No NFL team dominates opponents like the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After knocking off the Ravens 33-10 on Thursday night, the Jaguars have now outscored their opponents by a combined score of 229-121 this season. That’s a point differential of +108, by far the best in the NFL.
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The team with the second best point differential in the NFL is the 49ers, at +58. The Jaguars’ point differential is 50 points better than the next best team.
At 6-2, the Jaguars don’t have the best record in the league, as the Bills, 49ers and Vikings are all 6-1. The 49ers are favored to beat the Raiders and improve to 7-1, and the Bills and Vikings play Monday night, so the winner is 7-1.
But at midseason, point differential is a better indication of a team’s quality, and a better predictor of a team’s future success, than win-loss record. That’s because with the small sample size of half a season, a few plays in some close games can break the win-loss record, but some plays don’t change the point differential. Historically, the teams that prove to be the best over the course of a season are the teams that win a few blowouts, even if they also lose some close games.
Winning blowouts and losing close games is exactly what the Jaguars do. Both of the Jaguars’ losses were one-possession games tied in the fourth quarter, while the Jaguars’ wins included some big blowouts: The Jaguars’ 35-point win over the Colts was the biggest blowout of the NFL season, their 29-point win over the Patriots was the fourth-biggest 2-point blowout in the NFL this season, and Thursday night’s 23-point win over the Ravens was the 11th largest blowout in the NFL this season.
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The Jaguars have won four games by more than 21 points this season; no other team has more than one win by more than 21 points.
Jacksonville has a 3.5-game lead in the AFC South, and six of the Jaguars’ remaining nine games are against opponents with a losing record. They are poised to run away with their division, perhaps taking the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and few teams could blow up in the playoffs like they had in the regular season.