Early in the second quarter of Thursday night’s matchup between the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens, the home team had Trevor Lawrence and company in a dangerous spot, thanks to Kyle Hamilton. After pinning Jacksonville deep, a spectacular tackle by Hamilton running back Bayshul Tutton pushed the Jaguars to their own 1-yard line, and after a short drive, the visitors faced 3rd-and-7 at their own 7-yard line.
Hamilton looked set to deliver another big play, lining up in the A-gap before disappearing. A stop here would force Jacksonville to win a game the Jaguars led 10-3, and the field goal could be enough to give a depleted Baltimore offense a chance to tie the game.
In an instant, Lawrence looked quickly to the left and Parker Washington was near the first-down marker. But Hamilton, instead of blitzing, dropped into coverage to take that read from Lawrence.
The quarterback quickly recovered, hitting Jacoby Meyers on a deep inbounds pass to move the chain, finding an answer for what Baltimore and Hamilton had thrown.
Final score: Jacksonville 33, Baltimore 10
One more thing about Lawrence and the Jaguars team is that they have an answer for what’s thrown at them this season.
The win moved Jacksonville to 6-2 on the season, four games behind the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South in the win column. The division title seems assured at this point, with the Colts likely to complete a fire sale before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline and the Texans facing six of their last ten games on the road. Actually at least one playoff simulation, from the Athletics, for the Jaguars a 98% chance of working playoffs (and a 71% chance of making the wild card game as the division winner) and Jacksonville has the league The simplest remaining scheduleOnly three games left against teams with winning records.
However, there is little evidence that the Jaguars are ready for anything more than a divisive title.
To start, Jacksonville beat Baltimore 33-10 in Week 8, beating the Colts 42-7, the largest margin of victory in a single game this season. While both teams are reeling, those games are part of the reason the Jaguars lead the NFL in scoring margin (+108). That’s 50 points more than any other team (the San Francisco 49ers are second at +58). The Jaguars have won four games by 21 points or more — a 24-point win over the Cleveland Browns and a 29-point win over the New England Patriots.
No other team has won more than one.
Jacksonville also leads the NFL at +9 on the year. And while much has been said and written about what Brian Flores and the Minnesota Vikings do on defense, the Jaguars are right behind them when it comes to scoring defense. Minnesota leads. He allows only 13.3 points per gameBut Jacksonville ranks second in this statistic, giving up just 15.1 points per game this year.
But wait, there’s more.
As our friend Justis Mosqueda does every week, looking at the Jaguars, the best team in the AFC and one of the best teams in the NFL in Adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt (Any/A) value on both sides of the ball:
And if you look at it as “group standards”. Measured by RBSDMJudging by the expected points added on both offense and defense, the Jaguars are certainly in a class of their own in the AFC and right up there with the best sides in the NFC. This is after the 8th week.
Here’s that graphic after Thursday night’s blowout by the Ravens:
The difference is subtle, but thanks to what the Jaguars defense did against Joe Fagnano, Jacksonville is ahead of the 49ers in this measure.
Certainly, a big part of the story is Lawrence. The Jaguars’ offense is one of the league’s best in the playoffs, as indicated by Masjid’s Any/A value. As mentioned at the beginning of this episode, it has a Jacksonville quarterback. This time you got many answers. He completed 65.2% of his passes for 1,932 yards and 18 touchdowns – with just four interceptions – and leads all NFL passers in ANY/A with an 8.5 mark, ahead of Brock Purdy’s 8.4 and Jared Goff’s 8.0.
Lawrence also leads the league in NFL Passer Rating (111.7), adjusted yards per attempt (9.4) and touchdown percentage (8%). He is also. Third in the NFL in EPA/dropbackJust behind Josh Allen and Purdy.
It is at this point that we are compelled to mention it. According to FanDuel, Lawrence is currently fourth in MVP odds at +600.Behind Allen (+160), Joe Burrow (+450) and Purdy (+550). You know, for research and information purposes…
But the other side of this story is Liam Coen. Since taking over in Jacksonville, Coen and the Jaguars are 19-6, a winning percentage of .750. Despite Cone’s rocky start last year — and not the awkward “Duval” chant at the introductory press conference, but the Jaguars’ 4-3 start to the year — the Jaguars are 15-3 before Jacksonville’s bye week.
Speaking after the victory Thursday night, Lawrence The team has proven its ability to start quicklyAnd not giving up.
“It’s just guys getting ready to play from the jump,” Lawrence said. “I’ve been on teams before where it seems like we don’t start fast and we play better in the second half or whatever. This team, we’re ready to go from the jump. I think it’s really important not to get yourself into a hole early, and that’s something we’ve done a good job of.”
At the midway point of the NFL, Coen and company found all the answers they needed, placing themselves among the league’s elite.
And putting the Jaguars on the road to big things in January and beyond.