JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The rumored demise of the Jaguars was a bit premature.
Jacksonville’s beleaguered defense came alive, the offense was clean and didn’t even have to punt, and the Jaguars walloped the Chargers 35-6 on a postcard-perfect Sunday at EverBank Stadium.
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The Jaguars desperately needed something positive to steady things, and the blowout certainly provided that. Jacksonville knocked around quarterback Justin Herbert, who managed just 81 passing yards, and the early-season defense showed back up.
The Jaguars held the Chargers to just 135 yards of offense and dominated from start to finish. Jacksonville’s offense did most of the damage on the ground, with Travis Etienne and Bhayshul Tuten providing the muscle.
And the Jaguars desperately needed any type of positive after an uneven stretch that was only a DaVon Hamilton swatted pass down in overtime against the Raiders from entering this one on a four-game losing streak.
Jacksonville (6-4) had lost three of its last four games, including a humiliating defeat last week at Houston. The Jaguars gave up 26 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to squander the biggest second-half lead in franchise history. It was natural to wonder if the Jaguars had peaked after that Monday night win over the Chiefs and if they could continue to overcome a staggering number of injuries.
They answered that question against the Chargers emphatically.
Not a chance.
“It was a hard week, man. That was hard obviously, last Sunday and when you have that taste in your mouth and it has to live there all week and you can only get so much of that taste out of your mouth in practice and going through the game planning and you’re going through it and last night, we just talked about, guys, let’s keep this real simple,” said head coach Liam Coen. “Let’s go out and cut it loose for four quarters, as a team, and see what happens.”
Defense played lights out
Jacksonville knocked Los Angeles around from the get-go.
The oft-criticized pass rush kept the heat on Herbert all game long. The Jaguars managed just two sacks, including Josh Hines-Allen’s franchise record breaker, but the pressure was relentless from the opening play.
Travon Walker’s pressure on Herbert on the first snap of the game forced an intentional grounding call. Linebacker Devin Lloyd had the best tackle for loss of the game, reading a short Herbert pass to Kimani Vidal and erasing it for a loss of 5. Walker and Danny Striggow teamed up for a sack and Arik Armstead added another.
“That’s where we won the game, I thought. That’s where we imposed our will a little bit there on the OL and DL. Came out, obviously, defensively they came out throwing a few screens early. You could tell that they just wanted to get the ball on the perimeter and we were hunting up front,” Coen said. “That’s for sure. Very proud of Josh Hines-Allen, getting the franchise record but it was a group effort, really. That whole group, that whole front, all those guys that got in, and have the ability to rush and create some havoc and kind of keep them under duress. That’s really what helped us win that game, and that’s where it started.”
Herbert had an all-around miserable day. Antonio Johnson intercepted a Herbert pass with just under 12 minutes to play and his 44-yard runback went down to the Chargers 13. Travis Etienne turned that into a touchdown just two snaps later, and Herbert’s day was done in a 35-6 hole.
“I think we need to take each week separately and have that same attention to detail that each player came out with this week to have and I think that’s where our focus needs to kind of remain,” Hines-Allen said. “If we tend to stay within that type of focus as a team, as individuals, we will continue to have the outcomes we had today.”
Offense gets the job done
Trevor Lawrence didn’t have a big day statistically (14 of 22, 153 yards, TD, INT) but spread things around well. He hit Jakobi Meyers five times for 64 yards and found Tim Patrick for a 1-yard touchdown that put Jacksonville on cruise control early in the fourth quarter, up 28-6.
“I think guys understood how important this game was today as far as just our team and where we’re at and it’s a game you got to win. You’re playing a good AFC team, getting into November, later in the season, you start to look at your schedule and the games and you’re starting to run out of opportunities,” Lawrence said. “I think for all of us, we know how important this game was after we gave one away last week in Houston, obviously, and it was a great way to bounce back for us. Complementary football, offense, defense, special teams, everyone pitched in. We fed off one another, the energy, the momentum. It was a fun day.”
Lawrence also rushed for a touchdown, and other than a bad decision on an interception to kill a Jacksonville drive in the second quarter, was efficient and didn’t hurt the team. The numbers weren’t jaw-dropping, but Lawrence and the offense didn’t even have to punt against the Chargers.
The ground game ran strong from the outset. Etienne had 73 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Tuten had his best game, going for 74 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
Injuries, injuries, injuries
Jacksonville has been wrecked by injuries this year. Rookie Travis Hunter is on injured reserve. Receiver Brian Thomas Jr. missed his second consecutive game. Tight end Brenton Strange was activated from injured reserve last week but was inactive Sunday. So, too, were cornerback Jourdan Lewis, right tackle Anton Harrison and tight end Hunter Long. Those three are all starters.
The Jaguars lost starting cornerback Greg Newsome to an ankle injury, and had Tuten come up limping out of a pile early in the fourth quarter.