But going into the game against the Colts, things were different.

There was a small air of uncertainty among the players, believing they could win, but that the Colts were truly among the elite teams in the league. Even though they split with Indy last year, the Jaguars weren’t sure if they really were in that class. While, as John Madden says, whatever class the Colts are in, it doesn’t take long to call roll, the Jaguars might be standing right outside the classroom door.

Indianapolis had just a little more than Jacksonville had on the field, coming away with a 24-17 win. “We hung in there with a pretty good football team,” Head Coach Jack Del Rio said in his post game press conference. The Jaguars again couldn’t covert in the red zone, going 0-3 and settling for field goals instead of touchdowns. “That’s the one area in the negative that sticks out to me,” Del Rio commented. “We need to be better in the red zone if we’re going to compete in this league.”

The game was billed as a match up of one of the league’s best offenses (the Colts) against one of the league’s best defenses (the Jaguars.) But really, it matched the league’s worst offense, statistically (the Jaguars) against the worst statistical defense in the league (the Colts.) In the end, the Colts defense made one more play than the Jaguars offense, and thus a seven point win.

But this could have been a bit of a watershed game for the Jaguars offense and particularly quarterback Byron Leftwich. He did what most coaches hope young quarterbacks will do in the first three games: not make a play that gets you beat. He kept the team on track to win the game and fortunate situations followed. But against the Colts, he was much more. Going 29 for 41 for 318 yards, a touchdown and a 101.5 quarterback rating, Leftwich kept the chains moving on third down and hit the open receiver in crucial situations.

His throw to Jimmy Smith on 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter was right on the money and infused some enthusiasm into both the team and the fans. He made good throws, made good decisions and seemed to have the team on track to at least tie the game with their final drive. Losing both Mike Pearson (perhaps for the year) and Maurice Williams at both tackles limited what the team could do on offense and they were unable to convert a 4th and 1 that would have kept the drive alive. But that doesn’t diminish the change in what Leftwich was able to do, compared to the first three games. Maybe the Colts’ defense is that bad, but he looked impressive moving the team.

Two things are evident after watching the Jaguars against a team that’s considered among the league’s elite. First, they’re not going to be a quick strike offense unless they catch a team in single coverage on Jimmy Smith with the right protection called. Smith can still get down the field, but he doesn’t blaze by cornerbacks like he used to. And he’s the only quasi deep threat. Neither Earnest Wilford nor Reggie Williams can get behind the secondary, but they’re very effective roaming in the secondary because of their size and leaping ability. They’ll keep the chains moving. Second, the Jaguars are still vulnerable to a veteran quarterback picking them apart because of their lack of pressure in the pocket. They’re still missing that pass rusher that can disrupt the rhythm of any quarterback and Peyton Manning was rarely off his game. (By the way, almost to a man the defenders in the Jaguars locker room were impressed by Manning’s performance saying “he was on his game today.”)

So the first “quarter” of the season is over with a 3-1 record. Almost everybody said they would be happy with a 2-2 mark after four games, so 3-1 puts them ahead of schedule. Del Rio has the season separated into four “quarters” and the second quarter includes 4 straight AFC games with three on the road. A trip to San Diego (a big winner on Sunday against Tennessee) is the most immediate task, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Jaguars as a young team react to losing their first game then having to travel to the West Coast for the next game. Kansas City is the next opponent at home in two weeks then two road games, at Indianapolis and at Houston. Just about anything better than 1-3 in those next four games would be acceptable getting the Jaguars to the bye week.

One thing Leftwich said after the game was pretty interesting. When asked about young players stepping up, the Jaguars quarterback responded, “That’s a young team out there. You see Reggie Williams and Earnest Wilford making plays in clutch time and you know they’re young and they’re going to be together as Jaguars for a long time. It makes you excited.”