Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey demands your attention

The Jacksonville Jaguars won a playoff game Sunday for the first time in a decade and managed to do it with a grand total of 87 passing yards from quarterback Blake Bortles. The 10-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills saw the Jaguars show none of the offensive potency that led the team to finish the season No. 5 in the NFL in points scored.

It was the Jaguars defense that came to the rescue with the offense struggling, and it was the loudest personality on the unit, Jalen Ramsey, that put the game on ice in the final minute.

When Tyrod Taylor went down with a concussion, it was rookie Nathan Peterman tasked with driving 56 more yards in 77 seconds for a game-tying touchdown. But on his fourth play, a pass to Deonte Thompson was knocked into the air by Ramsey and hauled in for an interception.

In the locker room after the game, Ramsey told reporters that he sniffed out the play because Peterman threw the same pass to the opposite side of the field two plays earlier.

“Usually in situations like that when we’re up in the two minute, with the corners we play 10 yards off, if not more,” Ramsey said. “Two plays before that, with Peterman we played the same coverage, we played off and he threw that quick hitch to A.J. [Bouye]’s side. They line up in the same formation, just flipped on my side so I figured they were running the same route. I took a read step and as soon as he threw it, I broke on it.”

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Ramsey, 23, is only in his second year in the NFL and already has a strong argument as the league’s top cornerback. He’s tall, physical, athletic, instinctive, and was named a First Team All-Pro by the Associated Press.

That’s no small feat in Jacksonville where players are often forgotten and overlooked. Just five players earned First Team All-Pro honors as Jaguars in the 22 seasons before Ramsey and Calais Campbell both earned spots for the 2017 season. The small list of players doesn’t include stars like Fred Taylor (17th all time in rushing yards) and Jimmy Smith (22nd all time in receiving yards).

But Ramsey demands your attention.

He has something to say to his opponent on every play and is always on the hunt for the opportunity to make an impact. Early in the game against the Bills, he forced a punt when he belted Zay Jones out of bounds before the receiver could reach the ball across the line of scrimmage.

That play came not long after Ramsey broke up a pass to Kelvin Benjamin in the end zone that came with an offensive pass interference penalty to push Buffalo back. Benjamin spent most of his game lined up across from Ramsey and finished with one reception for nine yards.

The entire Jacksonville defense played well Sunday, holding Taylor to just 134 passing yards on 37 attempts and keeping the explosive LeSean McCoy in check with 75 rushing yards. The Bills couldn’t score a touchdown and that proved to be the difference.

Ramsey embodies what the Jaguars defense does best: bullying.

If there was any disappointing part of Ramsey’s day, it’s that Bortles was pulled aside after the game for a postgame interview instead of the cornerback. It’s anyone’s guess what he would’ve said after the game, but Ramsey hasn’t been shy about speaking his mind in the past.

He called Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green “soft and weak” after a fight earlier in the season and went toe to toe with Steve Smith of the Baltimore Ravens in 2016.

Ramsey could’ve had his Richard Sherman-Erin Andrews moment Sunday, but instead we got a milquetoast interview with the player most likely to cost the Jaguars a chance at a Lombardi Trophy.

Be sure to give Ramsey a mic if there’s a next time, please.

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