When people think of the greatest fantasy football performances of all-time, they likely don't think of the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the era of fantasy football, the Jaguars have had a few stars such as Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew and Allen Robinson, but more often than not they have had putrid offensive units.
Despite that, one of arguably the most illustrious and impressive fantasy football displays of all-time was put on by a Jaguars wide receiver almost 20 years ago. And as unlikely as the team who represents the fantasy football performance was, the team it came against was just as unlikely.
On Sept. 10, 2000, the Jaguars traveled to Baltimore in Week 2 to play the Ravens and their vaunted defense, led by Ray Lewis, Rod Woodson, Duane Starks, Peter Boulware and several other top-tier players. That year, the eventual Super Bowl-winning Ravens fielded one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, featuring a particularly dominant pass defense.
That year, the Ravens allowed just 165 points, a record for fewest points allowed by a defense in a 16-game season. Included in the dominance was the stingy defense allowing just 11 passing touchdowns, giving them fewer than one touchdown pass allowed per game.
So, how exactly did one of the best fantasy football performances come about against that defense? The answer is simple: Jimmy Smith.
The greatest wide receiver in Jacksonville history and one of the top players overall in the franchise's lifetime, Smith was no stranger to dominant performances. But the best of his lifetime came against the Ravens in 2000, one of the most unlikely performances of all-time considering the eventual 7-9 Jaguars were far from the Super Bowl Ravens in terms of talent that year.
On that fateful day in Baltimore, Smith put forth arguably the best fantasy football performance and best Jaguars offensive performance ever thanks to a jaw-dropping stat line. In a 39-36 loss in Baltimore, Smith was targeted an astonishing 21 times and he turned that plethora of targets into an elite performance: 15 receptions for 291 yards (19.40 yards per reception) and three touchdowns.
All three of Smith's touchdowns were huge plays, with the distances recorded being 45, 43 and 40 yards. The first two touchdowns helped put Jacksonville up 17-0 early on in the game, while the final touchdown gave the Jaguars a 36-32 lead with 1:45 left in the game.
To this day, Smith's production vs. Baltimore is the greatest single-game performance by any Jaguars receiver since the team's first season in 1995. Factor in the fact that it came against not only the eventual champions, but against one of the best defenses of all-time, and Smith's efforts in 2000 is even more incredible.
To date, Smith's game against the Ravens is No. 2 all-time on the Jaguars' single-game record books for most receptions in a game, tied for No. 1 for most touchdown catches, and is No. 1 in both scrimmage yards and receiving yards.
In addition to Smith's own team records is the fact the in four quarters, he accounted for over 25% of the Ravens' allowed receiving scores in 2000. No other wide receiver scored multiple touchdowns vs. the Ravens that year, and only three other wide receivers recorded 100 receiving yards in the Ravens' other 15 games.
In Smith's 11 years in Jacksonville, the Jaguars' legend recorded 862 catches for 12,287 yards and 67 touchdowns. holding the team record for each. He spent over a decade dominating NFL secondaries, but maybe his brightest moment came on that day in Baltimore in 2000.
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June 20, 2020 at 12:16AM
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20 Seasons Later, Jaguars' Jimmy Smith's All-Time Fantasy Performance Still Holds Up - Sports Illustrated
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