Are the Jacksonville Jaguars Legitimate AFC Contenders?

Finally, and I think this topic, I'm going to watch it and really see how it all plays out because I don't really know what to make of what's going on in Jacksonville at the moment. So they win for a 12th straight game at home against the Jaguars. Jaguars, I'm sorry, against the Colts rather. The Colts cannot win in Jacksonville. The Colts are dead. Obviously, the Colts are punted on the season. But where are you on the Jags as legitimate AFC? The contenders, are they among those teams that need to be getting a look or are they overrated and the schedule has been very conducive for them to get off to a fast start? They are among the contenders, I think on a weekly basis. Now, first of all, losing Devon Hamilton yesterday to injury was tough, was incredible, like for an elite run defense and trying to make a team multiple because their pass defense. You can get over on their pass defense. They're giving up a crap ton of yards and stuff like that. So this is a team that I don't care if you're in division or not. The Jags need to pick up the phone and say, hey, Colts, look, we just beat the brakes off you. You don't need Grover Stewart, right? No, not so much. You're not going anywhere. Cool. Just give them nuts. It's all good. We'll see you in 2027, 2028. It's all good. But to that point, the Jags, I think this really just comes down to, man, which version of Trevor Lawrence do we get on a weekly basis? He is playing YOLO ball. He's not playing nearly as good as he was last year. I think a lot of like the Liam Cohen of all of this is kind of covering up for some of this, but even Liam Cohen has a little bit of Dan Campbell kind of goofy at times during play calling and during the red zone. So it's like, which version of the Jags do you get on a weekly basis? Which version of T Law do you get on a weekly basis? Like, this is one of those teams that like, if they get hot, I wouldn't be shocked like to discuss them as like amongst the top three to five teams easily in the AFC, but on some weeks. Can they look like they're also kind of more pretenders and not contenders? I think absolutely too. So, yes, has the schedule done them a lot of favors? Sure. I mean, I think it's going to continue to do them favors. Like they got the Ravens, the Titans. We'll see what happens against the Giants. And then the Titans. Yeah, I mean, look at the Titans again and the Bears. Like, I think your litmus test of like what really the Jags are, we're going to find out when they go down the stretch against the Bears, Steelers. Texans and Cowboys, that's kind of like their defining stretch. It's like, if they can look like a dominant team over that stretch, okay, sure, I'll buy him. Five and two, 196 points scored, 111 points given up. I was, look, the reason why I'm asking is because I was really in on the Jags preseason. I bet Trevor Lawrence to win the MVP. I bet the over on Trevor Lawrence passing yardage. I bet the over on their win total. I haven't taken a Super Bowl bite on them, but I'm eyeballing it and watching it. And I'm going, all right, they have a three-game lead in the division now. And they have four games where they should go 4-0. And wind up being nine and two. So it's like, do I buy the ticket for the Super Bowl now before they go on that run where they're nine and two and all of a sudden they're sitting there and the odds are chopped and chopped in half. Could they get to an AFC championship game? I think if they could stay, if they could get the number one seed in the East, which is still a very big IF and if they got it, but if they did and they don't have to travel to Kansas City, to Denver, to a weather place. And they have it in their building in their weather in Florida. Could you see them making it to L.A.? I could. And to your point, I was just kind of looking at the other teams that are at the top. Really, like, to your point, this comes down to can they get the number one seed? And I think the biggest content, like the biggest team that they have to worry about in my. My two cents is the Buffalo Bills. Yeah. I think it's them and the Bills fighting for the number one seed. So I think if you want to bet the Super Bowl futures, you should be doing it now because this stretch upcoming for the Bills. Okay, now they get the Vikings. Then they get the Jets. I think they win both those games. Then they beat the Dolphins. I think you're going to see the Bills move to more of like, if they're not already a favorite and all that kind of stuff for it. But the stretch coming up against the Chiefs, the Patriots, the Packers, and Bears, if the Bills lose a few of those games and stuff and the Jags keep winning, we could see the odds move more in Jacksonville's favor. So for me, just looking at the schedule, I think the time to bet this is right now for all.