Jaguars play best game of season to beat Colts, take first place in AFC South
For the Jaguars, Sunday's game featured the kind of performance the NFL world has been waiting for — a performance that would justify the preseason hype.
There had been disappointment in the season opener against the Colts — despite scoring 31 points on the road in a double-digit victory over a division opponent — thanks to short-yardage struggles on offense. There was the disaster of the next two weeks — an offensive dud in a home loss to the Chiefs, total collapse in a blowout loss to the Texans.
And in London, despite two straight victories to get the season back on track, we saw a Jaguars team that hadn't quite put it together, particularly on offense. Against Atlanta, it struggled to turn drives that got deep inside opponent territory into touchdowns. Against the Bills, two scoring opportunities were squandered with sack-fumbles.
That's why Sunday was so significant for Jacksonville (4-2), which stymied a late comeback en route to a 37–20 victory over Indianapolis (3-3) at EverBank Stadium to sweep the season series with the division rival and take sole possession of first place in the AFC South. It marked the most complete performance we've seen from the Jags this season.
Assuming the knee injury suffered by quarterback Trevor Lawrence near the end of the game isn't a significant concern — he got hurt on a third-down sack by the Colts' Samson Ebukam on the Jaguars' second-to-last possession and coach Doug Pederson didn't have an update postgame — Jacksonville appears to be rounding into the legitimate AFC contender it was expected to become entering 2023.
"I think it's a glimpse of what we can be," coach Doug Pederson said of Sunday's performance. "There are still some areas that we have to clean up, obviously. I think the team really in these last three weeks kind of figured some things out, figured out who we are as a football team."
Lawrence (20-for-30, 181 yards, 2 TDs, INT) threw an interception early in the fourth quarter, but Jacksonville still had a season-high in points and poured in four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing). Gardner Minshew — Indianapolis' starting quarterback for the foreseeable future with rookie No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson on injured reserve — was picked off a career-high three times, including one in the end zone.
Special teams showed up too, with placekicker Brandon McManus going 3-for-3 on field goals (all were from at least 48 yards) and wide receiver Jamal Agnew posting a 53-yard kick return late in the fourth quarter. It was a full-team effort.
The 17-point margin of victory was the largest of the season for Jacksonville. The Jaguars led by as many as 25 points after Lawrence found second-round rookie tight end Brenton Strange for a 10-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, putting the home team up 31-6.
The Jaguars were able to lean on their defense, as they have for much of this season. They had a season-high four takeaways on the day: a strip sack from Josh Allen in the first quarter on top of the three picks. The biggest thing they did was make the Colts one-dimensional offensively — taking away the run game that has been their strength and making them lean on Minshew's arm.
Entering the game with the league's No. 8 rushing attack, Indianapolis had 17 rush attempts for a season-low 44 yards. Jonathan Taylor, in his second game back from an ankle injury that kept him on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list to start the season, was held to eight carries for 19 yards.
"The takeaways are something that we as a team talk about," Pederson said of the defense. "It just shortens the field for your offense. Pass rush again today, there was pressure on Gardner, putting it in places that he maybe didn't want it to go. Again, just a great team effort on defense to play the way they did today."
But Sunday was also the most balanced and consistent we've seen the Jaguars offense be this season from start to finish.
It wasn't perfect. Jacksonville slowed down offensively in the second half. There was the 17-yard sack late in the final period that Lawrence was hurt on. The Jags struggled on third down (4-of-14) and failed to convert a red-zone trip into a touchdown, plus Lawrence's pick. But they still had seven scoring drives. They needed to be more conservative late in the game, when the resilient Colts started making a comeback, and did enough to finish the game. Five pass-catchers had at least 27 yards and a reception of at least 10 yards (Strange, Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, Calvin Ridley, Travis Etienne). Etienne (18 carries, 55 yards) had both rushing scores.
Not only is Jacksonville currently No. 1 in its division, but now — riding a three-game winning streak, capped by its most complete game of the season — the team might be evolving into a force in the AFC. And that's more than the hype talking.
"I think this is where we want to be," Lawrence said. "We're getting better every week. I think that's the most exciting thing, is we're getting better every week. We're getting closer. I feel like the momentum and the energy is really rolling for us. We got to keep that going every week."
Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
