Trevor Lawrence makes beautiful throw, Jaguars trailing at halftime

A matchup between polar opposites is taking place at Gillette Stadium. While the New England Patriots are effortlessly picking up yards, the Jacksonville Jaguars have to fight for every single yard they get. Thus, it’s not surprising to see the Jags trailing 28-3 by halftime.

The Jaguars are struggling to gain yards, let alone first downs. They look overmatched and slow. The fact that they’ve turned the ball over twice hasn’t helped matters. One of the bright spots in the first half was a deep completion by Trevor Lawrence. After scrambling 15 yards to get a first down in the first quarter, the rookie passer connected with Laquon Treadwell for 40 yards. The pass got the Jaguars to the Pats’ 18 yards. However, the offense couldn’t do much once they were near the goal line and they kicked a field goal.

That 40-yard completion was arguably one of Lawrence’s best throws of the year, he’s made this season and the kind that makes wonder what he can do once the team surrounds him with more talent. Things took a bad turn for the worse in the following two drives, as the Jags’ next two drives ended on interceptions by Lawrence. That has been the script throughout his rookie campaign. He makes a few jaw-dropping throws every game followed by an interception (or drops by his receivers).

The Jaguars must bring a head coach that can untap Lawrence’s potential and put him in a position to succeed. In the first half, he’s completed nine of 13 passes for 128 yards with two interceptions. Here’s his 40-yard pass to Treadwell.

The Jaguars haven’t been able to stop the Patriots in Week 17.

Even without Lawrence’s interceptions, the Patriots are doing a great job of moving the ball. The Jags can’t stop their running game and Damian Harris has already scored two touchdowns. Similarly, Mac Jones is 12-of-14 with two touchdowns. Jacksonville is making him look like a Pro Bowl quarterback and makes you wonder if they will be able to force an incompletion.

There’s a night and day difference between Lawrence and Jones and it’s not because the former is less talented. The Jaguars need to take a look at everything the Patriots are doing with Jones, so they can do something similar with Lawrence next season.