As we have said in this column all year: sometimes you just need to beat the brakes off a bad team. The Jacksonville Jaguars did just that on Sunday, winning 42-7 over the hapless and directionlessIndianapolis Colts.
Sunday’s box score was just about as good as it could possibly get with Trevor Lawrence throwing effectively and with command. Bhayshul Tuten played incredibly well and even Brian Thomas Jr. caught a ball. Defensively, the Jags had four sacks with one even coming from Travon Walker. The
Colts suck but it still was a needed divisional win to keep the Jaguars atop the AFC South and in the hunt for a top overall AFC seed.
Jacksonville even got better news later in the day when Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson hit injured reserve before Thursday night’s game in Baltimore. Unfortunately for Jacksonville, the injury bug bit the team hard Sunday with DaVon Hamilton being the big name hurt. Hamilton was carted off the field and it has been reported he tore his quad and is done for the year.
But such is life in the National Football League. For now, it’s time for a Victory Monday celebration.
WINNERS
Bhayshul Tuten
The Jags made an incredible decision when they decided to give the running back room keys to Tuten. It has paid off in a huge way with almost inarguably Tuten’s best game coming Sunday against the Colts.
The second-year running back led the team in both receiving (two catches for 55 yards and one score) and rushing (16 carries for 104 yards and one score). He scored twice in one game for the second time in two consecutive tries. His 159 total yards were the most by a Jag since 2023.
Tuten’s hard, downhill running style gives the Jags an extremely helpful punisher on offense that most teams simply are not prepared for. When Tuten is tooting along, the Jags are a nasty offense that can score with the best of them.
Nate Boerkircher
The conversation on Nate Boerkircher has been very fun. No, he does not get 20 targets a game but he certainly makes the most of them when he does.
The rookie second-rounder caught just one pass on Sunday, but he took it for 31 yards and a score. Like Tuten, he has touchdowns now in back-to-back games after going scoreless for the first five games of his career.
Boerkircher caught his pass for Lawrence – who did an incredible job to evade pressure – and found himself wide open. It wasn’t a one-handed leap like last week, but the rook has caught all five of his targets in his last three games.
The Defensive Line
For weeks, or even years at this point, we have all been calling for sacks from this defensive line. That all fixed itself on Sunday.
Jacksonville left its game against the Colts with four sacks. Foye Oluokun, Travon Walker and randomly rookie safety Jalen Huskey all had full sacks. Josh Hines-Allen and Arik Armstead were both credited with .5 each. You would have to go all the way back to the opener when the Jags had that many sacks in a game when they had five against the Browns.
In terms of PFF grades, three Jags defensive linemen were among the top-five graded players. It got so bad for the Colts that even Rayuan Lane (who had a nice game by the way) was getting pressures. Finally, a full-circle game from that defensive line unit.
As an aside, with Hamilton’s injury, this probably forces the hand of the Jags to make a play for a run-stopping defensive lineman. That trade could very even include sending Brian Thomas Jr. somewhere else. Maybe this is all addition by subtraction in the end.
Travis Hunter
Sunday was not a “Travis Hunter game” but he just simply rocks as a Jaguar. He looks cool in the rivalries and is an asset on both sides of the ball. He truly is a force multiplier because offenses have to be worried about throwing near him and defenses have to worry about his quick shift speed as a receiver. Yeah, it took a little for it all to shake out in terms of usage, but it is all working well now.
Al’s Pizza
Courtesy of two Daniel Jones picks to Lane and Branson Combs (never thought I’d type those names together) Jaguars fans can get 50% Al’s Pizza with the code PIZZAPICKOFF. What’s better than some pizza and the knowledge that at least two AFC South teams are utterly horrible?
LOSERS
Injuries
That Hamilton injury is going to be an issue. No telling how big or when, but it’s going to change some things. And he was not alone. Walker got banged up and so did guard Ezra Cleveland. No injury is worse than seeing Hamilton carted off the field Sunday morning after how well he has been playing, though. Christian Barmore is a name that comes to mind to replace Hamilton, but we will have to see. That victory on Sunday could have been that much better if the Jags were to come out of it healthy.
The Rest of the NFL
There are some real bad teams in the NFL. The Jacksonville Jaguars aren’t one of them.
Across the league, the Bucs won a game without completing a pass. The Titans took the Bengals to overtime. The Cowboys lost again. The Chargers lost AGAIN. The Vikings still can’t score on offense and the Eagles might just quit playing football altogether. A decent bit has been said about how cupcake the schedule ahead is for Jacksonville, but so what? We can’t help that we are good when everyone else outside of like three seems seemingly suck. What a great time to be a fan of the Jaguars.
Give us your thoughts on Sunday’s game and some names of who you might want to see the Jags acquire to replace Hamilton. And we will see you right back here on a short week as the Jags look to keep the good vibes going against Baltimore on Thursday.
