Nashville nightmare no more.
The Jaguars are right back in the AFC South conversation.
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Trevor Lawrence and a feisty Jaguars defense went into Nashville and did something that hadn’t been done there since 2013. A sterling game from Lawrence and his receivers and a forceful game by an oft-maligned defense delivered a 36-22 beatdown of the Titans on Sunday.
That win felt like a statement by the Jaguars (5-8).
Maybe, just maybe, there’s something left of this season yet besides just playing for pride. Beating Tennessee (7-6) in Nashville is something that had to happen for the Jaguars to stay in the AFC South race. While it’s still a longshot, it’s another reminder that Doug Pederson’s Jaguars aren’t the same old Jaguars. They’ve now cleared two major clouds that hung over the franchise in recent history:
They can’t win on the West Coast (Jacksonville blasted the Chargers 38-10 in Week 3), and they can’t beat the Titans in Nashville. Gus Bradley accomplished that feat last in 2013, his first season in Jacksonville, with a 29-27 win. Since then, it’s been nothing but losses and demoralizing ones at that, when the Jaguars have visited Tennessee. Not this time.
The Jaguars return home in Week 15 to face the Cowboys with an unlikely, but still very much possible, scenario alive.
The playoffs.
“It just shows what this team is made of and the direction we are headed,” Lawrence said. “I think that’s huge and to get some momentum back this last stretch at the end of the season. Obviously these game are huge if we want to give ourselves a shot at the postseason and you can’t win five of them if you don’t win one, as I said that after the Ravens game.”
Sunday, mostly everything clicked.
Lawrence, who was questionable with a toe injury entering the game, looked exceptional. He carved up one of the league’s worst pass defenses and the playmakers around him delivered after turning in a clunker last week. Lawrence was 30 of 42 passing for a career-high 368 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown.
“I’ll tell you this. He’s been able to handle everything. And now he’s battling the injury this week and put the team sort of on his back like he did again today just shows the type of player and person that he is and how tough he is,” Pederson said. “He’s the right leader for us. And, we’re excited to have him as our quarterback.”
Evan Engram had a career game (11 catches, 162 yards, 2 TDs), including a stellar grab on a 21-yard catch in the front side of the end zone that highlighted just what kind of day it was. That score put Jacksonville up 33-14. The Jaguars rattled off a 29 unanswered points before Ryan Tannehill tossed a 2-yard touchdown to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine with 7 minutes, 15 seconds to play.
“I mean, the way I prepare, the way I work, and the way we work, anybody could have a day,” Engram said. “We’ve seen the talent that we have in that room have days like that. And today was just, God allowed it to be [No.] 17′s day and it was a lot of fun.”
With Lawrence and the offense buzzing, the defense put on a clinic. While Yulee High graduate Derrick Henry still got his big yards (17 carries, 121 yards, TD), the bulk of that came early as the Jaguars slapped the Titans around after the opening quarter.
Picked apart for much of the past month and hitting a peak low point in a humiliating 26-point blowout to the Lions last week, Jacksonville finally got something from its defense. The Jaguars cranked up the pass rush and finally put some heat on an opposing quarterback.
“I think pressure on the quarterback [was the key]. You put pressure on a quarterback and balls tend to have to either miss the targets a little bit. And then so I think the pressure and then the guys were in the right spots and made some really critical, or key, I should say, takeaways in this football game,” Pederson said. “But hats off to the defense. It’s a little bit of a rough start with them running the football, which we knew coming in that that’s what they do and they do it well. But, kind of settled in the football game and handled our business much better.”
Travon Walker blew past a chip block and went right past the left tackle to strip sack Tannehill on the Titans’ second drive of the game. That play set up a 12-yard touchdown pass to Engram. Andrew Wingard, playing for an injured Andre Cisco, picked off Tannehill and Jacksonville turned that into a Riley Patterson field goal.
And Josh Allen recovered a Henry fumble that was forced on a jarring hit by Shaq Quarterman, an Oakleaf High graduate. Lawrence hit Zay Jones for a gorgeous 20-yard touchdown, made possible by the smallest of margins as Jones’ right foot came down just inside the white stripes.
“Yeah, those [turnovers] put us behind and they took advantage of it, turned the ball over. Coach [Vrabel], he said all week we need to take care of the ball, finish drives and score points,” Henry said. “But unfortunately we didn’t, and that’s what happens.”
That helped Jacksonville shake off a 14-7 deficit and take a 20-14 lead at the break. The defense recovered three fumbles (Allen, Arden Key and Dawuane Smoot) and kept constant pressure on Tannehill until the very finish. Allen’s first sack since Week 4 against the Eagles pushed Tennessee into a fourth-and-18 with 1:59 left and Tannehill’s throw came under heavy pressure and went out of the end zone.
“The turnovers we got today? Incredible. Evan Engram? Lights out. Trevor [Lawrence]? Dialing it up. Guys making incredible catches,” Zay Jones said. “My boy [Jamal Agnew] should have had a kick return [TD]. Guys were making plays for sure.”