FULL BOX SCORE
Nick Shook’s takeaways:
- Jaguars play with food but finish the job. Jacksonville’s 12th win didn’t come easily, but the Jaguars will likely also reflect on this performance and spot where they could have built a larger advantage had they gotten out of their own way. An early, overly ambitious hook-and-lateral call saw Jacksonville fumble away possession, Trevor Lawrence‘s lone passing mistake (leaving a pass short of his intended target in the end zone) resulted in a points-robbing interception and an aggressive fourth-and-1 conversion attempt in a tie game ended short of the line to gain, giving the Colts multiple chances to stay in the fight. Ultimately, the better team won. Jacksonville’s defense denied Indianapolis’ late attempts to move into scoring position and the Jaguars picked up the necessary yards to seal the victory, but only after they had to settle for a field goal following a crucial interception that briefly appeared destined to finish in the end zone. All of the wins count the same; this one could prove to be a valuable lesson in the importance of details as the Jags prepare for the playoffs.
- Rivers’ comeback falls short again. Indianapolis tried to save its fading playoff hopes by bringing Philip Rivers out of retirement, which made for a compelling watch but on Sunday, it was clear Rivers’ age-related limitations couldn’t carry them to victory. One play stood as the best example: Facing second-and-10 in a 14-10 game midway through the third, Alec Pierce toasted corner Montaric Brown on a fade and had a clear path to the end zone, but Rivers’ lack of downfield arm strength failed him. Rivers lobbed a balloon of a pass toward Pierce, forcing the speedster to slow down and come back to the ball and affording Brown enough time to close the distance, breaking up a pass that would have been an easy score had Rivers possessed the arm strength to lead Pierce into the end zone. Indianapolis’ vertical limitations limited its offensive potential, and even when Rivers was able to string drives together with shorter completions, his inability to connect downfield — plus a lack of velocity on deeper passes — handcuffed the Colts and ultimately prevented them from overcoming a late deficit. If this is Rivers’ last game in the NFL, he deserves commendation for steadying Indianapolis’ ship amid a storm of adversity. He also received a reminder of why he’d spent most of this season coaching high school football.
- Washington continues to thrive. Lawrence is playing the best football of his career right now, and the same is true for diminutive Penn State product Parker Washington filling the role of Lawrence’s favorite receiving target. Washington is quickly proving himself as one of the most reliable third-down targets, racking up contested catches and playing much larger than his 5-foot-10 frame. One week after he set a career high with 145 receiving yards and a touchdown in the Jags’ win over Denver, Washington delivered again, catching a team-best eight passes for 115 yards against the Colts. On a day in which Lawrence went without a passing touchdown (but ran it in for two scores), Washington was an essential part of a Jacksonville air attack that is suddenly very diverse thanks to the presence of Brian Thomas Jr., acquisition of Jakobi Meyers and ascension of Washington and tight end Brenton Strange.
Next Gen Stats insight from Jaguars-Colts (via NFL Pro): The Colts’ defense blitzed Trevor Lawrence on 47.7% of his dropbacks in Week 17, their second-highest blitz rate in a game this season, trailing only Week 14, when they blitzed Lawrence and Nick Mullens on 51.5% of their combined dropbacks. Lawrence was efficient against the blitz, completing 13 of 18 passes for 190 yards (10.6 yards per attempt).
NFL Research: With two rushing scores, Trevor Lawrence became the fourth player in NFL history to have 25-plus passing touchdowns and nine-plus rushing touchdowns in a single season, joining Josh Allen, Kyler Murray and Cam Newton.
