Jacksonville Jaguars Again Can't Handle Prosperity: Same Old Song and Dance

The players change. The coaches change. The seasons pass from one to the next. But one constant remains for the Jacksonville Jaguars: their abject inability to perform with their season on the line.

Jacksonville burst onto the NFL scene in 1996, their second year of existence. After falling to 4-7 late in the season, the Jaguars put on a run to remember. They won their last five games to sneak into the playoffs at 9-7, then pulled off a pair or 30-27 upsets over the No. 4 Buffalo Bills and No. 1 Denver Broncos.

They finally fell to New England in the AFC Championship Game, but it seemed like further success lay ahead for the "other" Florida team.

Unfortunately, that magical late-season run has proved to be the exception to the rule in northern Florida. Jacksonville still has yet to reach a Super Bowl in the 14 years since then. More often than not, they end up with a late-season slide that leaves them out of the playoffs altogether; when they do make the playoffs, they exit in painful fashion on the wrong end of a beating.

This season is just the most recent example of the Jaguars' inability to close the deal. A strong midseason run saw them at 8-5, traveling to face the 7-6 Colts, the perennial team to beat in the AFC South. A win would have clinched Jacksonville's first division title since 1999.

But the league's fourth-ranked rushing offense was held to 67 yards on the ground, they committed two turnovers and a terrible onside kick was returned for a touchdown. It all added up to a 34-24 defeat.

The Jaguars then had the opportunity to bounce back, returning home to face a Washington Redskins team in disarray. But Jacksonville gagged that one away too; after coming back to force overtime and winning the OT coin toss, quarterback David Garrard threw a terrible third-down interception, leading to an easy game-winning field goal for Washington.

The Jaguars now need a win and a Colts loss in Week 17 to get a playoff spot—a highly unlikely proposition with Indianapolis facing a Tennessee team that has lost seven of eight.

The last two weeks, however, have merely been a microcosm of the 14 years of pain that the Jaguars and their fans have suffered through. Let's take a look back at the timeline from that AFC title game run of 1996; not to torture Jacksonville, but to show how a team cam be so close, yet so far from the Big Time.

1997: The Revenge Beating

Jacksonville looked to be even stronger in 1997 than the year before. They went 11-5 in the regular season, their first with double-digit wins, and sent quarterback Mark Brunell to the Pro Bowl. An overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 9 loomed large, however, giving the 11-5 Steelers the tiebreaker for the AFC Central division title.

Once again, the Jaguars were the No. 5 seed, and got to open the playoffs against the same Denver team they knocked out the year before. This time, the Broncos laid them to waste in a 42-17 beatdown, including a 1920s-esque 310 rushing yards.

1998: Picked Off

At the time, the 1997 playoff exit wasn't given much thought; Denver wasn't going to be upset twice, were they? It was pushed to background after Jacksonville rebounded with another 11-5 season in 1998, winning their first division title and getting the No. 3 seed.

This time, they were able to take care of business in the wild-card round as well, winning a 25-10 decision over the 10-6 New England Patriots (their last hurrah over them, as it turned out).

Jacksonville then traveled to face the 12-4 New York Jets, a team with its own history of late-season collapse and heartbreak. One team had to fall—and it was the Jaguars. Mark Brunell, who threw just nine interceptions all season, tossed three with the season on the line (along with 12-of-31 passing), handing the Jets a 34-24 win.

1999: Remember The Titans

It's easy to forget with the St. Louis Rams' run, but the 1999 Jaguars were one of the more dominant regular season teams in recent history. They finished with a league-best 14-2 record, and allowed just 13.6 points/game, also tops in the NFL; while they never recorded a shut, they held their opponents to single-digit scores eight times.

Jacksonville then opened the playoffs with one of the biggest blowouts in sports history, eviscerating the Miami Dolphins 62-7 in Dan Marino's final game.

However, there was one team they couldn't beat: the Tennessee Titans. Both of their regular season losses came to the Titans—a 20-19 home squeaker in Week 3, and a 41-14 road blowout in Week 16. The two teams inevitably faced off in the AFC Championship game, giving the Jaguars a chance to avenge their regular season.

Instead, they committed six turnovers and 100 yards in penalties, leaving the Titans on top again 33-14. Jacksonville fans were left to wonder what might have been if not for the Music City Miracle.

2004: The Fake Comeback

Jacksonville tumbled into the NFL basement after their 1999 flameout, posting four straight losing seasons. Neither a move to the AFC South under division realignment (2002) or the firing of original head coach Tom Coughlin (2003) could stop the bleeding.

But 2004 was looking different. A second year under head coach Jack Del Rio and quarterback Byron Leftwich seemed to be the trick. When Jacksonville went to 5-2 after beating AFC powerhouse (and new division rival) Indianapolis on the road, pundits spent a week proclaiming that the Jaguars were back.

Perhaps the players spent too much time reading their press clippings; they lost four of their next five games, stumbling to a 9-7 finish and missing the playoffs.

2005: Your Best is Not Good Enough

Okay, so 2004 was disappointing after the strong start. But that was still a rebuilding year; 2005 was going to be the year. And it very well could have been. The Jaguars posted the second-best regular season of their history, going 12-4 despite Leftwich breaking his ankle with six games left.

They couldn't get past the 14-2 Colts, losing to them twice—which proved to be the difference in the division. Still, they got a first-round playoff game against the 10-6 Patriots, who were several notches below the team that had won the previous two Super Bowls.

Several Jacksonville players were vocal before the game about the fact they had to play on the road against a team that won two fewer games. They should have saved some of their energy for the field. Leftwich returned in time for the playoff game—and led the Jaguars to just three points against the 17th-ranked scoring defense in the league. The 28-3 loss matched the worst playoff loss in franchise history.

2006: Losing Out

Once again, the pain of how the season ended was temper by the promise the Jaguars had shown. Jacksonville got off to a slow start in 2006, and was sitting at 3-3 when Leftwich had season-ending ankle surgery. Then the team responded to backup David Garrard. When they moved to 8-5 after blowing out the rival Colts 44-17, it seemed like they were peaking at the right time for a playoff run.

But to make a playoff run, you have to actually make the playoffs. Jacksonville proceeded to lose its final three games, including another loss to New England and a game against Tennessee where the Titans gained only 98 yards of offense (but returned three Garrard turnovers for touchdowns).

The fact that a team ranked ninth in scoring offense and fourth in scoring defense could go 8-8 almost defies logic—but these are the Jaguars, after all.

2007: The Patriots, Again

Much of 2007 shaped eerily similar to 2005. After Garrard was named the starting quarterback a week before the regular season began, the Jaguars went 11-5, tied for the third-best record in the AFC. But two losses to the Colts again doomed them to second in the AFC South and a No. 5 seed (the fourth time of six playoff appearances they've been seeded fifth).

Once in the playoffs, they actually managed to win a game, beating No. 4 Pittsburgh on the road for the second time in four weeks. Their reward was a date with the 16-0 Patriots. They seemed to be catching New England at the right time, as the Pats had played several close games down the stretch.

But Jacksonville managed to outsmart themselves. In their determination not to give up the ball, they consistently left receivers open short; the result was Tom Brady having the most accurate passing day in NFL history (26-of-28) in a 31-20 New England win.

2009: Losing Out, Again

Jacksonville floundered right from the start in 2008, eventually finishing 5-11. 2009 looked to be a step back forward. After losing their first two games, the Jags rebounded to stand at 7-5 and at the front of a snarling pack of teams in the hunt for a wild-card spot.

Even after a close loss to Miami in Week 14, Jacksonville held a 31-28 lead with six minutes left against the 13-0 Colts, giving them a chance to end Indy's perfect season and solidly a playoff spot.

But these are the Jaguars so you can probably guess what happened. Peyton Manning tossed a 65-yard TD strike to Reggie Wayne with 5:23 to play; after Jacksonville reached the Indianapolis 33 with 1:05 remaining, Garrard threw a game-sealing interception. The loss popped the balloon that was the Jaguars' season. They were blown out the following week by New England (sound familiar?), then lost to Cleveland to finish at 7-9.

Could Jacksonville find a miracle this weekend and pull out a division title? Absolutely. But judging from the Jaguars' history, it would be exactly that: a miracle. Regardless of who's on the field or off it, the Jaguars just can't get over the hump—even when handed the opportunity on a silver platter.