The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming out of their bye week with the best possible outcome. After losing to the Houston Texans in Week 6, the Jaguars had a week off, with all three teams in the AFC South playing in Week 7.
While Jacksonville is sitting at 4-2, each of its division rivals lost Sunday. The Indianapolis Colts fell 16-10 to the undefeated Minnesota Vikings, the Houston Texans lost 27-21 in overtime to the New York Giants, and the Tennessee Titans came up short 27-24 against the Cleveland Browns.
This was the best possible outcome for the Jaguars, who not only remain on top of the division, but have an increasingly comfortable lead; Indianapolis and Houston are now both 2-5, and Tennessee is 1-6.
Houston's loss was perhaps the most notable
for Jacksonville, after the Texans handed the Jaguars their second loss of the season just one week earlier. Houston entered Sunday's game against New York looking to build some momentum, but instead, the Giants pulled off an upset in Houston, winning in overtime and dropping the Texans three games below .500.
Indianapolis also missed an opportunity to gain ground on Jacksonville. The Colts managed just 10 points against Minnesota, and missed a pair of second-half field goals in the 16-10 loss, falling to 2-5 ahead of their Week 8 trip to Jacksonville.
Tennessee came closest to salvaging a win for the division. The Titans jumped out to a 14-0 lead against Cleveland, and got 129 rushing yards and three touchdowns from Tony Pollard, but the Browns rallied for a 27-24 victory on the final play.
The collective losses only strengthened Jacksonville's position entering the second portion of the season. The Jaguars now hold a two-and-a-half-game lead over Indianapolis and Houston, and a three-and-a-half-game advantage over Tennessee, despite having played only one division game so far.
The next stretch in the schedule is now even more important, with five more divisional matchups ahead. Jacksonville returns from the bye Sunday against Indianapolis, and will then face the Colts one more time, the Titans twice, and the Texans once more.
But after watching every AFC South rival lose while the Jaguars rested, Jacksonville will return to work with considerably more breathing room than it had when the bye began.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: AFC South rivals hand Jaguars perfect bye-week outcome
