Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence To Match a Peyton Manning Feat if Chargers Become First Road Victory
Trevor Lawrence set career highs in most categories in Week 2, but Week 3 presents a completely different beast for the second-year Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback.
In Week 3, the Jaguars will not only face off against one of the NFL's best teams in the Los Angeles Chargers, but they will do it on the road.
Apart from having to take a West Coast trip, the Jaguars will be playing in the one area Lawrence hasn't had any success yet as a Jaguar: on the road. Through nine career road games, Lawrence is 0-9, with his 4-6 record at home consisting of 100% of his wins as a Jaguar. One of these wins came in London last year but, otherwise, all of Lawrence's career NFL wins to this point have come at TIAA Bank Field.
This week, Lawrence has a chance to change that, and make a big statement doing so. Can he continue to take a step forward and not only find his first career road win against one of the toughest opponents of his short career but also help the Jaguars find some rare success on the opposite coast at the same time?
“They just have a lot of great players at every position. You look at the two guys on the edges, they’re just play makers. They’re great," Lawrence said on Wednesday. "Khalil (LB Khalil Mack), both those guys, great players, so you’ve got to be able to manage that. You’ve got to have a plan. Obviously, they’re going to make plays, that’s just the way they are, but we’ve got to manage that and figure out the best way to attack those guys and the whole defense.
:Then you’ve got Derwin (S Derwin James), JC Jackson (CB), Asante Samuel (CB), their linebackers Kenneth Murray, a bunch of those guys. Their nickel is a great player, Callahan (CB Bryce Callahan). Really just talented all over the board, we’ve got to just be really disciplined. I feel like we have a great plan as of right now, but this has to develop more and more, and we’ve got to learn more about them as we go throughout the week and, same thing as last week, just be prepared, and everyone on the same page, and at the end of the day, it’s just about who executes better."
If Lawrence ends up executing as well as he did in last week's 24-0 win over the Colts, then he could become the first-ever quarterback to lose his first nine road games but win his tenth since Peyton Manning, the same quarterback he has long looked up to as a hero of sorts.
According to NFL Network's Bridget Condon, Manning's first road victory also came against the Chargers in his second season ... and also in Week 3. Manning completed 29-of-54 passes for 404 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 27-19 victory; can Lawrence do the same?
“I grew up a big Peyton Manning fan. He was out of college by the time I really knew what was going on football-wise, so I watched him in the NFL," Lawrence said on Wednesday. "That’s like the one guy I really watched. I loved watching him when he was with the Colts and the Broncos and all that."
Lawrence's road splits vs. his home splits are evidence enough to suggest there may be a trend. If it isn't with Lawrence, it is with the Jaguars as a whole the last 19 games; they are a different team at home, and they get different production from their quarterback.
In 10 home games, Lawrence has completed 62.28% of his passes for 2,101 yards (6.29 yards per attempt) with nine touchdowns and six interceptions and a 81.7 passer rating. In nine road games, Lawrence has completed 58.72% of his passes for 2,050 yards (6.03 yards per attempt) with six touchdowns and 12 interceptions and a 67.4 passer rating.
In short, Lawrence hasn't been a conqueror on the road. The Jaguars haven't found much success at home, either, but they have fared much better than when they travel. The hope now is that Lawrence's Week 2 performance wasn't a fluke, instead becoming the new norm as the Jaguars' hopeful franchise passer looks to follow in his idol's footsteps.
“Definitely, there’s things that can always carry over depending on the defense you’re playing. There are certainly things to do," Lawrence said.
"As far as just your mentality, you kind of have to flip the page. You don’t just luck into a win like we Sunday. The preparation to get there, the focus, those things, you just replicate it. That’s the biggest thing. That’s the positive that you take from it, and you just try to do it again and again. As far as that result, that’s not going to win you the game on Sunday, you’ve got to stick to your processes and do it every day of the week.”
