JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ Here's something no one saw coming:
Blake Bortles led the Jacksonville Jaguars in rushing yards, providing just enough pop on offense to squeeze out a 10-3 victory against the Buffalo Bills in Sunday's AFC wild-card playoff game.
Yes, that would be correct. On a day when the defense was dominant (no surprise), Bortles shook off a shaky passing day with a number of nifty scrambles.
He finished with 88 yards on 10 carries, cobbling just enough offense for the Jags to edge Buffalo (9-8). Jacksonville (11-6) will face the Steelers in Pittsburgh (13-3) next Sunday in the second round of the playoffs.
Although he finished with only 87 passing yards, Bortles accounted for the winning score by connecting with Ben Koyack for a 1-yard TD on fourth-and-one in the third quarter.
Both defenses were dominant, reflected by the 3-3 halftime score. There wasn't much red-zone drama, only a bunch of stops and punts. The Bills had 148 net yards at the half; Jacksonville had 84.
And so continues the Redemption Road for Bortles, who spent much of the preseason tied to the whipping post, where people like me would take their shots.
The interwebs weren't kind. It wasn't a matter of whether Bortles was an elite quarterback. It was a matter of whether he was fit to play in the NFL.
Bortles flipped that narrative dramatically. The Jaguars qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2007. And Bortles was much more than a game-manager in Weeks 14-16, completing 71.4 percent of his passes for 903 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Redemption, anybody?
"No, not really," Bortles said during a conference call leading up to the playoffs. "We've talked about it before and I think when you spend time or when you spend brain space saving all that information and all those guys that have said bad things about you, it is a waste of time, it's a waste of space, it's a waste of thinking about that stuff."
