By LAMAR THAMES

Uh, oh!

The Jacksonville Jaguars are one step closer to to a disastrous season with their 31-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in front of  a sparse crowd.

But let’s look on the bright side of the ledger. They are also one step closer to winning the Tim Tebow Sweeptakes in next year’s NFL draft.

Some analysts portray the loss as one of the most embarrassing losses of all time by the Jaguars. While I am not a half-empty, half-full type of person, I would tend to agree. The Jaguars simply couldn’t block, tackle or play a simple game of catch against Arizona.

And poor Nate Hughes. My heart goes out to him. Radio reports indicated he was in tears after dropping two passes against the Cardinals and then he got cut on Monday. I wonder if he will wind up like other former Jaguars (Matt Jones and Reggie Williams) and be without a job in the NFL.

I am not ready to throw David Garrard under the bus, at least not yet. After all, he had a marvelous season in 2007, only to succumb to the general malaise the rest of the team stumbled into in 2008. And it doesn’t look like he’s ready to climb out of it either.

As I was listening to the game on the radio Sunday, I watched other quarterbacks do what Garrard clearly isn’t doing, getting rid of the ball in a hurry and finding open receivers. I know part of it is not his fault, but a lot of it is. After all he doesn’t have a solid line blocking in front of him and who knows what kind of routes the receivers are running. I don’t know since you can’t watch what the receivers are doing on television.

My wife and I decided not to renew our season tickets this year, mainly because I lost my job in November and have not seen any signs of meaningful employment since. But also, we didn’t renew because we are a little tired of this underperforming team. And the coach isn’t helping matters either.

Coach Jack Del Rio was brought in to be more fan and media friendly than Tom Coughlin. Del Rio seems to have slipped off the pedestal in that regard, especially toward the media, which is how most of the fans are able to perceive him.

Sure, he’s on the hot seat and it gets uncomfortable week after week trying to explain how or why his team managed to fall below expectations. But that is part of his job. That and coaching the players on proper techniques of blocking, tackling and catching. Things most youth league coaches manage to impart to 10- and 12-year olds.

Even though the Jaguars looked respectable in a close loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener and managed to score two meaningless touchdowns in the last quarter against Arizona, the team doesn’t look like it has a winning spirit.

That is where Tebow comes in.

I am not saying Tebow will be a great prof quarterback. But he will bring added luster to a team that has lost its shine.

The Jaguars would need to bring him along slowly behind Garrard; maybe use him like Coach Urban Meyer did in the Florida Gators’ 2006 national championship season in a backup role to Chris Leak.

What Tebow will bring to the Jaguars are some of the intangibles that this team sorely lacks, with the exception of running back Maurice Jones Drew — charisma and a winning spirit. Tebow would fit well into the rebuilding mode that General Manager Gene Smith has orchestrated with his dismissal of some of the Jaguars’ former bad apples.

Also of note is a story from the Associated Press quoting Weaver as saying the Jaguars would definitely consider drafting Tebow next year if he’s available. Tebow is such a mega media star that I don’t see how they could possibly pass on drafting him. He would immediately energize the fan base and contribute to additional ticket sales. With his passion for the game and desire to win it is a no-brainer.

Let’s all jump on the Draft Tim Tebow bandwagon. All aboard!