the topic. I am not saying it is wrong for fans to be irritated. I'm just saying I have nothing pertinent to say about it. And so we move forward.
Jacob from Y
How?
By never quitting. That's a little corny, and it doesn't explain everything, but it explains a lot about Sunday.
Vince from St. Augustine, FL
Please do not patronize us by telling us that there's no such thing as a bad win. And none of that stuff about good teams finding a way to win, to overcome adversity, to take advantage of other teams' mistakes. Sure, granted, the Jags won. And yeah, you could say, a win is a win. But if there was ever a time to categorize it as a bad win, this one defined it. Can you say something original about the way the Jags won other than "lucky?"
Saying there's no such thing as a bad win is not the way I'm patronizing you.
Haney from Little Elm, TX
Awesome to see the old Jaguars show up inside the 5-yard line. Ugh.
The Eagles stopped the Jaguars with a goal-line stand late in the first half. It was frustrating. What the scenario had to do with the "old Jaguars," I haven't the foggiest idea.
Red from Savannah, GA
Pass play on second down when trying to run out the clock??? Horrible play calling for the entire game.
The Jaguars had 408 yards of offense Sunday against a good, physical defense featuring one of the NFL's better defensive coordinators in Vic Fangio. It will be interesting to see how good this offense can be when Head Coach Liam Coen – widely and correctly considered one of the NFL's best offensive minds, and perhaps the biggest reason the Jaguars are one of the NFL's best teams – learns to call plays.
Paul from St. Augustine, FL
Hallelujah! Holy &^%! Where's the Tylenol?!?
Winning is cool. Fans like it.
Johnny from Jax
Ws are hard in the NFL, so I'll take it. However, you always take the points away from home. Always. Also, the two delays with two timeouts left late in the fourth quarter is mind numbing. Must be my birthday or something.
"Taking points" is sometimes the right move. It's not always the right move. It's a comparatively difficult move when you're playing with a backup long snapper.
Sammy from The Cape
Sad to say. This team is still a joke! Mistakes and penalties. Same as it has been for 20 years. Respect? From this view, they get more national respect than they deserve. They still have too many B level players starting. And quarterback Trevor Lawrence will always be just a guy if he can't rise to the occasion. This defense gives up too many chunk plays (what else is new). Sorry. It is what it is.
Stop. For your own sake.
Vance from Hilo
What's up with all the penalties: 13 for 100 Sunday, last week 13 for 125? Where's the discipline. Can't keep doing that and expecting to keep winning. Piss poor play.
The numbers are accurate, with the Jaguars called for 13 accepted penalties for 100 yards Sunday after being called for 13 for 125 yards in a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals last week. The positive for the Jaguars is they won both of those games and are 4-1 for the season. But you're right that it's very hard to continue winning with 100 or more penalty yards per game.
JAY from THE BURG FL.
DH! Wow! When it comes down to one play, that's the play you have to make. This team just keeps playing. That's what 60-minute football looks like... Go Jags!
Good eye.
Scott from Fernandina Beach, FL
Hi, John. Sometimes you gotta win the ugly ones.
You don't blow out everyone in the NFL. That means if you're going to have a great season, you damned sure have to win the ugly ones. And you have to do it a lot more than once.
Eddie from Jacksonville
Penalties.
Great writing is succinct writing. Welcome to greatness, Edward.
Beavis from the SouthSide
I've worked with a lot of people who have a "Not-my-job" attitude. How about Big Ham, though! Team-first attitude. Whatever it takes, he's willing. One fer Big Ham!
Jaguars nose tackle DaVon Hamilton is one of the NFL's best players at his position. He also is one of the most important – and well-liked and well-respected – players on this team. He replaced Ross Matiscik as the team's long snapper Sunday when Matiscik left with a shoulder injury. This was not always easy or pretty because long snapping is hard. Hamilton handled it well and characteristically selflessly. He wasn't perfect, but he persevered in a difficult situation. As expected. One fer D-Ham? No doubt.
Natedogg from The Berg
That was an ugly win. But you know what they say? Good teams find a way to win! GO JAGS!
Yup.
Ron from Orlando, FL
Should have never come down to how it ended. Could you explain how that was not an intentional grounding safety on Hurts??
I assume you're referencing a pass from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts from the end zone in the fourth quarter, a play on which Hurts threw well over the head of a receiver. If you throw anywhere toward a receiver, it's usually not called intentional grounding.
Clayton from Shawnee, OK
Mighty 'O, I don't think I'm overreacting here. Since my fandom started in 1997, that's the most shocking victory I can remember. Absolutely unbelievable!
It was a good game.
Jonathon from Jacksonville
There is no way the Eagles are this perfect on penalties. Only five recorded compared to the near 100 for us. Sunday was horrible by the refs and second week in a row, no less.
There have been a striking number of penalties called around the NFL this season. There were a lot called on the Jaguars Sunday. There were a lot called a week ago in Cincinnati. Some of them were good calls, one can assume. We talk a lot here in the O-Zone about the importance of being nice. I'm not sure there is much to be said here that is nice.
Sean from Saint Johns City
Do we apologize for winning around here?
Absolutely not.
