5 ways the Jaguars’ 10-3 win over the Bills was a better game than you think

The Jaguars not only made it to the postseason for the first time since the 2007 season, they also got a 10-3 Wild Card Game win in a weird and wonderful matchup against the Bills on Sunday.

The NFL has become mostly an offensive show. But as they say, defense wins championships. The real story in this one, as it has been for most of the season, was the defensive effort from both teams. It was actually a hell of a lot of fun.

Jacksonville — or Sacksonville, as it came to be known after finishing second in the NFL with 55 sacks — had two sacks and six hits against the Bills. Tyrod Taylor was removed from the game to be evaluated for a head injury late in the fourth quarter. He was replaced by Nathan Peterman, who ended up throwing a pick to Jalen Ramsey to clinch the win for the Jaguars.

This one started slow with the teams trading punts on the first six possessions. The Jaguard picked off Taylor but couldn’t record a first down and had to punt. One more Jags punt later, things really got fun.

Buffalo found itself with a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. It tried to draw the Jaguars offside, but Taylor didn’t even really try to sell it. So the Bills called a timeout, which made very little sense at the time. Obviously the Jaguars wouldn’t really jump offside, right?

Wrong.

So the Bills ended up with a fresh set of downs at the 1-yard line. And they still ended up kicking a field goal.

The Jaguars answered with a field goal to tie things up right before the half. The Jaguars had 84 yards of offense the entire first half, but on Jacksonville’s second drive in the third quarter, Blake Bortles led a 15-play, 86-yard drive.

The drive was pretty much all Bortles and Leonard Fournette, and it mostly unfolded on the ground. Bortles finished the game with 88 yards rushing, the best rushing game of his career. His previous career high was 81 yards, which came last season, also against the Bills. He only threw for 87 yards the entire game.

Bortles capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Koyack.

It’s been a long time since the Jaguars were in the postseason. You can’t blame their senior vice president for being this excited.

That drive ended up winning the game and sending the Jaguars on to the Divisional Round. All of that thrusting is justified.

This was maybe the best moment of the game — for everyone but this camera guy.

Bortles ran out of bounds and directly into a cameraman on the sideline in the third quarter. The cameraman looked like he had never been so frightened of anything in his life.

It’s even funnier from the angle of the camera the guy was holding.

The collision didn’t look that bad, but the cameraman has quite a story to tell.

Both of these teams’ fans should appreciate this experience after a 17-year playoff drought in Buffalo and 10 years without a bid in Jacksonville. And they do.

Congratulations to the Bills and Jaguars on great seasons, and thanks for a fun game.