Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Wake up, America, the Jaguars now an NFL force

By Gene Frenette
January 14, 2018

Ben Roethlisberger fumbles as he is sacked in the first half of Sunday's 45-42 loss to the Jaguars. (Keith Srakocic/AP)
PITTSBURGH | It’s not like the Jaguars didn’t try to forewarn the NFL and the rest of the country about the danger of taking this former league bottom-feeder for granted.
 Yet all year long, despite winning the AFC South title and slipping past the Buffalo Bills last week for their first playoff victory in a decade, doubts persisted about the Jaguars and most especially beleaguered quarterback Blake Bortles.
Well, America, do you believe now? Or maybe you can just accept this pointed message from defensive tackle Malik Jackson: “We’ve transcended into a new team. This isn’t your uncle’s Jacksonville Jaguars and they’re not your granddad’s Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Really, the scoreboard at Heinz Field from Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff shootout said it all: Jaguars 45, Steelers 42.
The eye-opening fashion in which a Bortles-led Jaguars’ offense throttled the Steelers in their own house should be enough to turn all those mouthy Bortles critics, many of them opposing players, and Jaguars’ skeptics into crickets.
If not, what’s it going to take to silence them? Taking down Tom Brady and the mighty Patriots in Sunday’s AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium? Hey, don’t put it past these upstart Jags to do that, too.
A few of us (not mentioning names, we know who we are) thought Doug Marrone’s team could pull off a second victory over the Steelers in Pittsburgh, but nobody in their right mind imagined it coming in this fashion.
On a day where Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger throws five touchdown passes and laterals to Le’Veon Bell to get another score, a Joe-Montana-cool Bortles still manages to outduel a future Hall of Famer and secure the biggest redemption victory of his life.
“At the end of the day, you’re either going to love us or hate us,” said guard A.J. Cann. “Same with Blake, either love him or hate him, but we damn sure love him on this team. We appreciate him for the man he is, and the player and confidence he has for battling each and every play.”
So those days of Houston Texans pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney calling him “trash,” then Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas classifying him as a “sub-par” quarterback, and Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard saying his team needed to “make Brady look like Blake Bortles” to have a shot at beating the Patriots, all of that should cease and desist.
Because whatever anyone thinks about No. 5, it’s hard for any piling on of Bortles to be taken seriously now with a 2-0 playoff record and leading the Jaguars to their greatest victory since the 30-27 upset of the Super Bowl-favored Denver Broncos in 1997 at Mile High Stadium.
Yet when he stood victorious at the postgame podium, Bortles took his usual route of the high road. He declined the opportunity to verbally fire back at those who maligned him.
“I really don’t care,” Bortles said. “I couldn’t care less what anyone in the world says about me. I enjoy going to work every day with those guys in that locker room and the coaching staff. I enjoy everything we do, and this is the type of thing that you dream of – to get opportunities to play in games like this. To be able to come here and do that against a team like Pittsburgh, it will never change for me.
“I have no animosity against anyone who said anything [negative]… . There are a lot of guys home on the couch watching this. I’m sure they are wishing that they could play. I know in years past, I have been.”
Then again, Bortles didn’t have to respond to his trash-talkers because his teammates gladly did it for him.
“I’m super happy for him,” said receiver Marqise Lee. “A lot of people talking that stupid — and we got an opportunity to shove it in their face. He stepped up when we needed it.”
Backup quarterback Chad Henne, one of the most reserved Jaguars in that locker room, couldn’t resist his own blowback, adding: “I couldn’t be more proud to be his teammate. Anybody who’s got anything to say [to Bortles], I mean, you might as well keep your mouth shut because you’re not playing anymore.”
Bortles and the Jaguars flipped the script by ditching conservatism, letting Pittsburgh know they had every intention of getting in attack mode from the start. The Steelers’ defense was carved up for three touchdowns on the first four possessions. Later, a yellow-towel-waving crowd went eerily silent after Yannick Ngakoue’s strip-sack led to a 50-yard Telvin Smith TD fumble return for a 28-7 lead.
While Roethlisberger spent the rest of the game denting the Jaguars’ No. 1-ranked pass defense for 462 yards, Bortles made sure to dim all hopes of a comeback by continuing to counter-punch everything Big Ben, receiver Antonio Brown and tight end Vance McDonald had in their arsenal.
In one of the NFL’s most hostile environments, Bortles and the offense came to the defense’s rescue for a change. The Jaguars found the end zone on all five of their red-zone chances.
Their last two TDs were set up by a 45-yard bomb to Keelan Cole and a checkdown swing pass to T.J. Yeldon, where Bortles went through four progressions before fooling the defense by turning to his left and finding the running back for a 40-yard pickup. Every time Roethlisberger threatened to put the Steelers back in contention, the quarterback many compared him to when he was drafted had an answer.
“What better place and better stage to do it?” said tight end Marcedes Lewis. “There was something about that huddle and Blake’s presence. We were out there, it was just like, ‘Cool, let’s go do it again. They can’t stop us.’ ”
Jackson, knowing the Jaguars picked up Bortles’ $19 million for 2018, vociferously stated the case for his employer to up the ante.
“A lot of these quarterbacks are paid with no playoff games [on their resume],” said Jackson. “Blake’s a top-four quarterback in the league right now, so he better be paid like a top-four quarterback because he’s playing like one.”
It’ll be up to head coach Doug Marrone to quickly bring the Jaguars down from this high, especially with the NFL’s all-time dynasty in the on-deck circle. But for now, the Jaguars also want to take in this glorious moment.
With fans continuing the celebration Sunday night by greeting the team at EverBank upon their return, it left owner Shad Khan visibly moved and appreciative of the team’s long-awaited ascension, especially after Steelers’ owner Art Rooney congratulated him with a heartfelt handshake outside the team locker room.
“I think it’s been everything we thought and more,” Khan said. “The city deserves it and the team deserves it, they worked hard. Obviously, we’ve had the leadership to take them where they are. So, everybody in Jacksonville, thanks for believing.”
Yes, it turns out Steelers’ safety Mike Mitchell was right last week about forecasting a Pittsburgh-New England rematch. It’ll just take place sometime during the 2018 regular season at Heinz Field, not in the AFC Championship game.
But you can bet Patriots coach Bill Belichick, the NFL king of all-business-all-the-time, and his laser-focused quarterback won’t be taking the Jaguars lightly once they break down the tape.
As for the rest of America, it’s going to have to come to grips with the idea that a league doormat has risen to become the NFL bully nobody should want to mess with.
Gene.frenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540

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