Jacksonville Jaguars Struggle Late but Earn Important Win Before Bye Week

The Jacksonville Jaguars looked ready to succumb to the same issues that have sunk them over the past few weeks. After a pick-six from quarterback Blake Bortles, the Buffalo Bills had a 31-27 lead with just over five minutes left in the game and all the momentum in the world.

The Jaguars have struggled to "finish" games all season, and they struggled to do so in this game. However, the Jaguars offense was finally able to flip the script late by driving down the field and concluding a solid drive with a spectacular catch from wide receiver Allen Hurns.

After a good defensive stop, the Jaguars were able to finally notch their second win of the 2015 season, improving to 2-5 and now heading into a bye week they desperately need.

Taking a 24-point lead, giving it up and then scoring late to win was probably not the game plan head coach Gus Bradley had in mind, but that's how the Jaguars game in London played out. It may have caused a few heart attacks, but the win was well worth it.

The major highlight from the Jaguars' 34-31 win was the defense's explosive afternoon. They scored two defensive touchdowns in seven seconds, giving the Jaguars a near-instant 21-3 lead and all the momentum in the world.

Touchdowns off a sack and forced fumble from corner Aaron Colvin, which was recovered by defensive end Chris Clemons, and a pick-six from linebacker Telvin Smith were electric to say the least, and it put Bills QB E.J. Manuel in a bad situation.

This resulted in one more pick from linebacker Paul Posluszny, which led to a 28-yard rushing touchdown from rookie running back T.J. Yeldon, his first of the season and of his career. 

While the Jaguars proceeded to blow the resulting 27-3 lead, the first half verified that there is talent on this team and that the Jaguars can be explosive on defense and can perform similarly to how the defense played in 2014.

This defense doesn't have incredible depth, and the leaders are good players, but they're not stars on a national scale. What they can do, however, is force turnovers, as they showed last season and this past Sunday.

When you're typically losing the talent battle, winning the turnover margin is the only way to get an edge on opponents. This performance doesn't guarantee that it will happen consistently or at all the rest of the season, but it does prove the Jaguars have the ability to do so.

Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

Perhaps finally going over that hump will escalate the defense's explosiveness going forward. The same thought is relevant to Yeldon, who was able to record his second 100-yard game of the season.

Yeldon was given ample space by the offensive line, and he proved that his lackluster average was partly due to the offensive line getting beat week to week. In its best performance of the season, it protected Bortles and opened space for Yeldon.

Yeldon is still improving, and even he missed some holes and cuts on Sunday. Like the defense, this performance doesn't guarantee future success, but it's just another piece of evidence in Yeldon's favor.

Getting this win before the week puts the second half of the season in a more positive light for the players and the staff. It seemed like the Jaguars were stuck in ineptitude, but an adversity-overcoming win may have broken that spell.

The next nine games aren't going to be easy, and the Jaguars certainly have more ground to make up as a team and in the results. Improvement will continue to come, but the Jaguars need to find ways to notch more wins—and preferably more stable ones than this.

The old saying, "a win's a win" may be applicable in this situation, but the Jaguars have clear issues to deal with. If they want today to be a common occurrence rather than an exception, they have to take advantage of the momentum and bye week and come flying out against the New York Jets.

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Evan Reier is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report covering the Jacksonville Jaguars. Follow Evan on Twitter @evanreier.