After being outgained by 124 total yards against the Denver Broncos in Week 2, the Jacksonville Jaguars faced major questions about whether they would be able to bounce back from a tough road loss and improve their efficiency on both sides of the ball.
In a 35-6 rout of the Patriots on Sunday, the Jaguars did just that. Their defense forced three takeaways and held New England to a season-low 83 rushing yards, while Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for three touchdowns. The Jaguars also rushed for two touchdowns and kept the Patriots out of the end zone all game, allowing just two field goals — one in each half.
Following a textbook showing of complementary football that lifted Jacksonville to a 2-1 record, here are five takeaways from the Jaguars’ 29-point win over New England.
Lawrence will feed all of his offensive weapons
Following back-to-back weeks in which Parker Washington was the clear-cut No.1 receiver, Lawrence was adamant Jacksonville wouldn’t have one player spearheading its offensive workload. He said everyone’s time in the spotlight will come.
“The offense is going to run through everyone at some point,” Lawrence said. “It’s not just a one-man show, and I think everyone on our team knows that.”
On Sunday, it was receiver Jakobi Meyers who took the spotlight. He had been targeted just three times entering Week 3, but he saw eight targets against the Patriots. Of those eight, Meyers caught a team-high seven passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Lawrence made sure Washington continued his production, though, targeting the fourth-year receiver five times in the win. Washington caught three of those five targets and finished with 40 yards and a touchdown.
With Meyers and Washington headlining Jacksonville’s receiving efforts, Lawrence finished with 182 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on 18-of-23 passing.
“I think it was a good response,” head coach Liam Coen said. “It was the response we talked about all week: winning the game in all three phases. It was fun to watch.”
The sixth-year quarterback has targeted at least eight different players in each game this season and can be expected to continue spreading the ball around, especially with tight end Brenton Strange and running back Bhayshul Tuten getting involved in the receiving game.
Jacksonville can continue to lean on its run game
Against a Patriots defense that hadn’t allowed a rushing touchdown through its first two games, Jacksonville dominated the ground game. The Jaguars outrushed New England 137 yards to 83 and punched in two touchdowns courtesy of running backs Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr.
Jacksonville’s 137 rushing yards were a season high and continued to highlight the Jaguars’ efficiency with a split backfield.
As expected, Tuten handled much of the workload, turning 15 carries into 73 yards and a touchdown. He also caught both of his targets for 17 receiving yards.
“Very proud of Tuten,” Coen said. “He’s been a pro’s pro. I think he’s really growing up before our eyes.”
Rodriguez continued to play second fiddle to Tuten, but he made the most of each of his eight carries. He totaled 37 yards and a touchdown, but his stat line doesn’t show the impact he made with multiple physical runs and third-down carries.
“Chris has been a little frustrated with himself in some ways, with some of his misreads and maybe some of the things over the last two games that he wasn’t as jacked up about,” Coen said. “I think he had a phenomenal week of practice. We were intentional about what runs we really wanted C-Rod on.”
With both backs proving efficient — averaging at least 4.6 yards per carry against New England — the Jaguars are expected to continue feeding Tuten and Rodriguez, hammering the ground game to complement a versatile passing scheme.
Offensive line has made major improvements
Jacksonville’s offensive line put together arguably its best performance of the season.
Though it proved efficient in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, allowing just one sack and helping tally 3.9 yards per carry in the rushing game, it looked even more productive in the Jaguars’ Week 3 win. The offensive front allowed just one sack against the Patriots and helped Jacksonville average 4.6 yards per carry and add two rushing touchdowns.
“If we can run the ball effectively like that, it just makes everybody’s job so much easier,” Coen said.
The clean play of the offensive line helped keep Lawrence away from pressure, allowing him to work through progressions and find open receivers. It was a night-and-day difference from Week 2, when Lawrence was sacked twice and seemingly couldn’t get enough protection to find his groove.
That improvement also helped the Jaguars become more efficient on third down. In Week 2, Jacksonville converted just 5 of 12 third-down chances, but it boosted that number to 8 of 12 against New England.
If the offensive line can keep opposing defensive fronts at bay and continue to bolster Jacksonville’s run game, the Jaguars should continue to see an uptick in overall offensive efficiency.
Defensive front refused to relent
After a difficult time in Denver, Jacksonville’s defense was focused on cleaning up its mistakes and responding at home against the Patriots.
The Broncos totaled 392 yards in Week 2, and quarterback Bo Nix never saw consistent pressure in the second half. In Week 3, Jacksonville’s defensive front stepped up in a major way, holding New England to 83 yards on the ground and keeping pressure on Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
The Jaguars sacked Maye three times in the win and forced the third-year quarterback to fumble in the first quarter. DaVon Hamilton recovered the fumble, leading to a 10-play, 62-yard touchdown drive that gave the Jaguars a 7-0 lead.
“I thought he might have played last week one of the best games I've ever seen from a nose tackle personally,” Coen said of Hamilton. “And then this week to follow it up the way he played, how selfless he is, but also how difficult he is to gameplan for.”
The defensive front’s ability to fight through blocks also helped Jacksonville hold the Patriots to a 4-of-12 mark on third down, and it forced New England to punt twice in the first half.
With a combination of Ruke Orhorhoro, Hamilton, Foyesade Oluokun and Bryan Thomas Jr. providing consistent pressure on Maye, the Jaguars pass rush has proven it can hurt opposing quarterbacks in a variety of ways and with a multitude of different players.
Orhorhoro had one of Jacksonville’s three sacks, while Oluokun logged two QB hits and Ventrell Miller led the team in tackles (7). Along with Miller, who also logged a pass deflection, Orhorhoro, Oluokun, Hamilton, Josh Hines-Allen and Antonio Johnson all made at least five tackles in the blowout win.
“When you can stop the run effectively, you earn your opps to go rush the passer, you earn your opps to go disrupt and affect the quarterback,” Coen said. “I think we were able to do that tonight.”
Secondary bounced back in a big way
The Jacksonville secondary also responded to the Week 2 loss with a strong showing through all four quarters.
The Jaguars’ early lead, courtesy of the Maye fumble, led to a pass-heavy scheme for the Patriots, who played from behind the entire game. With New England backed into obvious passing situations, Jacksonville’s defense was able to limit the damage and continued to show up when it mattered. Even when the Patriots threatened, the Jaguars’ pressure and tight coverage were enough to force New England off the field on third down.
“It started Wednesday, Thursday in practice. They were super intentional about just playing better coverage throughout the week,” Coen said. “It does correlate: practice performance equaling game reality.”
There was no shortage of explosive plays for the New England offense — Maye tossed longs of 38, 34 and 21 yards — but Jacksonville’s defense, headlined by two interceptions, never relented.
With the Jaguars backed up to their own 2-yard line in the first half, Travis Hunter snagged his first career interception, negating a 70-yard drive and erasing the Patriots’ largest scoring threat of the day. In the third quarter, Jarrian Jones also grabbed his first interception of the season. His 31-yard return set the stage for Rodriguez’s 5-yard touchdown, giving Jacksonville a commanding 28-3 lead.
“Those guys had confidence going into this week,” Coen said. “I think the whole secondary was ready to respond.”
Though they displayed a strong ability to bend but not break and get off the field in crucial situations, the Jaguars still have plenty to clean up on defense, especially after allowing the Patriots to throw for 234 yards.
The Jacksonville secondary will need to stay on top of its game heading into a Week 4 game against the Bengals in Cincinnati, where it will be tasked with limiting receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who combined for 188 yards on 15 receptions in a 30-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a senior sports journalism student in his sixth semester at The Alligator. He is currently a sports editor and football beat reporter for the Gators and the Jaguars. He previously served as a men's tennis and sports enterprise reporter, and he is pursuing a public relations minor.
