Trevor Lawrence was Rightfully Rewarded for His Stellar Season

Trevor Lawrence earned a home playoff game for his efforts with the Jacksonville Jaguars this season.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) proudly wears his AFC South Division Champions hat during the fourth quarter in an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars defeated the Titans 41-7 [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars of old would have had the fans nervous about this last game. At home, against a clearly inferior opponent, with so much on the line, past iterations of this team would have walked right into the trap that was set for them in Week 18. Not this year's Jaguars. They left nothing to chance against the Tennessee Titans.

The Jaguars weren't handed the AFC South crown this year — they ripped it away from the Indianapolis Colts back in Week 14 and ran away with it. Had Jacksonville lost against the Titans, they would have needed Indy to pull off the upset over the Houston Texans to hold on to their division lead. Instead, DeMeco Ryans benched C.J. Stroud in the third quarter, knowing that the Jaguars were well on their way to a final 41-7 victory in the regular-season finale.

Jan 4, 2026; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) celebrates with fans after the game against the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Trevor Lawrence got the Jaguars here

To begin the 2025 NFL season, everything was going right for the Jacksonville Jaguars except Trevor Lawrence. Despite adding offensive guru and quarterback whisperer Liam Coen as their head coach, the Jags' passing game just wasn't clicking the way fans had hoped. Jacksonville jumped out to a 4-1 record to begin the year, but T-Law's stats didn't reflect that encouraging start at all.

Through his first five games in 2025, he averaged just 213.2 passing yards, with eight total touchdowns to six turnovers. The question then was, how great could the Jaguars be if Lawrence and the air attack ever figured it out? Well, we know the answer now. T-Law would go on to string together an admirable dark-horse MVP bid in the second half of the season.

Trevor Lawrence has 18 touchdowns and 1 turnover in 5.5 games since Thanksgiving.

The Jags have won 8 in a row, are about to be 13-4 and have beaten the Texans, Niners, Chargers & Broncos & only losses since Week 2 are to LAR, SEA & HOU.

This team & QB are 10000% legit.

— nick wright (@getnickwright) January 4, 2026

Through the first 47 minutes of Week 18, he had clinched the AFC South. He finished with a modest 255 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-30 passing, subbing out for Nick Mullens in the Jaguars' last meaningful drive against the Tennessee Titans. He could have sat before that, considering Jacksonville entered the fourth quarter with a 34-7 lead, but Coen kept him in until he found Parker Washington for a 23-yard completion that gave Lawrence his third 4,000-yard season in five years.

The media asked Coen if it was important for him to allow his quarterback to reach that benchmark: "Yeah, the year that he's had, especially since the bye, the way he's playing at an MVP caliber, he's earned it. He's playing at such a high level. The players all love him, they trust him, they believe in him, as do we as coaches. You want those kinds of things for players like that."

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