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Biggest game in Jags history?

Join jaguars.com Senior Editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.

Paul from Jacksonville:
That was a huge win. That's gonna be one I remember. The cold and rain, the feeling of here we go again at the beginning, and the explosive second half. Do you think this is one of those games that fans will remember for a long time?

Vic: You're not likely to forget an afternoon you spent huddled against biting, 50-degree temperatures and a 15 percent chance of precipitation. Fortunately, the Jaguars warmed us with their performance.

Doug from Westminster, MD:
As a Jags fan, who do I root for tonight, the Ravens or the Texans? If the Jets and Ravens tank the end of the season, even with a loss to the Colts the wild card is still there, right?

Vic: It would take a collapse of epic proportions by the Jets and Ravens to be overtaken in the wild-card race by a six-loss team. Root for the Ravens and put it all on the line in Indianapolis. Why not?

Jonathan from Southern Pines, NC:
That call on the Knighton sack/fumble/TD was ridiculous, Vic. Campbell's head was barely hit and what could have been done to avoid it, and where had the flags been all day when David get hits like that? Looks like the league is trying to keep the Colts in the hunt any way they can.

Vic: I hope you're just expressing your frustration, as so many other fans have, otherwise, I would ask you: Where have you been all season? This isn't new stuff. Remember the Eagles getting called for a potential game-changing roughing-the-passer penalty when the hand of one of their players brushed Peyton Manning's helmet? Are you not aware of the continuing saga of James Harrison's fines? I don't like it, either, but that's the way it's been all season. What I don't like about it the most is that the quarterback is holding the ball behind his head, which makes it nearly impossible to get to the ball without contacting his helmet. William Middleton wasn't intentionally going to Jason Campbell's head. We all know that. Middleton just had the misfortune of contacting Campbell's head as Middleton was making a sound football play. The resulting call had a game-changing impact on the game; that's the real problem. A lot of these types of penalties are changing their games.

Conor from Missoula, MT:
I didn't hear the outcome of the coin toss, but how huge was it for the Jags to start with the ball in the second half?

Vic: I didn't think that was big at all. In fact, I thought it was much more important that the Raiders got the ball to start the game. Here's why: As I said in my blog before the game began, you wanted to be moving south to north in the fourth quarter, because of the wind. The team that won the coin toss should've enjoyed that luxury. You win the toss, take the ball to start the game, and then to start the second half your opponent takes the ball and you elect to defend the north goal, which means you would've been defending the south goal in the fourth quarter, which means you would've been moving south to north and your opponent would've been moving north to south, or into the wind, in the fourth quarter. Tom Cable screwed that up, too. He had a bad day. I think it hurt the Raiders having to kick to the south on the kickoff Deji Karim returned to the Raiders' 30.

Sam from Denver, CO:
Is this going to be the biggest regular-season game in franchise history?

Vic: I can't remember the Jaguars playing a game this late in the season that carried with it such high, head-to-head, winner-take-all type of stakes. The Jaguars had big games against the Steelers in the 1990's, but I don't remember any of them being for all of the marbles. The Jaguars, of course, played a big game in Pittsburgh in 2007, but it wasn't within the division and it had very little meaning for the Steelers. I'll look more closely at your question, but my first reaction is that this Sunday's game will have more at stake for both teams than any other regular-season game in Jaguars history.

Gene from Punta Gorda, FL:
Do you think the Vikings could play their remaining home games in Los Angeles, due to the caved-in roof?

Vic: No, I don't think that's an option. I think any option would be better than playing in Los Angeles. How about going outside and playing at the University of Minnesota's new stadium? It's time Vikings fans get a feel for the outdoors again. Once upon a time, when they played at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, they were the heartiest fans in the league. Maybe the franchise lost something when it moved indoors. Frankly, I think the roof caving in is the best thing that could happen for the Vikings. I think they just got their new stadium.

Ben from Orlando, FL:
Noticed in your blog that you raised the possibility that the Raiders let Jones-Drew score on that last touchdown run. Tough to question a win, but that begs the question: Wouldn't it have been better for Maurice to kneel at the one like he did before?

Vic: You're asking the wrong guy. I didn't like it when he did it the first time and I don't like these let-them-score strategies, either. It's all too video game-like for my taste.

Adam from South Ponte Vedra Beach, FL:
From what I saw, the Jaguars are the best team in this division; it's not a fluke. Agree?

Vic: We'll find out on Sunday.

Jack from Fleming Island, FL:
When does the league decide which wild-card games are played on Saturday and which on Sunday of the first playoff weekend?

Vic: When they know who the teams are, then they'll decide, based on the time zones in which the games will be played and the TV ratings potential for the games. The most attractive matchups will be played at the feature times.

Bruce from St. Simons Island, GA:
I was hoping the Titans would win at least one of their games against the Colts. That seems unlikely now. Does the extra time to prepare for the Jaguars increase the likelihood the Colts will play better against the Jags than if they were on a normal week schedule?

Vic: You're looking for an excuse, but excuses won't get it done. You wanna be the champion? Go beat the champion.

Mike from Jacksonville:
I check jaguars.com every day and I follow you and various Jaguars on Twitter; in fact, that's why I signed up for Twitter. How did I miss the fact that you'd be blogging the Colts-Titans game?

Vic: We didn't decide to do it until late that afternoon, which left us with no time to promote it. We wanted to see if it would be well-received. It was. We'll do it again.

Marcus from Jacksonville:
I thought your top 10 reasons people don't buy tickets was a little ridiculous, so I thought I'd give you my reason for not buying tickets. I like the Jags and I watch the games when I can, but football is far from the top of my priority list. I could come up with the money to get tickets, but there are so many more things that I could use that money for and, on Sunday, if my wife wants to go do something while the game's on, I would much rather spend time with her and my kid than sit in front of the TV (or in a stadium) and watch a game. It's a game. I'll know the day that I need to reevaluate my priorities when I sacrifice time with my family for a game, or the night I lose a minute of sleep because of a game. That's why I don't buy tickets.

Vic: Your greatness is great.

Scott from Honolulu, HI:
When they called Middleton for a blow to the head, I turned to my daughter and said this may be my last NFL game. Is this the stand we, as fans, have to take?

Vic: You were watching on TV, right?

Tom from Jacksonville:
I sat at home and missed three ridiculously exciting games this season waiting for the Jaguars to achieve FULL CONSISTENCY.

Vic: You're almost there. All you have to do is miss one more game and you will have missed an entire season, and the team will still be in Jacksonville and it'll spend another offseason begging you to buy tickets. That's what I call FULL CONSISTENCY.

Anthony from Jacksonville:
Surely, the Jags have one foot in the playoffs now.

Vic: Nope. They don't have a foot anywhere except in a game in Indianapolis next Sunday that'll put one team in the playoffs and keep the other team out. That's the likelihood of the outcome of that game.

Kyle from Jacksonville:
I've been pondering the reason why I love football so much and I'm having difficulty. As a fellow football dude, why do you think we have such an intense connection with this game?

Vic: You mean, why do we spend our Sunday afternoons at a game – it's just a game – instead of with our wives and children? Well, that's the great thing about being a sportswriter; it's my job. Seriously, I do admit to a connection to the game I can't logically justify, other than it's my job. It's been so long since I haven't spent my days going to a football stadium and being in the company of other football people that I don't know how I would react if I didn't do that. I think that's why I'll have to get completely away from the game when I retire because I know it would otherwise be difficult to break free. What's the connection? For me it goes back to my youth. It goes back to that day when I was seven or eight years old and I found the high school practice field one day, watched and found myself unable to stop watching for the rest of my life. Something just clicked and I knew it was for me.

Nathan from Lebanon, OR:
You're coaching the AFC team in the Pro Bowl this season. You have P. Hillis, A. Foster and M. Jones-Drew running the ball. I would throw the ball on designed screens only. Just sayin'.

Vic: Nathan, put down the video game and try to get a feel for the real game. Bump into something and try to feel what it must be like for a lot of people trying to bump into you real hard. On a cold day, go outside, fall onto the ground and imagine doing that for three hours. Give yourself an imaginary pep talk and then imagine that in another room in the house somebody else is giving themselves a pep talk so they can beat you. It's a wonderful game of courage and confrontation. It's not chess.

Jim from Jacksonville:
I'm afraid my eye infection takes precedence over the Jaguars' midseason winning ways so, like thousands of others who had a legitimate reason not to attend the Oakland game, I rooted for the Jags at home. I hope those sitting in the press box with all their freebies can appreciate that.

Vic: I understand, Jim. I'm still embarrassed about missing those two games last year because of a heart attack.

Richmond from Jacksonville:
There absolutely needs to be a team website award and it needs to be called the "Vic Ketchman Memorial Trophy." Jaguars.com would win it by a landslide.

Vic: What's with that memorial stuff? I'm going to Indy, baby. I'll be there and I'll be alive.

Keith from Summerville, SC:
Anyone with any knowledge of football at all knows that if you search the statement "We must achieve FULL CONSISTENCY" on any Internet search engine, the Jaguars website is the first result, consistently.

Vic: I've heard it's become coaching dogma. All around the country coaches are telling their players they must achieve FULL CONSISTENCY.

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