JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars keep losing players but finding a way to win.
Jacksonville survived a trip to Las Vegas with a 30-29 overtime win in Week 9. It took a 27-point burst after halftime and a knocked down two-point conversion pass at the finish to escape with a win.
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Yes, the Raiders (2-6) are one of the league’s bottom tier teams, but the Jaguars’ default setting in recent years has been to lose those types of games. Jacksonville lost an NFL record 10 games by one score or less last year, going 3-10 in those close games. The Jaguars are 4-2 in games this season decided by eight points or less, and they’re right in the thick of the playoff hunt at 5-3.
“I think we’re starting to build resilience, and that’s what’s going to ultimately build the culture of our team even more and build us as individual units for sure,” said defensive lineman DaVon Hamilton, who swatted down the two-point conversion pass to seal the win. “But as a team as a whole.”
That Jacksonville is winning games with a lineup that is continuing to lose bodies by the week is impressive. Liam Coen didn’t have injury specifics on Monday but the team lost receivers Dyami Brown and Brian Thomas Jr. in the game, as well as guard Ezra Cleveland. The team placed Travis Hunter on injured reserve last week. He joined tight end Brenton Strange on IR. Strange and Hunter have been perhaps Jacksonville’s top weapons as pass catchers. Safety Eric Murray went on IR the same day as Hunter.
Brown has been inconsistent and Thomas showed flashes of his old self against the Raiders after a terrible start to his second season before he left injured.
As those players dropped out due to injuries, the Jaguars got major contributions from bottom of the roster players.
Receivers Austin Trammell and Tim Jones both came up huge for Jacksonville in Las Vegas. Jones caught a short pass over the middle and turned it into a 15-yard gain on the final drive in regulation to get Jacksonville into field goal range.
“I was really proud of their ability to step up and remain the course, and for Tim especially just getting here, and he made a huge play for us,” Coen said. “Blocked their tails off out on the perimeter as well. So, was really huge for those guys to step up in a major way.”
Trammell, who was just promoted from the practice squad, ripped off a 54-yard return to start overtime that put Jacksonville on the Raiders side of the field to start the extra period.
“It says that they’re true professionals and they’re ready for that moment,” said running back Travis Etienne. “Always next man up, you never know when your opportunities are going to come, you’ve got to be ready for your op. And I feel like yesterday we had a bunch of guys ready for their op.”
Coen said he was proud of how the offense operated after halftime. Jacksonville was laboring throughout the first 30 minutes before Cam Little boomed an NFL-record 68-yard field goal as time ran out to get the Jaguars within 6-3 at half.
That struggle didn’t carry over after that. The Jaguars had five possessions across the second half and overtime and scored on them all. Trevor Lawrence had two rushing touchdowns, including a fourth-down leap over the pile to get the ball over the goal line.
“I would say so, yeah. I thought multiple guys stepped up, as I mentioned last night. We were able to kind of possess the line of scrimmage in some ways. We didn’t really break any big ones, and there’s definitely some meat left on the bone,” Coen said.
“So, I was definitely proud of the guys up front, the runners. There’s, like I mentioned, meat left on the bone still, but really proud of the way that they competed in the run game and fought their tails off.”
The ground game battled for its yardage, going for 151 yards on 42 carries and three touchdowns. Etienne led all players with 84 yards and had four of his 22 carries on the go-ahead drive in overtime.
Etienne ranks eighth in the NFL in rushing yards (598) and is averaging 5 yards per carry. He added 31 yards on five catches as the Jaguars continue to try and scratch out air yards despite a wave of injuries. Etienne has already eclipsed is rushing total from last year (558).
“I feel like I just get opportunities now. I feel like last year, I really didn’t get much opportunities to be my best self,” Etienne said. “I feel like I get better as the game goes and coach is doing a great job trusting in me, giving me the ball, me protecting the rock and I’m just doing the most with the carries I get.”