Trevor Lawrence's dominance vs. Browns proves Jaguars have a legit MVP candidate

For the first time in my life as a downtrodden, skeptical, and always-prepared-for-the-worst fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team opened the season on a high note and did exactly what it was supposed to do. The defense contained Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns, the run game was balanced, the receivers caught the dang ball, and the quarterback – oh, the quarterback!

Trevor Lawrence buckled his chinstrap, wound the clock back to the turn of the century, and blew the doors off the Cleveland Browns defense like it was some team from Miami while he went off for four touchdowns through the air. He was efficient, too, as he completed 18 passes for 245 yards on only 23 pass attempts.

With that, I feel like it's only fair to mention that a few of T-Law's incompletions were throwaways. Also known as the right decisions. Which could also be interpreted as Liam Coen's field general preventing the ball from being turned over to the other team.

In all seriousness, we used to pray for times like this in Duval.

Trevor Lawrence's game-breaking game puts him at the head of the MVP race

A great sign that your QB is about to become a superstar is when he pulls off something that puts him on a very short list. According to the NFL's own X account, today's game helped Lawrence become only the fouth player in league history to throw 100 touchdowns and run for 20 before his 27th birthday.

Who cares if this is a homer take, but He Who Made Dabo A Winner is absolutely the front runner for the MVP award right now, and I don't think that it's even close when you look at what else has happened so far:

• Matthew Stafford and his offense only put up seven points in The Land Down Under.

• Drake Maye threw three back-breaking interceptions during the New England Patriots' season opener against Seattle (with the last one happening while New England was in field goal range and could still tie the game).

• Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills won after the Houston Texans fumbled the ball while they were in the red zone to end a barn-burning shootout. A great and high-quality win by the longtime Bill, but not as dominant as the one Lawrence just had at Everbank Stadium.

Obviously, it's way too early to start scribbling up a shortlist, but this is all part of the fun! NFL football is finally back, and Jags fans don't really have anything to feel down about after a game that definitely could have ended up being a trap if Liam Coen didn't have his guys ready to play.

After the woeful preseason performances we witnessed, it was hard to call whether or not Trevor Lawrence would be able to keep himself and the other starters on schedule as they worked to operate the more strategic elements of Coen's high-powered offense. No. 16's first half against Cleveland shut down all of the whispers and then some, as Jacksonville quickly jumped out to a 20-plus point lead and never looked back.

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I mean, just look at the evidence

Once could point to the 126 rushing yards Jax gained as a reason to hold our horses on all the MVP talk, but Liam Coen's integration of the run game at just the right time kept the Browns off balance because T-Law was so explosive. Parker Washington had a great day at the office, but Jakobi Meyers, Josh Cameron, and Brenton Strange all found their way into the end zone as well.

That means Lawrence was slinging the rock all around the block and proved that he could get the job done in a variety of ways.

While reflecting on his own performance during the Jags' post-game press conference, Lawrence said "I think it was awesome, [getting] a bunch of different guys getting open and winning. [And, then, getting] through my progressions and [getting] the right guy the ball. So, those guys [up front] did a really good job [protecting], and [we] just [had] a clean day. I thought we operated pretty smoothly. So, definitely a lot to build on, and [a] good start for us as an offense."

Trevor Lawrence was great in the Jaguars opener but could be even better

Today was one of the few times where Lawrence looked like a point guard who trusted everyone around him. And, like every great floor general should, he prevented the offense from stalling because of various fouls and mishaps.

While going over his signal caller's performance, Liam Coen said that "I thought he spread the ball around, trusted the guys that were in to make plays. Again, I thought we protected them really well. I thought we mixed it up from the run game and some different things to keep them off balance to allow him [a chance to do well]."

The Jaguars' head coach continued by saying that, "Trevor continues to do what he does. He did some really good stuff off schedule again today, especially the touchdown to Jakobi [Meyers]. I thought [that] was a phenomenal throw and play in the back of the end zone, so [I] was definitely pleased with the way that Trevor ran the offense today."

For years, the Jaguars have struggled to turn young, athletic studs into mature veterans who could command the line of scrimmage, protect the football, and elevate the talent around them. Against Cleveland, Lawrence showed signs that he's starting to tackle the more underappreciated nuances of his position, which means he should be able to avoid some of the more . . . frustrating mistakes he has made in the past.

Ultimately, Liam Coen was hired to bring the best out of the Jaguars' first-ever No. 1-overall pick in franchise history; and, since last November, T-Law has been on a tear that should have established him as one of the best QBs in the NFL. Unfortunately, there were a few snubs across the national media that showed The Prince Who Was Promised still has a lot to prove.

With all due respect, the Browns probably weren't the strongest opponent to do that against, but Trevor Lawrence is well on his way to making history if he can maintain this level of performance for 16 more games.

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