Jaguars 38, Chargers 10: Jacksonville, Lawrence Dismantle Los Angeles on the Road
The stage was set in Week 3 for the Jacksonville Jaguars to have their truest test of improvement yet. Even with an injured Justin Herber at the helm for the Los Angeles Chargers offense, Sunday was the perfect chance for the Jaguars to prove last week wasn't a fluke.
They did that and much, much more.
Jacksonville dominated the Chargers throughout the game, going into halftime with a 16-7 lead before exploding in the second-half to win 38-10, snapping their nearly 20-game losing streak on the road.
After a week of hearing how the Colts game may have simply been the latest in a long line of wins over Indianapolis in Jacksonville, the Jaguars turned the narrative completely around on Sunday. They didn't just beat the Chargers; they dismantled them, starting with a long first drive and ending with scores on seven-of-eight drives from the second-quarter on.
The Jaguars started the game by driving the ball to the Chargers' 40-yard line before Doug Pederson made a bold call on 4th-and-6. After Trevor Lawrence missed Zay Jones high on third-down, pressure nearly got to him on fourth-down to force another high miss, this time to Marvin Jones.
Pederson opted to not be as bold on fourth-downs on the next two drives. Facing 4th-and-1 at their own 35-yard line, the Jaguars punted the ball. On the next two drives, the Jaguars went for field goals from Riley Patterson (22, 23 yards), bypassing fourth-downs from the Chargers' four and five-yard lines.
Being forced to settle for three points ended early in the second quarter, though. After a Dawuane Smoot strip-sack on Justin Herbert followed a Devin Lloyd interception on the previous drive, the Jaguars were able to finally punch it into the end-zone on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Zay Jones, with Lawrence breaking the pocket and finding Jones on the off-script connection to go up 13-0.
After forcing Herbert to start 3-of-7 for 22 yards, the Jaguars allowed Herber to complete seven of his next eight passes, including a 15-yard touchdown to Mike Williams against Tyson Campbell.
Jacksonville did manage to get back into the red-zone on the following drive with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended in a 23-yard Patterson field goal after an Evan Engram touchdown was ruled a touchdown before being overturned.
The Jaguars had 12 first-downs in the first half compared to seven first-downs from the Chargers, outgaining the Chargers 216-116. This included the Jaguars holding the Chargers to 14 rushing yards on five carries, though the Jaguars' 1-for-4 touchdown ratio in the red-zone in the first half loomed large entering halftime.
The Chargers showed from the first drive of the second half that they would not go away easily. Despite a holding on first down forcing the Chargers behind the sticks, Herbert was able to complete a 54-yard pass to Jalen Guyton on 3rd-and-15 to push it into Jaguars' territory.
Jacksonville's defense was able to stiffen in the red-zone, providing solid pressure but also holding up in the back-end, forcing three incompletions to set up a Chargers field goal. Considering what happened next, this was one of the more pivotal moments of the game.
With the Jaguars facing 4th-and-1 from the 50-yard line on the next, Pederson opted to load the formation with blockers, handing the ball off to James Robinson for a 50-yard touchdown. The score, Robinson's fourth of the year, put the Jaguars up 23-10 and allowed the Jaguars to have a back-breaking nail in the coffin, even early in the second half.
After Lloyd recorded an interception early in the first half, he continued to have a big performance when the Jaguars needed it the most. Following Robinson's touchdown run, Lloyd almost single-handedly took the Chargers' offense off the field by forcing a pass breakup on Gerald Everett on second down and then making an open-field tackle on third down.
Thanks to the big stops by Lloyd, the Jaguars were able to push their lead to 21 points late in the third-quarter, quickly gushing the Los Angeles crowd and forcing the Chargers into a deep hole with a 14-play, 55-yard drive that saw Lawrence connect with Christian Kirk on a four-yard touchdown.
The touchdown, Lawrence's second of the game, was his third touchdown to Kirk in the last two weeks, and a showing of the Jaguars improving in the red-zone as their young quarterback takes steps forward.
Lawrence and the Jaguars didn't let up even with the three-touchdown lead, instead taking in the Jaguars' first road win since December 2019, and the Jaguars; first blowout win on the road since 2017.
Following a heavy dose of screens and Travis Etienne, the Jaguars scored yet again -- this time an 11-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones to go up 38-10, giving Lawrence his second three-touchdown pass game of his career.
The Jaguars dominated the Chargers in total yards, rushing yards, time of possession and, ultimately, in critical situations. The Jaguars went 4-of-6 on third-down in the second-half and Lawrence had one of the best games of his career for the second week in a row, completing 28-of-39 passes (71.8%) for 262 yards (6.7 yards per pass), three touchdowns and a 115.5 passer rating after a turnover-free day.
Next Sunday, the Jaguars will travel to Philadelphia to play the 3-0 Eagles -- and they will be doing so as the first-place team in the AFC South.
Stats of the Game Via: @theryanmichael
Trevor Lawrence notched his 5th career win—all five coming against opposing quarterbacks drafted Top-7 overall (9/25/22 vs. Justin Herbert, 9/18/22 vs. Matt Ryan, 1/9/22 vs. Carson Wentz, 11/7/21 vs. Josh Allen and 10/17/21 vs. Tua Tagovailoa).
Lawrence is 3-1 over his last 4 games, posting a passer rating of 110.0 or higher 3x (115.5 @ Chargers 9/25/22, 121.5 vs. Colts 9/18/22 and 111.8 vs. Colts 1/9/22).
With 262 passing yards, Lawrence (4,413) eclipsed Blaine Gabbert (4,357) to move into 7th place in Jaguars franchise history.
With 28 pass completions, Lawrence (436) eclipsed Blaine Gabbert (414) to move into 7th place in Jaguars franchise history.
With 0 interceptions, Lawrence produced his 11th career game with 0 interceptions.
With 100 rushing yards, James Robinson (2,067) became the 6th player in Jaguars franchise history to eclipse 2,000 (others: Fred Taylor, Maurice Jones-Drew, James Stewart, Leonard Fournette and Mark Brunell).
With 1 rushing touchdown, James Robinson (18) moved into sole possession of 5th place in Jaguars franchise history.
With 6 receptions, Christian Kirk (254) eclipsed 250 for his NFL career.
Foyesade Oluokun led the Jaguars in solo (7) and total (8) tackles.
