Defense rules in Jaguars’ Beatdown of Patriots

JACKSONVILLE — The Jacksonville Jaguars were already up 21-3 when New England quarterback Drake Maye launched his third turnover Sunday. 

Cornerback Jarrian Jones leapt to intercept Maye’s pass intended for wide receiver Kyle Williams and returned it for 30 yards, sealing the game for the Jaguars with the fourth quarter left to play.

Behind a defensive effort that kept the Patriots (1-2) out of the end zone, the Jaguars (2-1) rolled 35-6 at EverBank Stadium. 

After a second-half collapse led the Jaguars to give up 17 unanswered points against the Denver Broncos on the road last week, they were hungry to rebound on home turf and play a full four quarters. 

And securing a similar 14-3 lead heading into halftime, the Jaguars refused to let history repeat. 

“It was the response we were looking for,” Jacksonville coach Liam Coen said. “It was the response we talked about last week, winning the game in all three phases.”

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence finished 19-of-29 passing for 182 yards, three touchdowns and an interception for the Jags.

His sole turnover was on a pass intended for Brenton Strange with 11:04 to play in the second quarter. He was picked off by Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones, who nearly got him again later down the stretch when  the quarterback let a risky look to the right sideline fly. 

His second touchdown of the afternoon, though — a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers with 4:23 to play in the first half — moved the quarterback into second place in the Jaguars franchise all-time in passing touchdowns (104), ahead of Blake Bortles (103).

The Lawrence-Meyers connection in the end zone was not the only time the two found one another to make up significant ground. 

With a little more than two minutes to go in the third quarter, Lawrence found the receiver again on a 13-yard pass that placed Jacksonville on the New England 5-yard line. The former Patriot finished with a team-leading seven receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown. 

“We made some contested catches as well in some critical moments so really proud of the situational awareness,” Coen said.

Parker Washington logged three receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown. His 17-yard touchdown grab in tight coverage extended the Jaguars’ lead to 21-3 with 1:08 left in the third quarter. 

“I thought we played really well, I think we played really complementary,” Lawrence said. “I thought we had a great plan. Seemed like the run game stuff was really clean.”

Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten was called upon to take advantage of a struggling Patriots run defense. And he certainly delivered. He recorded 73 yards on 15 carries and also caught two passes for another 17 yards. 

Chris Rodriguez Jr. also had his best showing as a Jaguar. He capitalized on Jones’ interception, rushing in for a 5-yard touchdown to cap the drive.  He ended with eight carries for 37 yards. 

While the offensive showing for the Jaguars was an impressive one, the defense was what shined. 

Along with Jones’ interception, cornerback Travis Hunter recorded his first-career pick on Maye’s pass intended for Efton Chism III in the end zone. Maye’s first fumble was by his own accord, but it was recovered by Davon Hamilton, who also added five total tackles (three solo), 0.5 sacks and a quarterback hit.

“We had to be better this week,” Hunter said. “We practiced hard, we made it hard on ourselves this week, we made sure we didn’t have no mistakes, we continued to just grind.”

Defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro also sacked Maye on third-and-3 to force the Patriots to punt. 

But, once again, the standouts on defense were linebackers Ventrell Miller (University of Florida) and Foyesade Oluokun. Miller posted a team-leading seven tackles (four solo) and a pass defended while Oluokun posted six tackles (two solo) and put pressure on Maye with two quarterback hits. 

The linebackers unit once again proved it can be successful without Devin Lloyd, who Jacksonville let walk in the offseason.  

“Our defense played great,” Lawrence said. “Had some huge turnovers, they came up with some bigs stops, held them in the red zone, it was awesome.” 

The Jaguars take on the Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) next Sunday at 1 p.m. at Paycor Stadium. 

Category: Feature Sports News, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL