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The 2021-22 NFL regular season has come to a close for both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts. As the AFC South rivals battled it out on Sunday at TIAA Bank Field, the Jaguars managed to pull off a dominating upset 26-11 victory over playoff-hopeful Indianapolis to finish out a chaotic regular season.
FINAL: What a day for the @Jaguars! #INDvsJAX #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/xgWlj033Oj
— NFL (@NFL) January 9, 2022
Jacksonville Jaguars shock Indianapolis Colts to pick up its third win
How it happened
Entering the game, the Jaguars had 12 straight road losses and nine consecutive losses against division rivals. Nonetheless, the Jaguars jumped out to a hot start on Sunday. The Jaguars kicked off the action by opening the division rivalry matchup with a scoring drive.
Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence was 8 for 8 on his first drive resulting in a two yard touchdown pass to Laquon Treadwell.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1480242096803962883
Sunday’s contest showed a quicker tempo in Jacksonville’s offense as Lawrence went on to play one of his best games of the season.
https://twitter.com/BigCatCountry/status/1477707580185137163
He would finish the game completing 23 of 32 attempts for 223 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The contest marked Lawrence’s first game with multiple touchdown passes since the season opener.
Jacksonville wide receiver Marvin Jones also had a standout day with seven receptions for 88 yards and one touchdown. Jones was able to pass 70 receptions on the season to earn himself a $500,000 contract incentive.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1480271328942854145
What the win means for the Jacksonville Jaguars
The 2021-22 regular season has been nothing shy of tumultuous in Jacksonville. Despite the staggering win over the 14-point favorite Colts, the Jaguars will make the first pick in the NFL draft for the second consecutive year. The loss for the Colts means they were eliminated from the NFL playoffs; a win over the Jags would have gotten them into the playoffs.
Once again, the #Jaguars have the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 9, 2022
Subsequently, the Jaguars will be the fifth franchise to have back-to-back top overall picks. Furthermore, the 2022 NFL Draft marks the 14th time in the past 15 years that Jacksonville has a top-10 selection.
Trevor Lawrence reflects on Sunday’s play
Lawrence commented on the team’s play, explaining how this will build confidence going forward.
“Today was mixed emotions of we finished the way we wanted to finish, and you can’t ever go back. And that’s something I’ve learned is you’ve got to do everything you can in the moment because you can’t go back and change it when it’s done. You don’t have regrets, but you do have that feeling of just, man, we could have been doing this all season,” Lawrence said.
He expanded upon his biggest takeaways from this year is and his plans to improve heading into next season.
“I think just for me, learning how to really be resilient in tough times and to keep being the same person. And to try to keep that confidence week in and week out. It’s a 17-game season, and just because you have a bad first game or a bad seventh game, you still have so many games left, and you’ve got to come ready to play each week. Regardless of — obviously we didn’t win a lot of games this year, but there’s so many games we could have won, and we have enough talent and every team has enough talent, and it’s really about execution. It’s about being ready, everybody being on the same page,” Lawrence said.
Looking ahead
Jacksonville’s win marks the seventh consecutive home win against the Colts. In addition, it is the second time in the franchise’s history to post seven straight home victories against an opponent.
For now, the Jacksonville Jaguars will look to get on the right track entering the offseason after a hectic 3-14 season. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Colts will also be entering the offseason and will look to rebuild after being eliminated from playoff contention.
