The 10-5 Jacksonville Jaguars are going to the playoffs, but because they lost to the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday, 44-33, plus the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers won the following day, the Jags find themselves obliged to go through the first round of the playoffs.
While a loss like that to the 49ers this late in the season can be seen by many as a punch to the gut of the Jaguars, Jacksonville cornerback A.J. Bouye would rather view it as a wakeup call. For Bouye, the loss to San Francisco served as a warning, particularly to the Jags’ defense, that nothing will ever come easy for them.
By way of John Reid of the Florida Times-Union:
“I hate to say this, but we needed this,” cornerback A.J. Bouye said. “It humbled a lot of people. We recognize it and we’ve got to get ready for (Tennessee) and just get it rolling going into the playoffs.
The 44 points the Jaguars gave up to Jimmy Garoppolo and company were the most Jacksonville has allowed in a game so far this season. It’s also way above their season average of 16.9 points surrendered per contest as the second-best scoring defense in the NFL.
There’s still one week left on the Jaguars regular season schedule, so if there’s any lesson they have learned from the loss to San Francisco, they should be able to show that against the Tennessee Titans on the road this coming Sunday.
