JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Career afternoons from Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne kept the Jaguars on their playoff path.
Now comes the difficult test.
Lawrence passed for five touchdowns — three to Etienne — and the Jaguars looked dominant from open to close in a 48-20 blowout of the Jets on Sunday at EverBank Stadium. The result wasn’t unexpected. The Jets are one of the league’s worst teams and started an undrafted rookie at quarterback against the surging Jaguars.
But Jacksonville left no doubt where things stand under first-year head coach Liam Coen. They’re not just content with double-digit wins and a record first-year season under Coen, who became the franchise’s first coach to win 10 or more games in his rookie season.
“It’s just fun to be able to keep coaching, because, yes, we’ve won these last X amount of games and execute at a high level, but when you continue to elevate and raise the standard of performance, of practice, of preparation … that’s what I think is fun about this group,” Coen said. “They don’t want to just say, man, that was a good win. We can kind of hang back and not go to work this week.”
Jacksonville (10-4) has its eyes set on bigger things.
The Jaguars lead the AFC South by a game over the Colts and Texans and currently sit as a No. 3 seed in the conference. They’ve got a massive Week 16 game against the AFC West-leading Broncos in Denver. That game holds significant stakes for both teams. The Broncos need to win out to have a shot at the No. 1 seed in the AFC. The Jaguars need to keep winning to shoo away Houston and Indianapolis. Denver (11-2) needs to continue to win the division and keep New England out of the top seed in the AFC.
Jacksonville should feel great about its progress. They’ve won five straight games after a disastrous collapse against Houston in Week 10 that threatened to undo substantial progress under Coen. Instead, they locked in and haven’t lost since, a run that feels similar to 2022 when they turned on the burners down the stretch and reached the second round of the playoffs.
Unlike that season when they tumbled to a 4-8 start before channeling a miraculous finish, the Jaguars have been far more consistent, albeit frustrating at times, under Coen.
One of the main reasons for the groove has been Lawrence’s growth. Erratic throughout most of his career, including the start of the year, Lawrence had the best day of his five-year career against the Jets. His five touchdown passes Sunday give him 13 passing touchdowns and just four interceptions during Jacksonville’s current winning streak. Lawrence has also rushed for two touchdowns in that window.
“Yeah, I think we just executed really well. We got in the right plays, against the right looks against what the Jets were doing. I felt like we had a really good plan and guys just made a lot of plays down the field and I was able to give them opportunities,” Lawrence said. “We were protected so good up front. That also helps. You got a lot of time back there to distribute and let guys get open. Our group up front did a great job today. Again, no sacks today. That just doesn’t happen often, and we’ve done it a lot this year.”
Lawrence looked as good as he ever has against New York’s trade-strafed defense. The Jets, who dealt away cornerstones Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner at the deadline, were game for a quarter. They cut an early deficit to 14-7 on a Brady Cook 9-yard touchdown to Adonai Mitchell.
“I think he would say one of the best ones he’s had, absolutely. You could feel it, though, throughout the weeks, the last few weeks especially, that he’s continuously gaining more and more confidence, continuity and chemistry with the guys that he’s playing with,” Coen said of Lawrence.
After that, it was a Jaguars clinic. Lawrence was not only efficient and accurate (20 of 32, 330 yards), he connected for points and big plays.
Lawrence threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brian Thomas Jr. on Jacksonville’s opening drive, added a 15-yard scoring run on the second, and then found Bhayshul Tuten for a 16-yard score on the next one as Jacksonville raced to a 21-7 lead. His third touchdown pass went to Etienne near the end of the opening quarter, a beautiful 20-yard play that made things 31-10 at half.
“Yeah, there’s been times where I’ve felt that way and but definitely this is as confident as I’ve felt. Just the feeling in our locker room and our team and our offense,” Lawrence said. “It’s been fun. So we have to continue to build on that and can’t get complacent. There’s still a lot more ahead of us.”
Etienne hauled in an 8-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter and turned a catch and run early in the fourth into a 45-yard touchdown. Etienne had just three receptions for 73 yards, but he scored on all of them. Thomas continues to turn things around after his frustrating start. He had 66 yards on four catches. Jakobi Meyers had 71 yards on six catches as Lawrence spread out the ball well.
“Just confidence, man. Confidence. I feel like Trevor just continues to grow, continues to get better,” Etienne said of Lawrence. “Just the confidence, the swagger he’s playing with. He’s locked in. He’s commanding the field. He’s commanding the offense. As long as he keeps doing that, the sky’s the limit for us.”
The defense, of course, took advantage of Cook’s first real experience under center. New York was without Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor, and Cook struggled against Jacksonville’s defense. Ventrell Miller, Montaric Brown and Antonio Johnson all had interceptions.
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