Jets 26, Jaguars 21: Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Lose Duel of Top Picks
The battle of this season's No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks didn't disappoint in terms of highlight plays, with Zach Wilson and the New York Jets drawing first blood over Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars in a 26-21 bout on Sunday.
The loss, which is Jacksonville's seventh in a row, featured two teams decimated by injuries and absences resulting from COVID-19 protocols. And while it came down all the way to the final play of the game, the Jaguars once again came up with the short end of the stick and on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Lawrence finished the contest with a 26-of-39 effort for 280 yards (7.2 yards per attempt) and one fumble lost, being unable to punch the ball into the end zone on the final drive of the game. By comparison, Wilson finished the game 14-of-22 for 102 yards (4.6 yards per attempt) and one touchdown, along with four rushes for 91 yards and a touchdown.
Lawrence and the Jaguars had a chance to make a statement and end the game in the final seconds after a 26-yard scramble from Lawrence put the Jaguars on the Jets' four-yard line. But after an incompletion and a near-pick, the Jaguars ran into complete failure in terms of procedural offense with a chance to win the game.
After limiting the Jets to a field goal and giving themselves a chance to win the game, the Jaguars had the four following goal-line plays: incompletion, near-interception, ill-advised spike that wasted a down, and a fourth-down play in which the offense failed to lineup correctly, resulting in a flag.
And as Lawrence's final pass fell incomplete, Sunday became another day in which the 2021 Jaguars beat themselves, failing to get out of their own way at any point, even against a team missing its head coach and half of its defense.
Lawrence had a mostly clean game aside from his turnover. The No. 1 overall pick didn't throw a touchdown for the fourth game in a row and fumbled once in his team's own territory, however, limiting the Jaguars' ability to put up points against a defense that has been ravaged by injuries.
The Jets were able to make the game's first impact play of the game on their very first drive, even after a special teams penalty put the ball at the Jets' nine-yard line to open the drive.
Forcing the Jets into poor field position after driving for a field goal on the first drive was an optimal start for the Jaguars, but things quickly went downhill as the defense found itself once again on the receiving end of a highlight-reel play.
One play after rookie safety Andre Cisco nearly intercepted Wilson, the Jaguars allowed Wilson to find Keelan Cole for a 19-yard gain on third-down. Three plays later, Wilson turned another third-down into a nightmare for the Jaguars, avoiding a Dawuane Smoot sack on a blitz and bailing out of the pocket.
Wilson's scramble down the right sideline at first looked to be a solid gain, but then the No. 2 overall pick simply continued to run. With slot cornerback Rudy Ford approaching Wilson after about 25 yards, Ford strangely began to let up on his pursuit of Wilson and let the rookie quarterback continue his scramble.
To add even more insult to injury, defensive end/outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson's lessen pursuit of Wilson took him out of the play while safety Andrew Wingard missed another tackle attempt on Wilson, helping the rookie quarterback run it in for a 52-yard touchdown in which the Jaguars simply looked amateurish.
Wilson's oddly spectacular run followed an opening series in which the Jaguars pulled out some tricks of their own. From opting for a fake punt run by Andrew Wingard for a fourth-down conversion to having Malcom Brown and Walker Little run routes in the red-zone, the Jaguars looked like anything but the status quo.
Jacksonville was able to rebound from Wilson's unlikely and potentially deflating touchdown, with Lawrence putting together some highlight reel plays on his own accord, including a 20-yard completion to Laquon Treadwell and a potential touchdown to Treadwell that the veteran receiver failed to bring into his hands in the end zone.
Still, even with the drop, the Jaguars were able to get points on the board and avoid disaster all at the same time. With Lawrence keeping the ball near the goal line on an option run, Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley crashed down and put his helmet on the ball, forcing it out of Lawrence's hands and propelling it forward.
Luckily for the Jaguars, backup right guard Will Richardson -- who was starting in place of injured starting guard Ben Bartch -- was able to fall on the ball and give the Jaguars a 9-6 lead.
A Jets penalty on the point after attempt led to interim head coach Darrell Bevell keeping the offense on the field for the two-point conversion attempt. After losing starting running back James Robinson earlier in the game with an achilles injury, Bevell put the ball in the hands of backup running back Dare Ogunbowale, who failed to punch it in.
While the Jaguars' own running game floundered, the Jets were able to run the ball up and down the field on Jacksonville's defense. The Jaguars' lack of speed on the edge with Josh Allen missing the game due to COVID-19 protocols showed up on several big scrambles by Wilson, while Michard Carter rushed 16 times for 118 yards.
Overall, the Jets rushed for 273 yards on 36 carries, giving them 7.2 yards a pop. A good chunk of those yards came on Wilson's touchdown, but the Jets were able to control the clock and put themselves in the position to make field goals on numerous occasions.
The Jaguars ultimately failed to benefit from chances that Wilson gave them to crawl back into the game as well. The Jaguars allowed Wilson to throw a late touchdown on fourth-down to a offensive lineman after giving the rookie quarterback too much time in the pocket, while the Jaguars went on to drop three interceptions -- two of which would have been directly on Wilson.
Jacksonville was led on offense by Marvin Jones (eight catches for 74 yards), Tavon Austin (six catches for 68 yards), and Treadwell (four catches for 54 yards), while Ogunbowale contributed 57 yards on the ground on 17 carries.
