Rich: Overlook Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Your Own Peril

Everyone is talking about the 4-0 Chiefs, the 3-1 Ravens, the 3-1 Bills and the 2-2 Patriots. Rich would like a word about Jacksonville.

"They good," came the verdict on The Rich Eisen Show. "They are good."

What stands out to Rich is the attitude. The Jaguars' coach "speaks with his chest," and the team has taken that on. "You make a mistake, they're going to just jump all over you and that's it. It's over. It's a wrap."

This was supposed to be a question mark. Travis Etienne left, and everyone wondered what Jacksonville would do at running back. How good is Bhayshul Tuten? Chris Rodriguez scored a touchdown. "There's a bunch of guys on that team" who make fans ask "who?" and then check whether that player is sitting on their fantasy waiver wire. And the answer is yes.

And Trevor Lawrence "is a new man." Rich traced the turnaround to a game he called last year in London against the Rams. Jacksonville was there all week, the Rams flew right in, and afterward everyone was wondering what was going on with the Jaguars. "They just flipped the script," Rich said. They lost to the Bills in the playoffs, "but since then they have been a terrific football team," sitting down in Duval County where nobody talks about them.

Look at what they just did to Drake Maye. Rich gave his best impression of the Jaguars' perspective: "We just kicked his ass. Everyone's talking about his crisis of confidence. Who created the crisis other than him? We did."

Now the schedule opens up. Jacksonville heads to London again, where it is used to the trip, to face what Rich called "a team that's in a full crisis of confidence as a whole" in the Eagles. Then come the winless Texans, back to back overseas.

Rich sketched out where that could lead. "I wouldn't be surprised they come home 5-1 with a bye," he said. Then the Colts come to Jacksonville. "I wouldn't be surprised if they are 6-1 going into that Thursday nighter to kick off week nine against Baltimore in Baltimore."

"And then we're on," he said. "They win that one. Now suddenly we're talking about one seed."

The division helps. The rest of the AFC South, Rich noted, "might not have just one but potentially two teams drafting top 10."

Defensively, Jacksonville is doing its part, too. "That defense just takes the ball away," Rich said, even without Devin Lloyd, "the guy who led the takeaway brigade for that team last year." He sees credit across the whole operation: "They are drafting and they are coaching and they are playing and nobody's talking about them."

That will change soon. The Jaguars are on NFL Network the next two weeks against Philadelphia and Houston, and Rich thinks they should be favored in both. They are used to London, they will adjust to the time zone, and the Texans are going to arrive wondering what is going on. With Jacksonville listed at five and a half against the Eagles, Rich did not blink.

"They should be," he said, "the way the Eagles are playing, too."

Duval indeed.