Down 27-0, and I had already changed the channel. January 2023, the Jaguars buried by the Chargers in a wild-card game, and then they were not. Jacksonville scored the next thirty-one points and won 31-30, one of the largest comebacks in playoff history. For a franchise that mostly knows the other kind of January, it was a rare and glorious afternoon.

Always one room short

The Jaguars joined in 1995 and got good fast, reaching the AFC Championship Game in just their second season. They went back at the end of the decade. They went back again after the 2017 season, leading New England in the fourth quarter on the road before it slipped away. Three trips to the doorstep of the Super Bowl, three times turned back. They have never reached the game itself.

The recent picture

Trevor Lawrence brought them back to January, the 27-0 comeback the high point of it. This past postseason they hosted a wild-card game and lost it 27-24 to my Bills, Josh Allen leading a late drive to send them home. Close again. Always close.

One of the great comebacks, three near-misses at the Super Bowl, and a young core still chasing the first trip. Jaguars fans, you have stood in the hallway and heard the party three separate times. From a man who got into the room and lost, I will not pretend either of us got what we came for. Keep knocking.