Supposedly, there was a football game played in Jacksonville Thursday night.
Allegedly, the Jaguars won this game, and in defeating the Tennessee Titans 19-13, the Jaguars "rose" to within a half-game of "first place" in the AFC South.
The reality? Thursday's game was a microcosm. A metaphor. A statement.
And the statement it made was this: The 2015 AFC South makes the 2014 NFC South look like the 2013 NFC West.
Last year, when the Carolina Panthers won the NFC South with a record of 7-8-1, there was all sorts of hand-wringing about a team with a losing record making the playoffs.