Rich Gannon has high praise for Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence in Week 12 win vs. Texans
• The 3rd-year QB led the Jaguars to their 8th win of the year
• Former All-Pro Rich Gannon had high praise for Lawrence
Week 12 featured a great duel between two young quarterbacks: Trevor Lawrence and rookie C.J. Stroud. While Stroud played well and took things to the wire, Lawrence ultimately led the Jacksonville Jaguars to their eighth win of the season. Former All-Pro quarterback Rich Gannon, now with The 33rd Team, saw him in action and praised him for his outstanding performance.
Gannon compliments head coach Doug Pederson for putting his players in a position to succeed while praising Lawrence for taking deep shots and making plays with his feet.
"Look at these two quarterbacks going at it today, Trevor Lawrence and CJ Straub. I think we're in for about another decade of great matchups between these two young single callers," Gannon said in his breakdown of the Jags' win. "Doug Peterson really had his team ready to go on the road and play against the Houston Texans, a place where they've not had a lot of success.
"You got to look, first and foremost at their offense over 400 yards of offense, and I thought Trevor Lawrence made some big throws in the pocket off the screen, scrambled, 364 passing yards, he had four throws of 40 yards or more against the Houston secondary."
Gannon wasn't a big fan of the job the officiating crew did, "they spent a lot of the day grabbing, holding and some pass interference calls," but believes Jacksonville did a good job of stretching the field.
Lawrence wasn't the only Jaguar who earned Gannon's recognition though. The 2002 MVP also highlighted performances by Christian Kirk, Calvin Ridley, and outside linebacker Josh Allen, who set a career-high 12 sacks, breaking his personal best of 10.5 he posted in 2019, and passed defensive end Yannick Ngakoue for second place on the team's all-time list for sacks.
Trevor Lawrence played a big role in the Jaguars' win vs. the Texans in Week 12
As Gannon noted, the Trevor Lawrence/C.J. Stroud rivalry could turn out to be one of the most exciting ones in the NFL in upcoming years. This time though, Steezy Trev came on the top. Although he hasn't always gotten good protection from his offensive line, he's barely been pressured these past two weeks. Coincidentally, he's had two of his best performances of the season, completing 67.1 percent of his passes for 623 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Moreover, he's had three rushing touchdowns.
According to PFF, #Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence has the second-lowest pressure rate (20%) of any starting QBs over the last two weeks. Has been pressured 15 times on 75 dropbacks.
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) November 28, 2023
Stroud didn't make things easy for the Jaguars defense. Despite the fact that he was pressured on 57 percent of his dropbacks, and Jacksonville managed to sack him four times, he routinely found bought himself time to make plays thanks to his outstanding awareness and mobility.
Jaguars pressured C.J. Stroud on 57% of his dropbacks in the half (12 of 21). That would be the highest rate he's faced in a game in his career if it holds, per ESPN Stats & Info. Problem is, Jaguars have hit him just twice and sacked him once and he's been able to create.
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) November 26, 2023
Had kicker Matt Amendola made his 58-yard field goal attempt, the outcome of the game might've been different, and C.J. Stroud would be the talk of the town. They didn't, and the Jacksonville Jaguars now find themselves in first place in the AFC South, with a two-game lead over their division foes.
Here are other recent Jaguars stories you may also enjoy:
manual