5 NFL Teams who could be Surprise Playoff Contenders
By Andrew Garda
Jacksonville Jaguars
Why it could happen: Believe it or not, this team has talent.
Done laughing yet? I can wait.
The defense is a lot better than it played last season (when it was 27th worst in the NFL) and the offense has added some exciting new pieces. There are those who don’t fully buy into the Indianapolis Colts as well—they have Andrew Luck, yes, but a ton of question marks aside from him. So the opportunity could be there for Jacksonville to make some noise.
Especially if we see rookie Blake Bortles. We know the plan is to sit Bortles for a year, but every preseason game makes that feel more unlikely. He’s still raw, but the potential is there for a phenomenal season.
We know what to expect from Chad Henne—he’s a guy who is OK, but he’s nothing special.
Bortles could be special, and he appears to have the ability to carry this team out of the morass of mediocrity it’s been stuck in for years.
Why it might not: Of course, even if Bortles comes in and is amazing, who is he throwing to?
Right now the Jaguars have two players suspended and a ton of receivers hurt. You want to put a young quarterback into a situation where he can succeed, but this might not be it and then there is only so much he can do.
We don’t know what to expect from new running back Toby Gerhart either. The team made a sound financial decision to let Maurice Jones-Drew go, but signing an unproven backup to a starter’s contract is a gamble.
Finally, the schedule—especially the opening five games—looks pretty brutal. If they stumble early, it’s going to be tough to catch back up.