The Jacksonville Jaguars are a frustrating team to be a fan of. First, they give up a 19-point, fourth-quarter lead to the Houston Texans to let them stay in the AFC South playoff race. Then they annihilate the Los Angeles Chargers—one of the best teams in football—in all three phases, winning 35-6. This past Sunday, they struggled to overcome a 3-7 Arizona Cardinals team playing with a backup quarterback.
I've said it for years: The Jaguars play up or down to the level of their opponent. Still, a win is a win—or so they tell me—and here are four winners, one loser, and an honorable (or dishonorable?) mention from the Jaguars' overtime victory in Week 12 in Arizona.
Jaguars winner No. 1: Tight end Brenton Strange
When tight end Brenton Strange went down in Week 5 with a hip injury, the Jaguars lost their best receiver. That's saying something, especially considering the optimism this year surrounding wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter.
The former Penn State Nittany Lion returned this Sunday in a big way, catching all five targets for a team-high 93 yards. Before his injury, he was quarterback Trevor Lawrence's most reliable target, and he's quickly reminding fans why the new leadership moved away from former fan-favorite tight end Evan Engram.
Jaguars winner No. 2: Linebacker Devin Lloyd (and the defense)
It's no surprise that the Jaguars' roughest stretch of the season was when linebacker Devin Lloyd was either inactive or playing injured. He's making a case for being the team's best defensive player, and even earned the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September. Against the Cardinals, he registered 1.5 sacks, two tackles for a loss, and five QB pressures.
But the defense, as a whole, was a big reason for the victory Sunday. You can look at the scoreboard and see they gave up 24 points, but considering quarterback Trevor Lawrence turned the ball over four times—one of which was a fumble returned for a touchdown—the 24 points feel a bit more impressive. Overall, the defense only gave up a single touchdown on Lawrence's three picks. A solid performance when the offense wasn't giving them much.
Jaguars winner No. 3: Running back Travis Etienne Jr.
Probably the Jaguars player who's made this list more than any others, running back Travis Etienne Jr. had himself another solid game. He picked up 86 yards on 15 rushes (5.73 per run), and started the game with a bang on a 45-yarder that set up an early touchdown. He also caught three passes for 30 yards, giving him 116 scrimmage yards on the day. Not stellar, but another solid performance from one of Jacksonville's most reliable offensive weapons.
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Jaguars winner No. 4: Wide receiver Parker Washington (and Jakobi Meyers)
The Jaguars might miss the Brian Thomas Jr. (at least, last year's version of him), but third-year veteran Parker Washington hasn't struggled stepping into the spotlight. Not only does he continue to provide momentum-shifting punt returns, but he also snagged five balls for 71 yards and a touchdown. With Thomas battling injuries and a sophomore slump, and rookie Travis Hunter out for the year, Washington's reliability has proven critical.
Newer Jaguar Jakobi Meyers also had another decent game, with four receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown. Meyers, Washington, and Strange accounted for 214 of Lawrence's 256 passing yards.
Jaguars loser No. 1: Wide receiver Tim Patrick
Four targets and zero catches, wide receiver Tim Patrick isn't standing out in an injury-plagued wide receiver room despite being given opportunities. Worse, a miscommunication between Patrick and Lawrence in overtime led to a wide-open incompletion. While this could be on either player, head coach Liam Coen focused his critique on Patrick.
"It was a clear out on the play," Coen said (2:00 mark), referencing that it was Patrick's job to clear the field by running a go route. "We said, 'Hey, if we get man, we can alert that.' And they just so happen to bust it from a coverage standpoint. He is wide open; he popped wide open. But Tim's more thinking, 'I'm here to kind of clear this thing out,' and I think that's just a great learning op...You can get your eyes back on a go, especially when the void kind of happened."
Jaguars head-scratching, frustrating-to-watch, wild-card, I-don't-know-where-to-place-him honorable mention: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence
I just...I don't know what to say anymore. Sure, he threw for 256 yards and three scores, but he threw three picks, too (I'm not quick to blame him for the fumble, to be fair). Lawrence is easily the most frustrating player to watch: He's either top three, throwing darts and dimes that only his receivers can catch (even if they don't) or throwing the ball directly into the hands of the other team. After the game, head coach Liam Coen addressed his inconsistency while praising his—and the rest of the team's—resilience.
"Yeah, I mean, I think you talk about resilience," Coen said (1:20 mark). "And toughness, staying together, guys having each other's backs. Keep playing. Trevor [Lawrence]...was disappointing to throw some of the picks and have some of those issues, especially the one down in the red zone because [wide receiver] Jakobi [Meyers] was wide open for a touchdown. But then he turns around and makes a huge throw to [wide receiver] Parker [Washington] to start off the overtime, and guys stepped up. They closed it out when we needed to."
In the end, he's the guy for this year and the next, so all we can do is hope that Coen can continue to develop" some of the head-scratching decisions out of him.
Final thoughts
Sure, a win is a win, so fans should be happy. And the NFL is a week-to-week league, so fans also can't expect the kind of blowout performance that they got in Week 11 against the Chargers. Either way, the Jags are now 7-4 and only a game behind the Indianapolis Colts.
On to Tennessee.