There was a time this season when the Jaguars couldn’t be trusted. When they could’ve been chalked up as the same old Jags.
Look at the first eight weeks of the season.
Offensively, there were all the turnovers, including Trevor Lawrence’s five giveaways against the Eagles in October. His red-zone interceptions. The inconsistencies finishing drives.
Defensively, the Jaguars’ dominance in Weeks 2 and 3 gave way to a porous unit that gave up lots of yards and couldn’t get takeaways. Giving up 34 points to a dreadful Colts offense in Week 6 was a low point.
But since Week 9, Jacksonville has ascended — on both sides of the ball. And it passed another big test in primetime.
After a Lawrence sack and fumble on the opening possession, the Jaguars (7-8) played mistake-free football en route to a 19-3 victory over the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football. It marked Jacksonville’s third straight win, which applied more pressure on the reeling and hobbled Tennessee Titans (7-7) in the AFC South race.
The Jaguars are currently just a half a game behind the division-leading Titans, pending the latter’s Christmas Eve showdown against the Texans.
Jacksonville had 365 yards against a Jets defense that hadn’t given up more than 360 since Week 2. Entering the game, New York also ranked fourth in points allowed and sixth in defensive DVOA. It’s a unit that has Pro Bowlers at every level (defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, inside linebacker C.J. Mosley and cornerback Sauce Gardner).
Despite a very average point total, the Jaguars had moments of dominance against a stout defense. Like in the second quarter, when they had an impressive 16-play, 96-yard touchdown drive. Jacksonville had no accepted penalties in the series, faced one third down, posted eight first downs and dominated the line of scrimmage, capped by Lawrence’s score. At the goal line, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick leaped over the pile and used his length to cross the plane.
The Jaguars defense, which tied a league-high six takeaways in the previous two weeks, added two more on Thursday — first picking off Zach Wilson at the end of the first half and then recovering a lost fumble by Jets receiver Garrett Wilson in the fourth quarter.
Tackling Garrett Wilson, linebacker Foyesade Oluokuon karate-kicked the ball out of Wilson’s grasp, cornerback Tre Herndon scooped it up after it popped into the air and returned it 14 yards to the Jets 24.
The Jaguars defense held the Jets to just 66 rushing yards (including four at the half), 2-of-13 on third down and 227 net yards of offense overall, New York’s second-lowest total of the season.
And Jacksonville may have ushered in the end of the Zach Wilson era with the Jets. The 2021 No. 2 overall pick looked lost, leading to his benching late in the third quarter. His day finished completing just 9-of-18 passes for 92 yards and an interception with a 41.9 passer rating.
It was a complete, (mostly) error-free performance for the Jaguars on the road in December in primetime against a fellow AFC playoff hopeful in crummy weather.
Jacksonville has three wins in the last 12 days, after posting three wins in the entirety of the 2021 season.
These are not the same old Jags.
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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.
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