On Wednesday, Shane Clemons asked whether the Denver Broncos might have a chance to become the second team in NFL history to win all 16 of their regular-season games. So in the interest of being fair and balanced, I'll be the TGS pessimist and ask whether the Jacksonville Jaguars can do the opposite and become only the second team in NFL history to go 0-16.
Here's why it could happen…
They're a friggin' mess. They scored a grand total of zero points on offense Sunday against a team that won only two games last season, losing by 26. And that was at home. They had just 107 passing yards and lost the turnover battle two-nil. Blaine Gabbert sucks and is now hurt, making way for Chad Henne. With the passing game stalled, Maurice Jones-Drew can only do so much. And how much gas does he have left in the tank?
The schedule looks tough. Within the division, Indy is young and getting better every week. Tennessee improved in the offseason and is off to a great start. The Texans are reigning champs and still probably have the edge on the rest of the AFC South. Only five of the 15 teams on their remaining schedule lost in Week 1, and one of those teams is Oakland, who should present quite the challenge this week.
But here's why it probably won't happen…
Blind squirrels and nuts. The 2008 Detroit Lions finished 0-16, but in order to do that they fell by four or fewer points on three separate occasions. Six NFL teams have surrendered an average of 16 more points than they've scored on a per-game basis and still ended up winning at least one game. It's almost hard to go winless in this parity-stricken league.
Maurice Jones-Drew. The guy is good enough to singlehandedly lift the Jags over a team like the Chargers, whom they host on Oct. 20, or the Cardinals, Bills or Titans, all of whom come to Jacksonville during the second half of the season.
So we don't expect them to finish winless, but don't be surprised if the Jags once again have the worst record in football. Hopefully next year, they'll use a top-three pick on a potential franchise quarterback this time around.
