The Jacksonville Jaguars bounced back in a big way after last week’s loss by defeating the LA Chargers by a score of 35-6.
The Jaguars are now 6-4 on the season after Sunday’s victory.
In a game that’s won by 29 points, there are a lot of game balls that could be handed out. So instead of highlighting numerous individual performances, I’m going to pick out two specific units.
An obvious contributor to the Jaguars’ collapse last week was the play of the defense, which surrendered 20 points in the fourth quarter. But this week, against a Justin Herbert-led offense, Jacksonville’s defense was dominant.
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Herbert was just 10-of-18 passing for 81 yards with an interception. The Chargers’ running game was held to just 2.6 yards per rush.
LA entered the game with one of the best third-down offenses in football, but converted just 4-of-15 third and fourth-down attempts. When it was all said and done, the Chargers totaled 135 yards of offense at 3.0 yards per play.
Jacksonville Jaguars running game
This game ball goes to the offensive line and the running backs. The Jaguars finished the game rushing the ball 47 times for 192 yards. Of course, the sheer volume in the run game was, to a degree, a product of being up by multiple scores late in the game.
However, it was clear from the jump that Liam Coen wanted to get this aspect of the Jaguars’ offense going and lean into it. Bhayshul Tuten averaged 4.9 yards per carry with a score. Travis Etienne would score two touchdowns, while the duo combined for 147 yards on the ground.
LeQuint Allen also averaged 4.5 yards per rush on his eight carries, and Trevor Lawrence rushed for a touchdown as well.
This ability to churn out positive gains helped keep the Jaguars’ offense ahead of the sticks, resulting in a very efficient performance on third downs, and doing so against what has been a very stingy third-down defense.
This success in the ground game also took some of the burden off the Jaguars’ passing game.