JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – With his play over the last half of the season, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has entered the national conversation, considered by some analysts to be a top-five quarterback in the NFL.
On Saturday, Lawrence will go up against the current king of NFL QBs: Patrick Mahomes.
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The Jaguars will travel to Kansas City to face the Chiefs in the AFC divisional round and get Mahomes — the league leader in touchdowns and favorite to win NFL MVP — for the second time this season. The Jaguars played the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium back in November and lost 27-17.
It’s a matchup that will pit two young franchise quarterbacks against each other, and it could be a preview of AFC playoff matchups for years to come.
Let’s compare the two stars.
Mahomes was 22 years old when drafted out of Texas Tech by the Chiefs in 2017 with the 10th pick in the draft. It didn’t take him long to become one of the best passers in the league. Mahomes only started one game his rookie season, but in year two, he took the league by storm. Mahomes threw 50 touchdown passes and won NFL MVP. During that magical 2018 season, he led the team to a 12-4 record but the Chiefs were knocked out in the AFC championship game by the New England Patriots in overtime, 37-31.
Lawrence was drafted first overall by the Jaguars in 2021 out of Clemson, also at 22 years old. He started every game during his rookie season, a season infamously plagued by instability. Lawrence finished that season with 12 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and a 3-14 record. With a new coach, a revamped roster and newfound confidence, Lawrence had a big year in his second full season as the starter in 2022. Lawrence completed 66.3% of his passes and finished with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions and led the Jaguars to a 9-8 record and the team’s first playoff berth in five years.
Mahomes had another MVP-type season in 2022, finishing with a league-leading 41 touchdown passes along with 12 interceptions. Mahomes’s 67.1% completion percentage is slightly better than Lawrence, and he had 1,110 more yards through the air.
Lawrence did have a better interception percentage than Mahomes, with Lawrence throwing a pick on 1.4% of his passes and Mahomes throwing a pick on 1.9% of attempts during the regular season.
In their only head-to-head matchup so far, Mahomes got the better of Lawrence both on the scoreboard and in the stat sheet.
Mahomes finished the game 26 of 35 for 331 yards, 4 touchdowns and an interception. He also had seven carries for 39 yards and was not sacked once. Lawrence was 29 of 40 for 259 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Lawrence was sacked five times and had 26 yards rushing.
In Saturday’s rematch, Lawrence will have his chance to dethrone the current king, something Mahomes was not able to do in 2018 during that overtime loss to New England quarterback Tom Brady.
Not many people think the Jaguars can do it. Right now the Jaguars are 8.5-point underdogs.
But anything is possible with Lawrence and this Jaguars team.
Entering this season, the Jaguars were 1-112 in games where they trailed by 17 points or more, according to ESPN. They’re 3-2 this season, winning games against the Raiders (trailed 17-0, won 27-20), Cowboys (trailed 27-10, won 40-34 in OT) and Chargers.
