Jaguars 27, Raiders 20: Game Balls
Each week during the 2022 season, we will take a quick post-game look at which Jacksonville Jaguars stood out the most.
Win or lose, rain or shine, we will hand out game balls to an offensive, defensive and special teams player.
In this edition, we take a look at the Jaguars' 27-20 win against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9 and which players stood out in big ways.
Offense: Travis Etienne and Trevor Lawrence
It was that kind of day for the Jaguars' duo of second-year offensive dynamos from Clemson. Travis Etienne and Trevor Lawrence each had their moments of carrying the offense, earning them a much-deserved co-game ball. Without these two, the Jaguars' offense wouldn't have been able to put up the points they did nor would they have been able to get out of so many sticky situations.
Lawrence had a mistake-free game with 25-of-31 passing (80.6%) for 235 yards and one touchdown, giving him a passer rating of 109. Lawrence also rushed for 53 yards. Dawuane Smoot also recorded two sacks. Meanwhile, Etienne had his first multi-touchdown day with two rushing touchdowns and 126 yards from scrimmage.
"Well, we know obviously that he is going to be the guy, so we've just got to continue to find ways to get him touches in this game and really every game moving forward," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the game. "As a staff we've got to be smart in how much we use him. I don't want to wear him out, but at the same time we're going to keep using him in situations to be successful.
"He made some tough runs in the second half. He’s still learning. That's the thing that I'm excited [about], he is still learning how to run the football and where to run it sometimes. But he has so much talent that you hate for him to come off the field, especially in moments of crunch time."
Defense: Dawuane Smoot
The Jaguars needed a defender to simply make a play today, and that was exactly what veteran defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot did. Smoot has been a productive pass-rusher in a rotational role in each of the last several seasons, and there is a strong argument to make for him as the team's best individual pass-rusher in 2022 after the game he had on Sunday.
Smoot came up huge for the Jaguars on two different occasions on Sunday, recording each of the defense's two sacks. He sacked Derek Carr on the first drive of the game to get a much-needed positive first drive and then sacked Carr again on third down with 0:50 left in the game, forcing the Raiders into a hurried snap and an inability to push the ball downfield.
"It was big. He is a great player, and he has tremendous skill and ability and somebody that we lean on heavily to get after the passer," Pederson said. "He did a nice job. You know, [he] did a great job of just sticking to his game plan and making some big plays, especially here at the end."
Special teams: Jamal Agnew
It was a good day for the Jaguars to get Jamal Agnew back in the lineup. After the Jaguars struggled to make plays in the return game without Agnew in each of the past two weeks, Agnew came back with a vengeance on Sunday and returned the second-half's opening kickoff 52 yards to set up a short field for the offense. Considering this followed a field goal and helped set up a touchdown drive, it is fair to say his return helped the Jaguars keep the momentum out of the locker room.
Photo: Alex Shepherd
