Jaguars vs Cowboys
JT: Trevor’s Team
Trevor Lawrence has come into his own in Jacksonville. Like many have been saying, including JaguarsTalk, T-Law has arrived. The official coronation of the coming of Trevor Lawrence occurred in Nissan Stadium this past Sunday with his friends the Tennessee Titans. After the first quarter of play it was a complete domination by the Jaguars. If we are being honest it is probably best that the Chrisley’s tax fraud finally caught up with them. They’d have probably been at the game in person since they called Nashville home, that is before their forwarding address read Sing Sing. While it is sad to see Todd locked up and not gracing reality television, seeing that Titan defeat in person may have been cruel and unusual punishment. Jacksonville’s own #41 was part of creating that Tennessee loss. Hey Josh, how do you feel about the Tennessee Titans? “I hate ‘em. I mean, I hate ‘em, but like, I really hate ‘em.” Well there you have it.
Josh Allen was not the only Jaguar to come alive at Nissan this past Sunday. Evan Engram threw down to the tune of 11 receptions for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. In a contract year, my man Evan had a career high outing. Way to make them think hard about it this offseason. Zay Jones continued his role of dropping a few he should have caught, while at the same time, making some acrobatic grabs. Zay dropped what might have been one of Trevor’s most pinpoint, long bomb, downfield, touchdown passes of the year but also caught what was a tipped ball, incredible concentration, highlight touchdown thanks to a sliver of green visible between shoe and line, when paused and enlarged on the replay. Imagine everyone's stat lines if receivers weren’t dropping passes all year. Jacksonville is plagued with the most dropped passes in all of football this season. We can’t brag in the faces of Trevor haters if you are impeding his stats with your butterfingers, folks. Step it up boys because Calvin Ridley is on the way and he will hog the lion's share if you aren’t catching every T-Law ball thrown your way. BTW, Ridley, Kirk and Zay w/Engram at TE and T-Law tossing the ball is going to be a devastatingly lethal combination next season. Throw ETN in the mix as a 1000+ yard rusher and the Jaguars 2023 offense will be the “Greatest show on Grass.” Hell, they might even be the greatest show on all surfaces. Thoughts, Kurt Warner? We asked him this very question on Twitter. No response from the store worker, turned Super Bowl Champion, turned analyst, turned Hollywood movie man, yet. We will let you know if he responds. Kurt Warner is truly one of the greatest success stories in all of, well, really everything.
Another success story in the making is the winning combination of Jaguars QB, Trevor Lawrence, and his budding QB/Coach relationship with Head Coach Doug Pederson. Granted, Trevor Larence has really seen nothing but football success throughout his entire life. He won all throughout high school, all throughout college, probably all throughout pee wee, and even school yard ball. I’m sure he dominated Techmo Bowl (was that even a thing when you were born T-Law)? A team with you and Bo would have been beautiful to watch. Grainy as hell, but in the most beautiful 8-bit kind of way. You guys remember those tin football field boards with the little players. You’d plug it in and they would just vibrate all around with no direction, no plays, no passing. They’d just vibrate until they fell over or you got bored. Trevor even won that game. So to say he is a success story in the making, might not be entirely accurate. In looking at his first year in the NFL however, Trevor is certainly a comeback kid. The turning point from constant losses to some big time wins occuered when Trevor took a trip to Londontown. There he threw an interception to a Denver team turned mortuary purveyor, as this is where Russell Wilson's career has gone to die. After five straight losses a switch was flipped from Mr. Reserved and quiet to…”Hey fiddy two. I play better when you hit me fiddy two. I like it. I’m kinda messed up.” It all surfaced in the game against a Tennessee Titan team who had beaten Jacksonville, in TN, for the past 3,318 days. That’s almost a decade. Trevor promptly stiff-armed that statistic into the ground. Hey fiddy three, I am sorry that you are forever a poster on the wall of Jaguars fans everywhere. BTW, that play was supposed to be a hand-off that Trevor tucked and ran himself, after a fantastically quick read, post snap. That confident call right their oozes growth. The new and improved feisty Trevor didn’t stop there, he waved to the Titans fans as they were leaving the game early, and when in kneel down victory formation T-Law took exception to the bush league Titan tactics of trying to hurt his center, Luke Fortner, and promptly got in the face of the Tennessee culprit. When pulled apart T-Law put a bow on the outing by pointing to the scoreboard. I don’t know about ya’ll but I like this slightly cocky and a little feisty, Trevor Lawrence. People are going to make more of a deal out of it than it really is simply because Lawrence is traditionally extremely reserved and so any swagger will be blown out of proportion. This swagger however, stems from confidence. He is actually performing first and getting feisty afterward, which I much prefer to those who talk first and then have to go back it up later. Lawrence has his head on straight, his game dialed in, and the correct coach to see that he reaches his true potential.
I think Trevor Lawrence is having fun now. He wasn't in his rookie year. Having fun while playing the game you love will get you further in a season than hating and dreading every Sunday. Attitude is everything in life and sports and Trevor’s is heading in the right direction. You can tell he is enjoying things by the videos of his ugly sweater Christmas party. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. He and the team were just enjoying the holiday spirit. Now that T-Law’s enjoyment of the game is on the rise while confidence in his game, and that of his team, is on the up and up, enter the 10-3 Dallas Cowboys.
With one of the best defenses in the NFL (Micah Parsons is a beast), and a couple offensive weapons that you may have heard of, Dak Prescott, Tony Pollard, and Cee Dee Lamb to name a few, Dallas is daunting. The Jacksonville Jaguars must win this game to keep their playoff hopes alive while a win for the Dallas Cowboys will clench a playoff birth. Here are JaguarsTalk three keys to a Jacksonville Jaguars victory.
First and foremost Jacksonville must keep the Cowboy’s offense off of the field. Long, sustained drives are what the Jaguars need. JAX must win the time of possession battle in a very big way. The less time the Dallas offense is on the field the less time they have to put points on the board. This week, Jacksonville’s best defense is a time consuming offense.
#2 is directly related to number one. ETN needs to have himself a game. Dougie P. needs to establish the run early and often. Travis Etienne needs to run so hard and so far that the television cameras catch Tony Pollard wide-eyed on the sideline in utter amazement of ETNs surgically repaired bionic foot.
Mike Caldwell’s front seven needs to get to Dak. First the why: Pressuring the QB, sacking the QB, and hurrying the QB not only rattles the QB, but it will make him throw early and incomplete. More importantly it will lead to interceptions and fumbles. Those takeaways are the key to a victory. JAX must win the turnover battle. That was the why, now the how: Well, here is where we get controversial. But since we are correct in what we are about to suggest we feel that you will all agree. Last week, in a must win game against the Tennessee Titans, Mike Caldwell FINALLY moved CB Darious Williams to the outside. This forced Tre Herndon inside as the nickel back (Herndon didn’t have as many hits playing a nickel back as did my favorite early 2000s power band, Nickelback. There can only be one Nickelback.). For the first time this season the Jags had two dominant outside cornerbacks. Now, Herndon didn’t crush it in the middle, but the entire set up was much better than having a smorgasbord of CBs rotating through the position, all unable to do the job. Last week DC MC also FINALLY put Travon Walker where he should have always been, on the line with a hand or two in the dirt. What was the result? Walker had a momentum changing strip sack that resulted in an eventual Jacksonville touchdown. So Caldwell has shown that he is FINALLY willing to listen and do what should have been done at the beginning of the season. Is he willing to take it one step further this week? Mike Caldwell needs to move Devin Lloyd to the outside linebacker position and let him rush Dak Prescott. That is the third key to victory. It is the perfect week for MC to do this without getting any flack at all. Nobody expects JAX to win this game, except JAX. Chad Muma is back and will take his old position. Travon Walker is injured and most likely out, thus leaving the OLB position wide open for Lloyd. So Caldwell has a decision to make. He can leave the uber talented, college sack master, first round draft pick, Devin Lloyd on the sideline watching the game, or he can put him in his natural position where he can wreak havoc on the Cowboy’s backfield. It’s your call Mike Caldwell. You’ve come this far with changes that have worked, why stop now? If it fails, you will be commended for trying, in what amounts to a do or die game for the Jaguars. But, if it works. IF IT WORKS, MIKE CALDWELL you are a hero. Your job is safe and secure next year, and nobody needs to know that it was our idea. We don’t want any credit, we just want the JAX dubya. Now take a note from Nike’s famous 1988 marketing campaign and… Just Do It.
JaguarsTalk score prediction: Jaguars 23 - Cowboys 27
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