The Good Place's recurring gags involving the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars and their totally real quarterback Blake Bortles have been some of the show's best jokes since its start. It led to Jason Mendoza actor Manny Jacinto actually attending a playoff game, and the series threw the team a bone by acknowledging their sudden on-the-field success. Unfortunately, the NBC comedy's kudos may have been a curse, as one observer realized it might've it jinxed Jacksonville's season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars started out the NFL season great and won 3 of their first 4 games of the season. This included a much-hyped win over the New England Patriots, who had eliminated the team in the AFC championship game in the previous season. Things seemed to be on the up and up.
That all changed, however, when Maya Rudolph's character The Judge informed Michael and Janet the team was "good" in the Season 3 episode "The Brainy Bunch."
The Sunday after that episode's airing, the Jaguars fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 14-30. Blake Bortles threw 4 interceptions that game, which is one more than he had in the prior three games total. The losses continued, and now the Jaguars sit at the bottom of their division in the latter half of a season that some believed would continue the franchise's turning point. While The Good Place likely isn't directly responsible, their blessing certainly hasn't helped.
What's even worse is that Jason Mendoza's idol, Jacksonville's starting quarterback Blake Bortles, has come under critical fire as of late for his poor performances in recent games. Some sports analysts have called his lucrative contract extension one of the worst decisions the franchise has ever made, and the organization recently decided to bench Bortles ahead of a key divisional matchup, instead playing backup Cody Kessler in his place. Suffice to say, this could be signaling the end of Bortles' run in Jacksonville.
His exit could effectively be a curse for The Good Place, since fans have grown to love Jason Mendoza's obsession with Blake Bortles and Jacksonville Jaguars football. If Bortles were to be traded, would Jason flip teams, or would audiences have to grow accustomed to Jason screaming "KESSLER!" in heated situations? Unfortunately, there's no reboot button in the real world, so the writers may just want to cross their fingers and hope the quarterback bounces back.
Regardless of what the quarterback situation is in Jacksonville, The Good Place is now in a predicament only slightly less hectic than Bortles'. The Jaguars are a part of Jason's character, so suddenly not mentioning them or the status of their season may spark (faux) outrage. At the same time, it may be best if to slack of on specifically mentioning how the team is doing, just so the writers don't have to play catch up in each successive season, risking further errors.
The Good Place airs on NBC Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET, in the same time slot where Thursday Night Football used to start up. For a look at what's happening on television in the meantime and in the early months of 2019, visit and bookmark our fall and midseason premiere guides.
