Four Takeaways From Jacksonville’s Punishing Week 3 Victory
When a team holds its opponent to one score and forces three turnovers, it is bound to have a productive outing. After the Jaguars’ disappointing Week 2 loss at Denver, they turned their performance around Sunday with a 35-6 domination of the New England Patriots.
If Jacksonville (2-1) wanted to get back to its winning ways ahead of the bulk of the schedule, it had to stay competitive and eke out a victory against the Patriots (1-2) at EverBank Stadium. Instead, the Jags controlled the game’s pace and hung five touchdowns on the league’s No. 5 defense.
Here are four takeaways from Jacksonville’s much-needed victory:
The Jaguars are playing elite complementary football
Thirty passes and 29 rush attempts.
Jacksonville honed in on spreading the ball to its slew of weapons and did so at a balanced rate. Trevor Lawrence’s 19 completions were good for 182 passing yards while the one-two punch of Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr. added 110 rushing yards.
Following the first-quarter lull from both teams, the Jaguars kept New England on its toes to open the second. Jacksonville’s 10-play, 62-yard touchdown drive featured five passes and five runs. Lawrence found rookie wide receiver Josh Cameron over the middle for the 12-yard score after completing all but one pass in the series.
The Jaguars put an increased amount of pressure on Lawrence to captain the offense in the 20-13 loss to the Broncos, but played to its strengths Sunday. The Jags also went 8 for 12 on third down and scored on all five red-zone trips.
“We really tightened our third-down menu going into the week,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen said. “The guys just executed so well in critical moments and you look at situational football with the red zone and third down, with some of those statistics is where we probably won the game in some ways.”
The defensive front is one of the league’s finest
The NFL’s third-best defense at taking the ball away in 2025 is picking up right where it left off. Jacksonville did not put the breaks on its pressure all afternoon, aiding in its top-notch outing.
In one of the weirder plays across the league this year, the Jags were credited with a team sack after Drake Maye fumbled in the midst of his throwing motion on the Pats’ second series of the day. The quarterback’s arm came back, but the ball slipped out of his hand before he could release it. Defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton fell on the loose ball and Jacksonville turned it into seven points on the other end.
Maye also threw two interceptions — one to Travis Hunter and the other to Jarrian Jones — to go along with his lackluster outing. Hunter’s pick capped the Patriots’ 10-play, 70-yard drive at Jacksonville’s 2-yard line. His first career interception stalled New England’s final true surge down the field.
“We’re stickier,” Coen said. “We’re tighter in coverage, had better rush lanes in plan. Those guys had confidence going into this week, they really did. I think the whole secondary was ready to respond. We played what we do well, what we do best.”
Outside of rushing the quarterback and maintaining elite coverage in the secondary, Jacksonville excelled at stopping the run. New England’s rushing attack consisted of TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson, who combined for just 45 yards, 22 of which came from the latter rusher.
Stevenson has had a slow start to his sixth season in Foxborough, but the Patriots were averaging 122.5 rushing yards per game before making the trip south.
“When you can stop the run effectively, you earn your ops to go rush the passer,” Coen said. “You earn your ops to go and disrupt and affect the quarterback, and I think we were able to do that today.”
Trevor Lawrence doing exactly what he needs to be
Lawrence earned the franchise’s No. 2 spot in passing touchdowns with 105 in six years. Blake Bortles, now the third quarterback on the list, tossed 103 touchdowns in 75 games. Lawrence eyes Mark Brunell at the top with 144.
“I think just to be on that list with those guys, obviously there’s some great names there, it’s cool,” Lawrence said. “It just shows the direction we’re headed and hopefully be first here soon.”
No, he did not produce eye-popping numbers in Sunday’s win, but the level of poise he exerted is worth noting. Lawrence remained tall while under duress and executed a near-flawless game plan.
He stood in the face of pressure on a plethora of drop-backs, including when New England’s Kevin Byard III came flying in from the right side off a safety blitz with 2:16 remaining in the third. Instead of succumbing to the pressure, Lawrence altered his arm angle and found wideout Jakobi Meyers down the right sideline to bring the Jags to the Patriots’ 5-yard line. A handful of plays later, Lawrence threaded the needle to Parker Washington for a 17-yard touchdown pass, extending Jacksonville’s lead to 18.
Lawrence closed out the win with three touchdowns and a pick with a passer rating of 102.9. The interception came at the 11:08 mark of the second quarter, but wasn’t Lawrence’s fault. He found tight end Brenton Strange in between the hashes, who couldn’t reel in the pass and the ball bobbled into the waiting arms of cornerback Marcus Jones.
Outside of the ill-timed pick, Lawrence had a clean day and was able to put his club in successful positions.
Liam Coen is one of the best in the business
The Jaguars’ second-year coach is on his way to being one of the most productive in franchise history. Sunday marked Coen’s 15th win at the helm, the fewest games needed to reach that total in Jacksonville history. He moved to 15-5 in 20 games.
While an impressive feat on its own, the victories carry weight as well. The Jaguars’ average margin of victory in the last 10 games is 20.5. Moreover, that average jumps to 29 points per game in the last three wins, spanning to the 2025 Week 18 rout of the Titans.
Coen revamped the Jaguars and continues to do so in just his second season. Jacksonville went 4-13 in 2024 under Doug Pederson and added just three winning seasons since 2016 before Coen took over.
Coen and his staff have taken a flailing Jacksonville team and turned it around at a rapid pace. Now, the Jags will look to build upon its Week 3 victory as they will be on the road for the next three matchups. They are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals next week and will travel to London and face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 and the Houston Texans in Week 6.
“It was the response we were looking for,” Coen said. “It was fun to watch.”
Category: Feature Sports News, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL
