Jaguars 31, Texans 3: 5 Observations on Convincing Week 17 Win
The Jacksonville Jaguars are four quarters away from somewhere nobody ever thought they would be in 2022: the playoffs.
After a dominant, muscle-flexing 31-3 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, the Jaguars are now just a Week 18 win over the Titans away from reaching the postseason.
“This is what you play for. This is what you coach for, you know? This is what you want for your football team," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the win.
"You want to be in the conversation, and you want to be playing for -- for us the AFC South, and we're playing a good football team. Listen, we haven't done anything yet. They're still the champs until something happens. I felt like and really feel like our guys are in a good place. They're in a good place mentally, physically. I don't really have to worry too much about them getting excited for this one. It's more about just locking in on your job and focusing in on your task this week starting tomorrow.”
So, what did we see during the Jaguars' big win? We break it down below.
Doug Pederson deserves coach of the year consideration
Coach of the Year honors rarely go to a coach who is hovering around the .500 mark, but there is zero question that Doug Pederson belongs in the conversation this year. There are other first-year success stories this year such as Brian Daboll with the New York Giants and Kevin O'Connell with the Minnesota Vikings, but the job Pederson has done has been more impressive. Whereas the Giants and Vikings have not played as well as their record, with a lot of luck involved in their records -- neither has had their teams playing as well as the Jaguars have over the last month-plus.
There of course are others such as Andy Reid and Nick Sirianni, who have led the two most successful teams in the NFL this year. Going 13-3 over 16 games is no easy feat and deserves to be celebrated. But neither had the work in front of them that Pederson had this year. Unlike the Chiefs and Eagles, who already had strong cultures and rosters, Pederson took over the most dysfunctional team in the NFL along with a young locker room. Maybe a handful of players in Jacksonville's locker room knew what it meant to be a pro -- and to win -- before Pederson's arrival.
After an offseason where the Jaguars were openly mocked for their free-agent additions, Pederson has the Jaguars' humming with one of the NFL's best offenses and a Pro Bowl-worthy year from Trevor Lawrence. He won't win coach of the year, but winning eight games in a year while leading a franchise that had won 10 games over the last three years says it all.
Travis Etienne finally hit his home-run
Travis Etienne has made plenty of big plays in his first healthy season with the Jaguars. Few running backs have produced as many explosive runs, game-changing plays and jaw-dropping gems in space. But for all of the good Etienne has done in 2022, there has been one aspect of his game that has been strangely missing until Sunday: the home-run play.
Seemingly each time Etienne has popped off a long run throughout the season, he has been this close to scoring ... but not close enough. The second Colts game in Week 6 had at least two of these runs. Etienne was made famous at Clemson for his ability to turn a three-yard carry into a 60-yard touchdown, and he unlocked that part of his NFL game on Sunday with his career-long 62-yard touchdown.
Etienne has already been a revelation for the Jaguars in 2022. If he can continue to generate carries into big plays like he did on Sunday, then the Jaguars will be a tough, tough offense to knockout in the playoffs.
“On that run I saw great blocking. Not only by the line but by Christian (Kirk) and Zay (Jones) I believe. They did an outstanding job today in the run game and gave him the ability to spring free and get in the end zone," Pederson said.
"But that's what Travis (Etienne Jr.) can do. We can get him in space and on the perimeter or between the tackles some. You know, he is capable of doing that, and that was good to see. It's been a while since we've got him going like that.”
Jaguars' defense has turned their fortunes around. In part due to bad quarterbacks, in part due to improved play
The Jaguars have allowed just 19 points over the last 11 quarters, which is a stark contrast from the defense that allowed the Cowboys to score 21 points in the first two quarters. To say the defense has done a 180 in recent weeks would be an understatement. The defense went from one of the NFL's worst to one of the hottest aspects of the team, putting together back-to-back dominant performances after also scoring the walk-off touchdown vs. the Cowboys.
A month ago, the Jaguars went an entire game when they failed to stop the opposing team from scoring a single time. Now, the Jaguars are averaging just 15.5 points allowed during their winning streak. Part of their resurgence has been the fact that they faced two of the NFL's worst quarterbacks in Zach Wilson and Dabils Mills over the last two weeks, sure. But it goes deeper than that.
The Jaguars are simply playing better. Travon Walker's transition to a three-point stance has clearly done wonders for him, while Darious Williams moving to the outside -- and Tre Herndon moving to the nickel role -- has settled down a secondary that legitimately rotated four cornerbacks at one spot a few weeks ago. The Jaguars are playing better and smarter on defense as of late, and that is why the defense is playing its best ball of the year before Week 18.
“Those are proven stats, right? Takeaways and giveaways, things like that. You know, any time you can be in the plus category, your chances of winning go up," Pederson said.
"It just means more possession for your offense. Defensively, we did a nice job today. Of course, we turned the ball over too, so we've got to look at that. Trevor (Lawrence) and C.J. (Beathard) both had picks today. We just have to take a look at that. But the defense, when you can score on defense too, you know, like they did, just helps the cause. I thought the defense did an outstanding job today really just holding them to the three points, but played well.”
Jaguars' special teams deserves a lot of credit for late-season turnaround
While the Jaguars' offense and defense has gotten all of the publicity for the Jaguars' dominant last month, the third unit on the team deserves more credit. The Jaguars' have had a consistent special teams unit for most of the season outside of a few errant kickoffs, but over the last month the unit has gone from solid to genuinely elite.
It starts and ends with punter Logan Cooke, who downed four punts within the 20-yard line on Sunday, including a spectacularly placed punt at the one-yard line in the first half. Cooke has showed impeccable accuracy throughout his career, but his ability to hit punts in the corner of the field and consistently put teams in poor field position has been crucial for the defense's turnaround.
Then there is Ross Matiscik, the veteran long-snapper who has been perfect on snaps over the last two weeks despite battling through back spasms. Then kicker Riley Patterson, who has been perfect on field goals and point-after attempts other than one missed kick in the rain and win in New York.
Finally, there is Chris Claybrooks, who has done a phenomenal job as a gunner. Claybrooks has downed a handful of Cooke's punts within the five in recent weeks and did it once again on Sunday, making an impressive play in terms of balance, timing and concentration to keep the punt from becoming a touchback.
Jaguars did the right thing by not looking too far ahead to the Titans
There are a number of coaches who could have mismanaged this week for the Jaguars. Entering a mostly inconsequential game with a looming defacto playoff matchup against the Titans just a week away. The Jaguars didn't need this game vs. Houston. They could have easily hit the snooze button, looking too far ahead and past where their feet are.
Instead, the Jaguars came out clearly ready to play. Jacksonville was the better team from the first snap to the last one, limiting mistakes and having hot starts on both sides of the ball. The Jaguars could have taken a step back this week, losing a game they should win and derailing their momentum. But the entire week, the Jaguars only talked about the Texans, never the Titans. That was exactly how they played, too.
“It was a big win for us, obviously, with a lot of the distraction’s kind of around this week and knowing what's in store now for next week. I thought we handled our business today," Trevor Lawrence said after the game.
"That was the plan to come in here, start fast, and control the game, and I thought we did that offensively. A lot of stuff to clean up. Didn't play our cleanest ball today, but the defense played great, and special teams was awesome, so kind of made up for it. We had some huge plays on offense, so good enough to win. Obviously, it's not our cleanest game we've had, but at this point of the year it's just about winning."
