The Jacksonville Jaguars refuse to play a normal football game this year. And it’s spectacular.
On Monday Night Football, in front of the entire NFL landscape, the Jags did what just about nobody outside of Duval County thought they would do: defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-28. It was by no means pretty. It was by no means a clean game. It was certainly lucky. But that’s what happens sometimes. You need a little bit of luck. The football gods bestowed that on us Monday night.
That game represents
a seminal moment in Jacksonville history. These are the type of games teams must win to break through from the lower echelon of football teams the Jags have found themselves in for years. That environment is the type of thing teams need to earn respect.
All of that was done Monday night. And my ears are still ringing.
WINNERS
Jacksonville
What a night that was, man.
I wasn’t at the Chargers playoff game but I can only imagine that environment rivaled it. EverBank Stadium was rocking for hours and it actually ended in our favor. Not too often does that happen.
Clearly the Jags have hit on this new coaching staff and on General Manager James Gladstone. Who knew a geeky GM, a head coach who was in college football in 2023 and a scary Italian could team up to do wonders like this. It won’t be long before this unit is considered the best coaching staff this team has seen since its inception. There is still a long way to go to get there, but it seems we are on the right track.
I wrote at length after the Cincinnati collapse that the future was bleak. I was very doom and gloom after that. It seemed like the franchise had fallen under the same spell it has for years where things were just going to go from bad to worse. These dudes proved me wrong.
Plenty is still broken about this team, sure, but it doesn’t feel out of control. The penalties will end eventually. Lawrence seems like he is (deep breath) on the verge of breaking through. The direction is actually there.
The players on this team want to play for Coen. They want to play for each other. The free agents, like Jourdan Lewis, have acted as if they have been here for years. This is what real NFL teams do and feel like.
Beating the Chiefs one time probably doesn’t deserve this level of speak. But it sure was exciting and fun to witness, especially considering just a few weeks ago we were letting the now benched Jake Browning tear us apart.
These moments didn’t used to happen. Now here we are. It sure is exciting.
Travis Hunter
For the first time in his short NFL career, Travis Hunter broke through and did the things he was drafted to do. He made the sort of circus plays he did in college and on the national stage, trading that first round pick didn’t seem so bad.
Hunter finished Monday night with a career-high 64 yards receiving, two tackles and a pass break up. He was nominated for Rookie of the Week for his efforts.
That game was Hunter’s breakout moment. He was benched on defense just last week but Monday was called upon to win the game. Lawrence went his way when the lights were brightest. Hunter delivered.
Cleveland can keep that pick. We might just have our guy after all.
Trevor Lawrence While Playing Down
Hey so what the hell goes through this guy’s mind sometimes?
The Supreme Leader of Chaos Lawrence was back to his old ways again last night in the first half, helping dig his team into a 14-0 hole. The interception was hardly his fault but it goes down as his fault all the same.
I was ready to give up on the dude. A collapse like that on MNF? In front of the world? It just all seemed so Jacksonville.
Then, the weird voodoo magic of Monday came out and Lawrence locked in.
While trailing, Lawrence went for over 250 passing yards and three total touchdowns including the gamewinner on his legs. If you remember back in his Clemson days, Lawrence used to be a good scrambler. It was part of their offense. He unlocked that part of himself against the Chiefs.
Lawrence should have ran more than he did probably throughout the night but he made it work nonetheless. His passes to Brian Thomas Jr. and Dyami Brown on the final drive were the stuff you dream of playing in your backyard. He played like the one who was promised down the stretch.
Oddly enough Lawrence has a long track record of playing, and winning, games on his birthday. He did so this week.
There is still conversation to be had that he is not playing great but he is certainly getting better. Obviously the Jags need the Lawrence he showed while losing the rest of the season. Hopefully that doesn’t mean anymore 14-0 holes however.
Anthony Campanile
I legitimately don’t think there has been a coach that has been on a heater quite like the one Anthony Campanile is on.
Despite the Jags losing the turnover battle Monday and only forcing one interception, the defense played really well. It was how that defense forced the interception too which showed the coaching chops of Camp.
We have all seen Devin Lloyd’s pick six but him dropping into that simulated passing lane was something Mahomes didn’t even see coming. The Jags actually telegraphed a pick and it changed that game forever.
The defensive line is not good without Travon Walker. No sacks is a scary sight. But they did what they could with the line and at least generated some good pressure.
Foye Oluokun played great. Josh Hines-Allen came up big. Eric Murray is a dog. Rayuan Lane and Hunter even played decent roles. This defense is not the most talented in the NFL by any means but they are being coached like they are the ‘85 Bears. Almost makes you forget last year’s unit. Almost.
LeQuint Allen
Short bit here but is LeQuint Allen playing really good football???
Allen is a dude who is not going to stuff the statsheet. At least not yet. However, this guy seemingly loves to blast a pass rusher in the gap any chance he can get. Gladstone has some huge hits in his first draft class and quietly Allen may be the best one. Bhayshul Tuten is going to overshadow Allen because of how well he is playing too, but Allen deserves his credit.
Without Allen coming up and blocking for Lawrence, we may not have gotten the ending we saw. The little things matter and I am sure Allen is hearing about it in practice.
Ashley Coen
Shoutout to Ashley Coen for supplying teachers and first responders with tickets to Monday’s game. My mom actually won a pair through her students from emailing in and nominating her. By winning the tickets, my mom and I got to go. I would not have gone had we not won the pair.
My favorite Jacksonville Jaguars’ memory from a game came because of our first year coach’s wife wanting to do something awesome for the community.
Ashley Coen wanted deserving people in those seats Monday night, cheering their asses off because they work hard as hell. What a cool experience. Thank you to the Coen family from me and all the other folks who got to witness that event. What a special night.
Al’s Pizza
The bit continues. Despite not hitting the two interception mark for the first time all season – which still feels unreal to say – fans can still use the online code “JAGSWIN” for 25% off through Wednesday. The Al’s Pizza folks called me by the way. We are linking up for something. Stay tuned.
LOSERS
Injuries, Yet Again
I almost didn’t even want to include a losers list this week. But this one is getting to concerning levels.
Tuesday afternoon Brenton Strange was placed on injured reserve with a non-season ending hip injury suffered during the game. He came up basically limping after a play where he wasn’t contacted and that’s never a great sign.
Strange has been a revelation this year and there isn’t a clear, great option to replace him. He ins’t alone however as it seems every week there is a new offensive lineman getting hurt and a new guy getting shuffled in. Shoutout to Jonah Monheim for playing some absolutely huge minutes last night, but he isn’t supposed to be playing.
Walker’s injury is a huge one and the Jags will need him back on the field for Sunday, likely wearing a club.
Hunter got banged up a little Monday, Oluokun is playing through some stuff and basically everyone on the offensive line is hurt. It’s not time to panic, but this is something that is growing ever more concerning.
