Broncos 21, Jaguars 17: 5 Observations on Trevor Lawrence, Josh Allen and More
The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) can start looking ahead to 2023. There might be nine games left on the schedule, but nothing can erase the hole that a five-game losing streak and Sunday's 21-17 loss to the Denver Broncos have left the Jaguars in.
So with the Jaguars sitting at last place of the AFC's standings and another tough loss took on the chin, what can we make of Sunday? From Trevor Lawrence's issues to Josh Allen's impact, we break it down below.
Trevor Lawrence was always going to struggle in Week 8, but this week's loss falls largely on his shoulders
Anyone who thought the Jaguars were going to light up the Broncos' defense through the air this week was always kidding themselves, but that doesn't erase how discouraging Trevor Lawrence's mistakes were. The Broncos have made quarterbacks look terrible each week in 2022, entering the week with one of the best pass defenses in recent history. They have been especially brutal to young passers, with Zach Wilson and Davis Mills learning that each in recent weeks. Still, the Jaguars didn't need Lawrence to throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns to win. They just needed him to be better than he was on Sunday.
Other than his touchdown pass to Evan Engram, Lawrence simply didn't look like an improving passer on Sunday. His red-zone interception on the one-yard line showed zero growth from Week 5 when he made the same exact mistake. In fact, this interception was even worse since it came on 1st-and-goal from the one. Add in him throwing an interception to a virtually one-armed cornerback and taking the Jaguars out of field goal range with a third-down intentional grounding and Lawrence had three plays alone that helped the Jaguars lose. It doesn't matter how good the defense is when you are beating yourself, and that is where Lawrence found himself on Sunday.
The Jaguars are still not good enough at wide receiver
The Jaguars have spent money like there is no tomorrow at wide receiver in the last two offseasons, hoping that investments in Marvin Jones Jr., Christian Kirk and Zay Jones would expedite some much-needed improvement from the position. But despite the investments, the Jaguars still look like an offense with a bunch of secondary options and no alpha dog target they can turn to in the game's biggest moments.
Whether it was Kirk's two drops, Marvin Jones dropping a would-be first-down in the red-zone or the Jaguars simply not looking like they had a single non-Travis Etienne weapon who scared Denver's defense, it was a bad showing from the skill group. Kirk is a solid receiver, but his ability to impact a game is clearly capped at a certain level. With the Jaguars having one of the lowest-ceiling receiver rooms in the entire NFL, there is no real margin of error for the passing game, making Lawrence's bad plays look even worse.
Should Josh Allen's performance impact the Jaguars' trade decision?
The one Jaguars with considerable buzz entering the trade deadline has been pass-rusher Josh Allen. Seen as one of the core pieces of the Jaguars' rebuild, the 25-year-old former No. 7 overall pick now has three sacks through eight games this season. Three different Jaguars recorded a sack on Sunday, but Allen wasn't one of them despite drawing an incredibly favorable matchup against a backup left tackle. Allen recorded one quarterback hit on the day, but backup defensive linemen Arden Key and Dawuane Smoot each recorded a sack and multiple quarterback hits.
So, what does Allen's lack of impact on Sunday mean for his trade stock? Should it mean anything at all? The feeling around the Allen rumors has been that teams are calling the Jaguars to inquire about the young and athletic pass-rusher as opposed to the Jaguars simply shopping him, but should they reconsider? When emotions are riding high after a loss like Sunday where the Jaguars look like they are building for the future and Allen not putting up big numbers recently, it might be a fair question to ask.
Still, trading Allen away for anything less than a first-round pick and then some would be a considerable blow to team morale, which has to be considered. The Jaguars' locker room sees Allen as a leader and a game-changer. He needs to produce like one and win his one-on-ones more consistently, but one bad loss and performance shouldn't mean the Jaguars are sellers.
Travis Etienne had a prove-it game
I had several questions about the Jaguars' decision to trad fast-track Travis Etienne's development to No. 1 running back. My three biggest questions were Etienne's ability to step up and replace Robinson's pass-blocking ability, if Etienne could a full four-quarter workhorse and Etienne's own ability to not make critical mistakes as he has in past weeks.
On Sunday, Etienne answered every one of those questions. He made the best blitz pick-up of any Jaguars running back this season against a blitzing linebacker early in the game, showing off the awareness and physicality that hasn't always been there in those reps. He also carried the ball a career-high 24 times and arguably could have gotten even more of the load. And as for not making critical mistakes, Etienne not only didn't make an unforced error to hurt the Jaguars, but he came up in the clutch for them on their fourth-quarter touchdown drive.
Etienne answered every question I had on Sunday. He has been one of the NFL's most productive running backs over the last month, and it is starting to look more and more like the Jaguars have a star running back on their hands.
Jaguars allowed one of the NFL's worst offenses to have their best game of the year for the second time in three weeks
Sunday wasn't all bad for the Jaguars' defense. They recorded three sacks, got a good amount of pressure and, finally, forced another turnover after 15 quarters without them. But for the positive flashes the defense showed, there will still a few glimmers of mistakes that helped contribute to the latest lost and continued a worrying trend.
The Jaguars already let the Colts have a get-right game against their defense two weeks ago. The Colts offense was dreadful before getting the Jaguars in Week 6 and Matt Ryan has since been benched. Now, the Jaguars let a quarterback and head coach under fire to have arguably their best day of the year, going 3-for-3 in the red-zone. The Jaguars' defense played good enough to win at times, but allowing this Broncos offense to do what they did is a concerning sign.
