The Jaguars would like you to keep ignoring them.
Following Sunday's massive double-digit road win in Denver, Jags coach Liam Coen underscored his team's underdog mentality.
"Just thankful that a small-market team like us can come into a place like Mile High and get it done," he said.
The comment played on a mid-week remark by Broncos coach Sean Payton.
"As you look at them and you watch the tape, it's a smaller market, but you see a real good team," Payton said of the Jags heading into Week 16.
The Jags clung to the odd addition of "smaller market," and Coen made sure his team used it as fuel for Sunday's upset.
The Jags won their sixth consecutive game and their first in franchise history versus a 12-win opponent entering Week 16 or later. The dominant victory is sure to grab attention, but Coen is fine if his club keeps getting overlooked.
"We don't care. We really don't care about the narrative," he said. "I'm sorry to say that, but it's only helping us. So I want the narrative to keep coming."
To quote a wise woman: "You can't have a newcomer come in and steal the show."
Coen is smart to use any slight, perceived or otherwise, to keep his team fueled. Teams have ridden that underdog mentality deep into the postseason. The 2017 Philadelphia Eagles famously donned dog masks after wins to underscore their standing en route to an eventual Super Bowl title.
Trevor Lawrence is on a heater, logging his fourth straight game with two-plus touchdowns and zero giveaways. On Sunday, he generated 279 passing yards and three touchdowns and added a rushing score. Like his coach, the QB is fine with being overlooked.
"Hope we don't get any," Lawrence said about national attention. "So, everybody out there, just keep it up. It's great."
Sunday's win snapped the Broncos' 11-game winning streak and kept the Jags atop the AFC South. Jacksonville will clinch a playoff spot if the 49ers defeat the Colts on Monday night. Next Gen Stats gives the Jags an 82% chance of winning the division with two weeks to play.
As the tournament approaches, the Jags would like to keep flying under the radar.
"Everybody in this locker room on the Jaguars team, even upstairs, we know everybody's probably going to try to hop on this bandwagon now, but we don't want anybody," defensive end Travon Walker said on the Jaguars' postgame show. "They can stay where they're at. It's us. It's all about the Jags.
"F--- everybody but us. Excuse my language, dad, grandmamma, but f--- everybody but us."
