So it seems like the Jaguars are getting hot at the right time, huh?
In the first year under head coach Liam Coen, the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to finish with a winning record. The team secured that
after a 48-20 asskicking over the New York Jets. Sunday’s win moved the team to 10-4 overall, kept them a game up on the AFC South and put the squad in striking position for a top seed overall in the AFC itself.
There are plenty of highlights from Sunday’s game, but none are bigger than Trevor Lawrence’s first of its kind statline. Lawrence’s six total touchdowns and over 300 yards passing was a thing of beauty. It has now been three straight weeks of Lawrence “playing the best game of his career” which is exactly the type of thing you want from your franchise quarterback heading into the playoffs.
Firing on all cylinders is an understatement to describe the Jags right now. Regardless of the opponent, they are crushing people. And now it’s on to the biggest test of all against the AFC’s second best squad: the Denver Broncos.
WINNERS
Trevor Lawrence
You’ve seen the statline. You know what he did.
On Sunday, Lawrence posted a statline that quite literally has never been seen before. His five passing touchdowns, 300+ passing yards, his rushing touchdown and subsequent 50+ rushing yards has never been seen by an NFL quarterback. Ever. Until this past weekend.
Cam Newton never did this. Mike Vick never did either. Or Jalen Hurts with all his weapons. Not even Patrick Mahomes has hit that statline. Just Lawrence.
When asked if his former Clemson teammate is playing his best football, Travis Etienne said he has never seen Lawrence hit this kind of stride. Even Coen is lighting up when he gets to throw praise towards his quarterback.
We’ve talked at length all over Big Cat Country about how the acquisition of wide receiver Jakobi Meyers has unearthed the excellence that lay dormant in this offense. But it’s starting to go beyond that.
The running backs are playing well because the offensive line is playing well. The offensive scheme is good so the receivers are constantly open. The tight ends are blocking so everyone has time and room. And the quarterback is hitting everyone (minus maybe that one weird throw away in the end zone).
Everything is working in tandem right now, and you can give a ton of that credit to the quarterback. He was, and largely rightfully, given a lot of grief at the beginning of the year for making the same boneheaded mistakes that plagued him through his pro career. He’s had a lot of different coordinators and coaches in his ear through his time in the league, but now it looks like he finally has one that fits. Coen always said the scheme was tough to learn and it would take a while. It turns out he was right. In the end, we are all better for it.
You can say the Jags haven’t played the greatest of opponents in the past three weeks. But whatever. Making this type of throw two weeks in a row doesn’t just happen because you are playing the pathetic Jets. This type of throw is something else entirely.
Travis Etienne
Speaking of the former Clemson star, the Jags sort of have to resign this guy right?
All Etienne has done under Coen is excel in both the run and pass game which are the traits that got Etienne to the first round of the draft anyway. Sunday, Etienne had 32 rushing yards. Most importantly, he led the team in receiving with three catches for 73 yards and a trio of touchdowns. What a day.
Etienne is now just 51 yards short of 1,000 yards rushing for the year. He is under 50 yards short of 300 yards receiving as well.
Whatever Coen has done to unlock this guy has absolutely worked this season. Last week, we said Etienne may be the odd man out when the Jags start giving out contracts this summer. After Sunday, he might have earned himself a seat at the table.
Jakobi Meyers
A guy that has to get paid though will be Jakobi Meyers.
Meyers led the team in catches with five and finished second on the team in receiving with 71 yards, just two short of Etienne.
There wasn’t a single defensive player on the Jets that had an answer for Meyers getting open across the middle. There has hardly been a defensive player in the league since Meyers got to Jacksonville that has had an answer for him.
Simply put, vote this man to the Pro Bowl. And the rest of the Jags! He has changed my life. I can almost guarantee he has changed yours.
Offensive Line Play
It’s hard for a guy like Lawrence to have the day he did without a solid front ahead of him. On Sunday, Lawrence’s offensive line certainly did some work.
The Jets legitimately have no one up front to cause any problems. Regardless, it was yet another zero-sack afternoon for the Jags offensive line. The Jets had just two quarterback hits and two TFLs all day. It was the second straight week that the Jags offensive line has kept the quarterback free of sacks. It was also the fifth such game of the season.
Everyone knows the injuries that the Jags have had, and have, up front but it has mattered little recently. Sorry Walker Little, but Cole Van Lanen is here to stay and is looking great on the left side.
All anyone could have asked for from this group was mediocre play. The Jags are getting far better than that. Everything has to work in tandem to win, especially late in the year. We are seeing that with the Jaguars offense, especially up front.
The Secondary
It was another multi-interception afternoon for the Jags, led by the Duval secondary.
Montaric Brown snagged another diving interception, the second of his year, while Antonio Johnson added another pick of his own.
The Jets didn’t have a receiver eclipse 60 yards as rookie quarterback Brady Cook finished with just 176 yards passing. Eric Murray was blasting heads earlier and finished the day with a sack and two tackles for loss. Andrew Wingard and Murray finished tied for second on the team in tackles. Dewey even added a TFL of his own, as did Christian Braswell.
This secondary might not scare anyone based on name recognition alone but they are playing in tandem just as much as the offense is. With the defensive line catching fire and the linebackers blanketing the middle of the field, the secondary has the ability to hunt balls. It’s absolutely working.
Special Teams
The Jags have a really good special teams unit. Plain and simple.
Kicker Cam Little nailed both of his field goals Sunday and all six of his extra points. Used only twice, punter Logan Cooke averaged 52 yards a punt. LeQuint Allen put down a 50-yard kickoff return. Bhayshul Tuten averaged 31 yards per kick return.
It’s the little things sometimes. Special teams are traditionally such little things. However, they made an impact and this unit did its job as it has tended to do all season long.
Liam Coen
Ok, I think it is fair to say that Coen is figuring it out.
The Jacksonville Jaguars do not traditionally have winning seasons, at least not in recent memory. That’s just a fact.
Yet in the first year under Coen, despite problems with injuries and penalties, this team will secure a winning season and is almost guaranteed a playoff spot. What a freaking turnaround.
You can visibly see that this team embodies the nature of their coach. You can audibly see that the team rallies around the ball and rallies around one another. The postgame celebrations in the locker room are genuine and intense. It all looks good. That starts with the head coach.
No one knows what lies ahead for Jacksonville. But we can start to see that winning and a standard of making the playoffs is going to be the bar for future seasons.
The penalties still happen and there is always room for improvement, but I cannot sit here and say I don’t believe in what the guy is preaching and putting into his players when you hear him speak postgame.
Al’s Pizza
That’s three interceptions folks, that third one courtesy of a pick from linebacker Ventrell Miller.
Hug your family. Buy that jersey you’ve always wanted. Rejoice in the Jags being good. And do so around some Al’s Pizza because it’s funny at this point. It’s cold. Warm yourself up with Al’s.
LOSERS
Dyami Brown
Yeah, ok, this guy is cooked.
I almost didn’t want to add a loser this week to take away from how fun the game was, but here we are. The Brown signing made sense. The Jags needed someone like him before they knew what they could get in someone like Jakobi Meyers. Or dare I say even Tim Patrick…?
A Chrysler 300 looks like a Rolls Royce Phantom till a Phantom rolls up. It’s time to see this Chrysler off. Thanks for a couple cool plays I suppose Dyami Brown.
