Jaguars vs. Bills: Halftime Thoughts

What did we see in the first half of Jaguars vs. Bills?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are entering halftime leading the Buffalo Bills 11-7. So, what did we see in the first half? We break it down below.

Trevor Lawrence put the Jaguars' offense on his back 

Trevor Lawrence had the best first half of his season on Sunday. It may have been the best first half of his career. Lawrence ended the first quarter 7-of-10 for 101 yards and a touchdown, and also nearly had a 31-yard touchdown added to that total. He was accurate to all levels of the field, stayed with his reads without moving off of them, and played well under some intense interior pressure. 

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— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) October 8, 2023

Lawrence is the Jaguars' best player and when he plays like he did on Sunday, the Jaguars can hang with anyone -- even the NFL's best team. Lawrence is a top-tier talent, and on Sunday the production finally matched. Lawrence and the Jaguars should have had even more production, too, were it not for a few drops and untimely tipped passes.

Jacksonville's defense is reaching top-10 status, if it isn't already there 

The Jaguars' defense was absolutely dominant in the first half until the Bills' final drive of the half, but the Bills' offense is so potent that is unrealistic to expect them to be stalled for an entire half. Before then, though, the Jaguars pushed the Bills offense around, forcing two three-and-outs and four punts in the first four series of the game. For context, the Bills had punted just seven times in 16 quarters of play entering Sunday. It took them two quarters to hit four punts on Sunday. 

The Jaguars did lose the edge in the running game at times and the pass-rush was seemingly non-existent, but the Jaguars shut down the middle of the field and Tyson Campbell was able to mostly erase Stefon Diggs until his touchdown catch. Add in a few more impact plays in the second half and keep that same consistency and the Jaguars' defense could have a lot of people talking come Monday. 

The running game is simply not there

For as good as the Jaguars' passing game looked in the first half, the running game looked as bad as it has all year. Part of this is due to playing one of the NFL's best defensive lines, but the Bills lost their two best defenders in Daquan Jones and Matt Milano early in the first quarter. The Jaguars lost left guard Walker Little early in the game, too, but that doesn't square just how badly the Jaguars got dominated in the trenches.

Through the first four drives, the Jaguars' running backs combined for 11 carries for 26 yards (2.36 yards per carry), with multiple failed runs on third-and-short. The Jaguars' backs can't exactly be blamed for it, though, as the Jaguars simply looked like they couldn't block the Bills. When you have a high-paid right guard and a third-round center in his second season as a starter, you should expect better.