Jags punch in to postseason
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan waited until the final few minutes to start celebrating.
Had he uncorked the champagne when the game was essentially over, Khan would have been drinking by halftime.
Blake Bortles threw three touchdowns passes, including two to seldom-used backup Jaydon Mickens, and the Jaguars clinched a playoff spot with a 45-7 drubbing of AFC South rival Houston yesterday. Jacksonville’s seventh victory in its last eight games locked up the franchise’s first postseason berth since 2007.
“It’s a story of perseverance,” Khan said.
Once the NFL’s poster child for futility and a punchline for potential relocation, the Jaguars (10-4) are now one of the league’s top turnarounds.
The injury-riddled Texans (410) have dropped four in a row and seven-of-eight.
“They can smell the playoffs,” Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “You can tell that by the way they played. That’s what you play for: playoff football. You play this game to win the ultimate goal. When you don’t get there, what you did is not good.”
Bortles finished with a seasonhigh 326 yards and the best passer rating (143.8) of his career. He did it without receivers Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee.
With Robinson (knee) on injured reserve, Hurns (ankle) inactive and Lee (ankle) in the locker room, Mickens and rookie Keelan Cole stepped up. Mickens caught four passes for 61 yards and two scores. Cole had seven receptions for a career-high 186 yards and a TD.
“It’s kind of cool that we solidified our spot,” Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson said. “Now we can get over the giddiness of it . . . . It’s cool to be where we are, but we’re not done yet.”
That’s a huge change for Jacksonville, which was an NFL-worst 22-74 over the previous six years and widely considered more of a laughingstock than a postseason contender.
Khan fired coach Gus Bradley one year ago Sunday, following a close loss at Houston. Khan hired Tom Coughlin to oversee football decisions and made interim Doug Marrone the head coach. Coughlin and Marrone added several key players and changed the culture with a grueling offseason and training camp.
With Bortles picking apart Houston’s secondary, the Jaguars didn’t even need running back Leonard Fournette. The rookie was inactive because of a sore right quadriceps muscle.