Quote:At first glance, this thread epitomized premature hope, which is why I immediately drew the parallel to 1995.

 

But now I am beginning to wonder if it IS actually premature, or is the hope legitimate?

 

Looking at the next three weeks, we see the following matchups in the division:

 

Week 3

 

Indy (0-2) at Tennessee (1-1)

Jaguars (1-1) at New England (2-0)

Tampa (1-1) at Houston (0-2)

 

Week 4

 

Jaguars at Indy

Houston at Atlanta

Tennessee IDLE

 

Week 5

Colts at Texans

Jaguars at Tampa

Bills at Tennessee

 

Week 6

Texans at Jaguars

Dolphins at Tennessee

Patriots at Colts

 

If we go by the proverbial "conventional wisdom," the Jaguars will lose to New England and Indy the next couple of weeks, putting us at 1-3.

The same "conventional wisdom" will have Indy beating Tennessee in week 3, and Houston beating Tampa, and the Colts beating the Texans in week 5.

 

Tampa is certainly a winnable game for us, and at this point, it's looking like Houston is winnable, too, while Indy can certainly lose at home to New England.

 

What we could see after 6 weeks in the standings:

 

Jaguars (3-3)

Colts (3-3)

Tacks (2-3 or 1-4 depending upon the Dolphins game)

Texans (3-3 or 1-5)

 

Even assuming a worst case scenario for the Jaguars where we lose to Tampa and Houston, 1-5 still only has us, at most, 2 games out.

 

But at this point, 3-3 is doable for the Jaguars.

 

Aside from complete dominance over the rest of the NFL, Jaguars fans would certainly settle for hope going into mid to late October.

 

It's looking possible we'll have that hope.