JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars have a great chance to show the rest of the NFL exactly who they are on Sunday.
They're either legitimate contenders in the AFC South, and potentially for the playoffs, or they're another team floundering through the season trying to figure out how to get out of their own way to win games.
Play well and beat the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium and it's the former. Play sloppy, turn the ball over, and make mistake after mistake and it's the latter, which is exactly what the Jaguars have been for the past six seasons.
"We have to figure out how to win and win consistently and win in bunches," quarterback Blake Bortles said. "I think we had a big game in Week 1 and had a letdown Week 2 and then we bounced back and were able to get back on track Week 3 and we have to be able to show we can continue that and make it consistent and do it week in and week out."
The Jaguars beat the Houston Texans by 22 points in Week 1, got thumped by the Tennessee Titans by 21 points at home in Week 2, and routed the Baltimore Ravens by 37 points Sunday in London's Wembley Stadium. They're 2-1 for the first time since 2007, which was the last time the franchise made the playoffs or finished the season with a winning record.
Now they get the Jets (1-2), who lost their first two games by a combined 34 points before a surprising 20-6 victory over Miami in which the Dolphins scored their only points on the game's final play. This is a team that jettisoned some of its best players (Darrelle Revis, Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker) as well as respected team leader David Harris.
Because of that the franchise has been accused of tanking the 2017 season to be in position to have the top choice of what is supposed to be a great quarterback class in 2018. That's unfair criticism because players won't do that, and some are playing pretty well. Quarterback Josh McCown is completing 69.8 percent of his passes (fifth in the NFL) with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson are two of the top defensive linemen in the NFL.
Safety Jamal Adams has 11 tackles, a sack, and two pass breakups and is a defensive rookie of the year candidate.
Still, the Jaguars are 3.5 point favorites (the line started at 4.5), marking the first time since Week 10 in 2011 that they're favored to win a game on the road. Even with the constant worry about Bortles turning the ball over, the Jaguars should win the game because they are the better team.
Their defense ranks in the top five in total yards (second), passing yards (first), sacks (first), and turnovers forced (second). Their offensive line has allowed an NFL-low two sacks and the Jaguars are second in the NFL in turnover margin (plus-5).
With the exception of two quarters against the Titans in Week 2, the Jaguars have played some of their best football over the past six seasons in their first three games.
"We really only played two quarters of bad football," linebacker Telvin Smith said. "We put together 10 quarters of great football so we've got to just continue to do that. Erase those two quarters and learn what we did from those."
That's why coach Doug Marrone has preached consistency this week. Winning big one week and losing the next is the mark of a team that won't accomplish much. Following up last week's victory over the Ravens with a clunker against the Jets places the Jaguars squarely in that group.
"I think any time people look at a winning team in this league or a winning program in college or a winning team in any sport, I think the one thing that you can always put into that label is consistency," Marrone said. "What I try to do is harp on the players with, ‘Hey, listen, consistency is on preparation, relentless in our attention to detail, making sure that the results that happen on Sunday, the preparation is done during the week and the work is done.'"