JACKSONVILLE – The Jaguars are alone in first place.
And if that doesn’t immediately earn the respect of the NFL-watching world, they’re OK with that. More than OK, actually.
Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for two touchdowns, Trevor Lawrence threw two more and the defense turned in another front-line performance – and the Jaguars took sole possession of first place in the AFC South with a dominant, impressive 36-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in front of 60,067 on a cold, wet December afternoon at EverBank Stadium Sunday.
“Our guys took control of the moment,” Head Coach Liam Coen said.
The Jaguars (9-4) won their fourth consecutive game – and their 11th consecutive home game against the Colts (8-5), who lost a third consecutive game and fourth in their last 5. The Jaguars lead the Colts by a game in the division, with the third-place Houston Texans (7-5) visiting the Kansas City Chiefs (6-6) Sunday night.
Jaguars players afterward spoke of a collective “chip” about by a perceived lack of respect despite their first-place status and a four-game winning streak.
“I just think for our team, anything you can use as fuel, you use it,” said Lawrence, who – like Etienne – accounted for two touchdowns in a first half dominated by the Jaguars, who led 14-7 after a quarter and 28-10 at halftime.
Lawrence threw touchdown passes to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers in the first quarter Sunday and wide receiver Tim Patrick in the second.
“We know it doesn’t really matter what anyone says on the outside, but you use all that as fuel,” Lawrence said. “We all feel like we’re a really good team and probably don’t get the credit we deserve. Everybody talks about every other team. Even in our own division, it’s all these other teams that are going to go win the division and do all these things.
“Nobody really cares about the Jags, which is fine. It’s just how it is. We’ll use that as a chip on our shoulder and keep playing.”
