Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars appear to be making the jump. And they made that statement to the football world with a wild comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
Jacksonville erased a 27-10 deficit to take down Dallas 40-34 in overtime.
Lawrence — the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft — was outstanding, completing 27-of-42 passes for 318 yards, four touchdowns, one interception, and a 109.0 passer rating. He especially had a great connection with wide receiver Zay Jones, who had six receptions for 109 yards and three touchdowns.
Lawrence keeps the play alive and throws a 59 yard Touchdown to Jones pic.twitter.com/4r5b2D9oEI
— Fitz (@LaurieFitzptrck) December 18, 2022
It was 27-10… The @Jaguars now have the lead!
📺: #DALvsJAX on FOX
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/rZZZ8aG10V pic.twitter.com/YGAeXe7fJP— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2022
Trevor Lawrence completed 21 of 23 passes under 10 air yards for 158 yards & 2 TD in the Jaguars Week 15 victory (+16.2% CPOE).
Lawrence, Under 10 Air Yards (2022):
🔸 2.22 seconds time to throw (2nd-quickest)
🔸 +50.2 EPA (4th)
🔸 55.6% success rate (5th)#DALvsJAX | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/vohM3xDK9s— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 18, 2022
Jacksonville went from trailing by 17 with four minutes to go in the third quarter to taking a 31-27 lead with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But the Cowboys scored a touchdown to regain the lead, and then the Jaguars’ Riley Patterson made a game-tying field goal to end regulation at a 34-34 score.
In overtime, the Cowboys had 3rd-and-4 at their own 47-yard line with seven minutes remaining.
Fox color commentator Greg Olsen asked, “Can Jacksonville’s defense come up with the play?”
They certainly did. Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins intercepted Dak Prescott‘s pass and took it to the house for a walk-off pick-six. It was Jenkins’ second interception of the game.
"Can Jacksonville's defense come up with the play?"- Greg Olsen
Answer: Yes.
The Jaguars' Rayshawn Jenkins get a walk-off pick-six on a Dak Prescott pass to take down the Cowboys in OT! 🏈 pic.twitter.com/wpdYkqaS6w
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 18, 2022
The Jaguars are now 6-8 (to go with a positive point differential at +6) and have realistic playoff hopes. FiveThirtyEight currently gives Jacksonville a 35% chance to make the playoffs and a 30% chance to win the AFC South. The Jaguars are a game and a half behind the Tennessee Titans, who are playing a late afternoon game at the Los Angeles Chargers. Additionally, the Jaguars host the Titans in Week 18 and would win the tiebreaker with a victory (Jacksonville won the first meeting in Week 14).
Here’s a peek at how the NFL world is reacting to the Jaguars’ wild win:
NFL Network’s Rich Eisen tweeted, “The Jacksonville Jaguars, everyone. No one wants a piece of them right now.”
The Jacksonville @jaguars, everyone.
No one wants a piece of them right now.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) December 18, 2022
“Trevor Lawrence is the first Jaguars QB with a 4+ Pass TD game since Blake Bortles,” tweeted NFL on CBS.
Trevor Lawrence is first @Jaguars QB with a 4+ Pass TD game since Blake Bortles pic.twitter.com/e2xe29z5JY
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 18, 2022
“Absolutely wild. Biggest Jaguars win in years,” tweeted NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Absolutely wild. Biggest #Jaguars win in years. https://t.co/g1BolOQev4
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 18, 2022
“The truth is, the Jaguars look like the better team,” tweeted FS1’s Skip Bayless as Jakconsville was making the comeback.
The truth is, the Jaguars look like the better team.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 18, 2022
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.