JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Now that’s what a win looks like.
The Jaguars used defense, the kicking game and one big play from Travis Etienne to end a four-game slide with a 26-0 rout over Carolina at EverBank Stadium on Sunday. It was a season-saving-type of win for the Jaguars and backup quarterback C.J. Beathard, who led Jacksonville to six scoring drives and didn’t commit a turnover in place of injured starter Trevor Lawrence as Jacksonville won its home finale.
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Next up, a Week 18 trip to Nashville to face rival Tennessee. The NFL slotted that game for Sunday at 1 p.m. The Titans have long been eliminated from the AFC South race, but would love nothing more than to bump the Jaguars from the playoff race. Coach Doug Pederson didn’t say whether Lawrence, who suffered a shoulder injury last week against Tampa Bay, would be ready to play. If that’s the case again, Beathard would make the start and be backed up by Matt Barkley, a recent signing.
Jacksonville (9-7) needed something to halt a slide that has left its margin for error in the AFC South at nothing. The Jaguars hold the tiebreaker over Houston and Indianapolis, both of whom won Sunday to keep the pressure on. But much like the finale last year, Jacksonville needs to win against the Titans in Week 18. It beat Tennessee in Week 18 last season, getting a scoop and score in the final minutes for a 20-16 win to cap a worst-to-first season. Houston and Indianapolis will meet Saturday night at 8:15, the same time slot the Jacksonville-Tennessee game was in last season.
“Coming down to Week 18, I think our guys really thrive on these situations, and that’s OK. It’s a great opportunity for our organization, for our franchise, for our players, for our owner to be in this situation,” Pederson said. “And we got to go play another good football team on the road. And we’ll enjoy this one obviously and prepare this week whenever we play.”
The Colts and Texans meet next week and the winner there could win the AFC South if Jacksonville loses to Tennessee. The Jaguars could miss the playoffs with a loss and a Bengals win.
For a team beset with injuries and adding more to the pile (receiver Jamal Agnew left with an ankle injury) it helped that Carolina was the opponent this week. The Panthers (2-14) are the league’s worst team and positioned for a rebuild behind No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young.
Carolina couldn’t keep Young upright as Jacksonville’s struggling defense feasted on the former Heisman Trophy winner. The Jaguars swamped Young from open to close, sacking him six times and turning in their best defensive performance of the season. Josh Allen had a record-setting day, sacking Young three times. Opposite Allen, Travon Walker had his first career two-sack game as the defense did what it needed to do in handing Carolina its first shut-out loss since 2002.
And they needed that type of performance in the worst way possible.
“I feel like we got a big weight off of our shoulders,” Etienne said after scoring twice and breaking the 100-yard rushing mark for just the second time this season. “Like I have said, the NFL is week-to-week and when things are not going well, it’s like a snowball effect, and things kept going wrong. I feel like we got over that and now, we wait to piece this snowball in the right direction for us and what a great way to kick off the New Year.”
No Trevor, no problem
Lawrence had made all 49 starts since the Jaguars drafted him No. 1 overall in 2021. He’d managed to return from ankle and knee injuries, and clear the concussion protocol this year. But a sprained AC joint while diving for a first down in last week’s 30-12 loss to Tampa Bay forced Lawrence to miss the first game of his NFL career.
Enter C.J. Beathard, who hadn’t started a game since Jan. 3, 2021. He wasn’t spectacular — although Lawrence hasn’t been either — but played clean, efficient football and moved the chains. Most of Beathard’s throws were relatively safe and not too deep downfield. That efficiency worked to get the offense some much-needed consistency. Beathard led four drives that ended with field goals and another two that Etienne capped with touchdown runs. Beathard’s longest toss was a 48-yard strike to Agnew that went down to the Carolina 7. Agnew left with an ankle injury and didn’t return.
“I felt great. It was great to get back out there and start a game. It’s been three years. But doesn’t feel like three years. I think when you’re rolling throughout seasons, they just fly by. Doesn’t feel like my seventh year in the league either,” Beathard said. “I look back at some of these rookies and stuff and I’m not that much older than you guys, but in reality, in football terms, I am. It’s kind of weird. I felt young again out there, and felt like a kid out there running around and play football, it was fun.”
Beathard finished 17 of 24 for 178 yards. He got a massive assist from the ground game and Etienne, which played far better with the return of injured left tackle Cam Robinson.
Jacksonville’s rushing attack had been stuck in neutral much of the season’s second half. Etienne ripped off the play of the game early in the second half, a 62-yard scoring run down the right sideline that turned a 9-0 game into a 16-0 lead. Etienne added the clincher, too, diving over the pile at the 1 and then stretching the nose of the ball across the goal line. Etienne finished with 102 yards on 16 carries, just his second game over 100 yards this season. Robinson’s return was significant, although he was ejected in the fourth quarter for a fight with Derrick Brown.
“After four weeks of a little bit of heartbreak, it’s the one thing that I appreciate about our guys, they continue to roll up their sleeves. They continue to go to work. They know the mistakes they’ve made, that we’ve been making, but they continue to work and they continue to work hard during the week, and it showed today” Pederson said. “It might not have been just a pretty football game, but they never are. They’re hard. They’re gritty. They’re tough. They’re physical. All that kind of stuff. Just proud of our guys for the way they competed today.”
Defense gets back on track
After getting carved up in December by an assortment of quarterbacks, Jacksonville brought the heat to Young, who has been underwhelming since being picked No. 1 overall in April’s draft. Jacksonville battered Carolina’s line and harassed Young into a miserable afternoon. He was 19 of 32 for 112 yards and an anemic 3.5-yard average per pass. His last throw was deflected and picked off by rookie safety Antonio Johnson. The ground game didn’t help Young out either (15 carries, 57 yards).
“We were in a slump the weeks before, losing four straight,” Beathard said. “But all week we went into this week with a lot of energy knowing what this game meant and what the next week means, knowing that we needed to get this one. I thought the guys played great.”
Records for Jaguars stars
Tight end Evan Engram became just the eighth tight end in NFL history to eclipse 100 receptions in a season, surpassing that milestone in the opening half. Two of Engram’s receptions in the first half converted third downs. Another went for 10 yards on a fourth-and-1. Edge Josh Allen did plenty of the heavy lifting on the defensive side of the ball, sacking Young three times and hurrying him three others. Allen’s second sack of the game moved him past Calais Campbell for the most in a single season in franchise history. Next up are the Titans, a team Jacksonville faced in Week 18 last season and beat for the AFC South title.
“Again, that goes down to the rivalry game. You say they’re not playing for anything,” Allen said. “They’re playing for a lot. They’re playing for pride. They’re playing for themselves. They’re playing for the checks. They’re playing for everything. So for us, you know how rivalry games go. You can be the best team, you can be the worst team. But rivalry games, the energy is going to be high, so we have to come prepared to play.”
McManus gets back on track
After one of the worst stretches of his career, kicker Brandon McManus got out of his funk. Riding a 1-for-6 clip over the past month, McManus hit a 35-yard field goal to end a terrible streak on Jacksonville’s first drive of the game. He added a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter for a 6-0 Jaguars lead and banged through a 24-yarder with just under three minutes to play before the break. McManus booted four field goals against Carolina.