JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – To be honest, I never really have liked the fact that we play a "home" game in London every season. Across the pond is not exactly "home."
We are the Jacksonville Jaguars, and, until Sunday, I wanted all our games in Jacksonville. But we have something special going on in the United Kingdom. We've figured it out. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the schedule, when the team gets there and where they stay. I'm sure having a number of players with experience playing in Wembley is a factor, too.
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Whatever it is, we know how to win when we travel to London.
The Ravens, not so much. They looked tired. We looked fresh. They played like a team suffering from jetlag. We played like we were coming off a bye week. This was the Ravens' first time in London and it showed. It really wasn't even close, and the near 50,000 Jaguar fans in Wembley loved it.
I loved it, too. For two out of the last three weeks, we've seen what we can be. Or, more specific, what we are becoming. Honestly, I'm not 100 percent sure what kind of team we are, but if somehow we can continue what we saw yesterday, we are going to win a lot of games.
On Sunday, the Jaguars were impressive in every phase of the game: defense dominated like it did against the Texans, and we ran the ball very efficiently. I really like the combination of Leonard Fournette, Chris Ivory and Corey Grant in the backfield, but there’s one player who really stood out to me -- Blake Bortles.
No player in the last few years has been scrutinized more. We've all been waiting for him to be more consistent, make better decisions; commit fewer turnovers; create more positive plays when it counts, but I'm going to give him a lot of credit for his performance Sunday.
It was probably the best I've seen him play. It wasn't just the impressive numbers. Although throwing four touchdowns is quite impressive to me. It wasn't what he did, it was how he did it. He was confident from the first snap. He was poised and he looked like a kid who was simply having fun playing football. I want to see more of this. I'm starting to think I will.
Now, I'm not ready to crown Bortles our guy for the next 10 years, but I'm certainly hopeful that his best football is in front of him and not behind.
By the way, we’re 2-1 and face a really bad Jets team next week. There’s a real good chance the Jaguars are 3-1 after four games.
This is getting good.