There were two bad teams on the field when the Jaguars went to Cleveland. But there was also one great player on the field.
Unfortunately for Cleveland, even though Browns receiver Josh Gordon turned in an absolutely stunning performance, catching 10 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns, the Jaguars beat the Browns anyway. A Chad Henne 20-yard touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts gave the Jaguars the winning margin of 32-28.
For Jacksonville, it’s a shocking third win in its last four games. The Jaguars were widely regarded as the worst team in the NFL a month ago, but now they’re actually playing decent football. Jacksonville may be playing itself out of the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft.
But despite Jacksonville’s valiant effort at a time when many teams would have packed it in, the story of the game was Gordon, who got off to a huge start, then briefly left the game with a head injury, and then was cleared to return and came back to score a 95-yard touchdown. Gordon, who had 237 yards last week against the Steelers, became the first player in NFL history to record 200 receiving yards in back-to-back games.
Despite missing the first two games of the season while serving a suspension, Gordon is now second only to Calvin Johnson in the NFL in receiving yards this season. He’s playing great.
But his teammates are not playing great, and the Browns fell to 4-8. The suddenly competitive Jaguars are 3-9, and no longer have the worst record in the NFL.