Jacksonville Jaguars get off winless train, but suspect defense better find answers in London

Luke Farrell immediately felt unbridled joy the moment he walked into the Jacksonville Jaguars ' celebratory postgame locker room.

When an NFL franchise goes 270 days without a victory, and starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s winless streak goes five weeks further back, that’s a lot of pent-up tension to release.

“You couldn’t point to one person out of the crowd celebrating more than anybody else,” Farrell said. “It was mayhem when we walked in here, everybody giving everybody hugs, high-fives, everything.”

No doubt, for a few moments anyway, the Jaguars earned the right to party like it was 1999, especially the way a comatose offense awoke from its September slumber with stunning efficiency.

But there’s one big, fat caveat to Sunday’s 37-34, harder-than-it-should-have-been victory over the Indianapolis Colts at EverBank Stadium: the defense outside of Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen still stinks.

Next stop... Tom Coughlin going into Pro Football HOF should follow Pride of Jaguars entry | Gene Frenette

Furthermore, the consistently horrific pass coverage may not allow the 1-4 Jaguars to climb back into AFC playoff contention.

Negativity aside, at least the Jaguars — despite blowing a 14-point fourth quarter lead — could rejoice in seeing the offense rip off big chunks of yardage in game-defining moments that was completely absent the first four games.

Nobody seemed more relieved than head coach Doug Pederson, who grew visibly testy after last week’s road loss to the Houston Texans.

“I think there’s a weight off everybody’s shoulders, right?” said Pederson. “Not just [Lawrence]. It’s a weight off my shoulders too. Now you guys can get off my tail for at least a week.”

The Jaguars accumulated 497 yards total offense, exactly 211.5 yards above their season average entering the game. Lawrence finally looked like a No. 1 overall draft pick instead of a pedestrian quarterback, one hovering near the league bottom in several meaningful categories.

After having just two plays of 35-plus yards all season, the Jaguars had three 60-yarders — an 85-yard TD catch by Brian Thomas Jr., a 65-yard TD run by Tank Bigsby and a 61-yard reception by Christian Kirk — that accounted for 21 quick points.

“Having to go 14-, 15-play drives, multiple times throughout the game, it’s a little hard to sustain,” said Kirk. “So, when you’re able to have those explosives, get your offense down the field and put points on the board, you’re setting yourself up for success.”

Bad Colts defense a welcome sight

After averaging a measly 15 points per game through four weeks, Jacksonville and Lawrence managed to get well against the NFL’s worst defense. The Colts, who haven’t won at EverBank since 2014, had been allowing 400 yards per game and they just kept on giving.

Breakdown upon breakdown started when Thomas, lining up in the right slot against zone coverage, just drifted toward the sideline in the third quarter and surprisingly found himself all alone.

With cornerback Dallis Flowers caught in no-man's land, Lawrence and Thomas made an easy pitch-and-catch of 30 yards, with the 22 mph speed of the LSU rookie receiver sprinting the remaining 55 yards to the end zone.

Thomas (5 catches, 122 yards) is turning into a big-time weapon, somebody who should be soon getting Rookie of the Year traction. It’s only five games, but he’s on pace for a 1,350-yard season.

“When I saw the dude do the trigger, I thought maybe Trev had thrown the ball to somebody short,” Thomas said. “So I looked back and I seen it up in the air and I was like, ‘that can’t be right.’

“I realized they made a mistake in their coverage and I was wide open.”

Indianapolis’ suspect defense was easy pickings most of the day. Unlike the Houston Texans game last week, Lawrence didn’t miss his open downfield guys.

“The coaches did a good job of putting the game in his hands,” said Kirk. “When they do that, he feels he’s at his best. They leaned on him, they trusted him. Today, Trevor really took control. When he’s at his best, he can take us a long way.”

Kirk also got behind the secondary on a Trevor bomb, setting up a Brenton Strange 4-yard TD reception, part of a wild fourth quarter scoring eruption that saw both teams combine for 41 points.

It turned out the Jaguars’ pyrotechnic offense, including Bigsby having his first 100-yard rushing day, would need all of those points, capped by Cam Little’s 49-yard field goal with 17 seconds left being the difference.

For a franchise that hadn’t tasted victory since New Year’s Eve against the lowly Carolina Panthers, and a quarterback who had come up empty in his last nine starts, going up and down the field was a refreshing change.

The Jaguars’ offense came up big in almost every meaningful moment, save for the three-and-out on its next-to-last possession that allowed Indianapolis to score a game-tying touchdown.

“It gives you confidence moving forward for myself and the team,” said Lawrence, who also celebrated his 25th birthday. “Even the way the game went, obviously we were in control and then it got kind of crazy at the end. It thought it was good to continue to deal with the adversity and find a way to finish when things didn’t go perfect.”

Can defense get properly fixed?

While the Jaguars weren’t about to throw cold water over a shootout victory, there should be major consternation for defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen over how his unit can’t stop passing games from lighting them up.

Once again, 39-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco put on an air clinic against a beleaguered secondary, just as he did last December when he threw for 311 yards and three touchdowns for the Cleveland Browns in a 31-27 victory.

The Jaguars were in total control, up 20-10, with the defense getting Indianapolis off the field quickly to start two second-half possessions.

It all came apart from that point on. The Colts went touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown. In a span of 12:14, the Jaguars surrendered 24 points as two Flacco passes of 45 and 65 yards to Alec Pierce turned a 34-20 lead into a 34-34 tie.

For the love of Tom Coughlin, were the Jaguars really going to blow this game and essentially have the NFL coroner put a toe tag on their season by dropping to 0-5?

On a day where Jacksonville’s first coach saw his name going into the Pride of the Jaguars, his team threatened to sully a great moment because the defense keeps struggling to cover.

Had it not been for Travon Walker, who registered three sacks and a strip fumble that led to three points right before halftime, the defense would have been a complete failure. Walker used his power to overwhelm Colts’ right tackle Braden Smith.

Hines-Allen, who also had a sack, was floored by a postgame question as he learned how many points the defense gave up in the fourth quarter.

“Twenty-four in the fourth quarter? Really?,” said Hines-Allen. “Well, that’s not good. Obviously, can’t do that every week.

“I know they got the two deep balls [to Pierce], but 24. We can’t let that happen. Situational football.”

The Jaguars are awaiting the return of defensive starters Foye Oluokun, Tyson Campbell and safety Andrew Wingard from injury, but you have to wonder if it’ll be enough to fix their dreadful pass coverage.

Doubleheader sweep in London mandatory

Aside from a first quarter sideline confrontation with receiver Gabe Davis — who fumed about not getting the ball on a third-down pass play that fell short of a first down — and a deep-ball interception he forced into double coverage, Lawrence was pretty much on point.

Whether he can keep being so precise over the next two games in London is the bigger question. The Jaguars will be going up against much better defenses in the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots.

Lawrence understands what he and his teammates did to the Colts doesn’t offset all the missed opportunities that put them in the AFC South cellar to begin with.

“You play 60 minutes. It’s cool when that all clicks and it pays off and you get a chance to win a game like that,” said Lawrence. “But it’s just one game. We can’t flip out over one game, but we’re going to celebrate because we’ve been working hard and it’s big for us. We’re going to use it to propel us.”

It’s happened before. The Jaguars have gone on five-game winning streaks each of the past two seasons, winning the last five in 2022 to get into the playoffs. Last year’s five-game binge started with a London sweep of the Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills, so this team knows it can get hot.

“We just need a win,” said safety Antonio Johnson. “Getting that one W on the board, the train will get to rolling.”

The Jaguars better get on a roll quickly. They’re still three games behind the Houston Texans, who handled the same Bills’ team that routed Jacksonville on Monday Night Football.

It was refreshing to see the Jaguars in a festive postgame mood, but beating the Colts in this fashion did little to alleviate so many concerns.

Unless this defense can somehow flip a switch, this victory might be just a temporary band-aid.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com : (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars get off winless train, but suspect defense better find answers in London