Last year, the Jacksonville Jaguars had an embarrassing fourth-quarter collapse against the Houston Texans. The following week, they won 35-6 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Last week, the Jaguars had an embarrassing fourth-quarter collapse against the Denver Broncos. Today, they won 35-6 against the defending AFC champion New England Patriots.
The Jaguars controlled the game from start to finish. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for three touchdowns to three different players while completing 19-of-29 passes. The performance raised his season total to seven touchdown passes against just two interceptions.
Liam Coen was happy with the Jaguars’ offensive play on third down and in the red zone. On third downs, the Jaguars converted 8-of-12 attempts, while also scoring touchdowns on all five of their red zone possessions.
“You look at situational football with the red zone and third down, obviously some of those statistics is where we win the game in some way,” Coen said.
The red zone was an area Coen wanted to improve entering the season. Jacksonville has now converted on 75% of its red-zone trips with today’s 5-for-5 performance against New England.
The Jaguars’ defense was opportunistic, forcing three turnovers, including the first career interception for Travis Hunter. Hunter picked off Drake Maye in the end zone, marking Jacksonville’s second takeaway
The scoring got started when Lawrence found rookie wide receiver Josh Cameron for a 12-yard touchdown pass. Cameron has caught two touchdown passes through the first three games of the season.
The Patriots responded with a long drive that ended in an Andy Borregales 35-yard field goal before the Jaguars scored just five minutes later as Lawrence connected with Jakobi Meyers for a 10-yard touchdown, Lawrence’s second of the day.
That Meyers touchdown was the first of three unanswered touchdowns for the Jaguars. Lawrence connected with Parker Washington for a 17-yard touchdown late in the third quarter before Jarrian Jones intercepted Maye on New England’s next offensive play. Just 18 seconds after Washington’s score, Chris Rodriguez Jr. ran in a five-yard touchdown to give Jacksonville a 28-3 lead.
As good as the Jaguars’ offense was today, the story was the Jaguars’ defense continuing to force turnovers and keep teams out of the end zone. Last week, the Jaguars held the Broncos to just 2-of-5 efficiency in the red zone.
Today, the Jaguars didn’t allow a touchdown at all and held the Patriots without a red-zone touchdown, headlined by Hunter’s end-zone interception.
In three games, the Jaguars have allowed just three touchdowns. They have forced twice as many turnovers, with six takeaways. Forcing turnovers is what made the Jaguars’ defense so effective last season, and they have picked up right where they left off early this year.
Jacksonville didn’t overwhelm New England in total yardage, as the Patriots outgained the Jaguars’ 328-219. The Jaguars dominated situationally, turning all three takeaways into scoring opportunities and finishing every red-zone drive in the end-zone.
The Jaguars will now travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals before heading to London for a pair of games against the Philadelphia Eagles and division-rival Houston Texans.
