NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Senior writer John Oehser, senior correspondent Brian Sexton and team reporter Kainani Stevens offer quick thoughts on the Jaguars’ 25-3 victory over the Tennessee Titans in a 2025 Week 13 game at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday
John Oehser, Jaguars Senior Writer…
1. Bold statement. This was the sort of game good NFL teams win – and the Jaguars not only won Sunday, they won in steady and consistent fashion. The Jaguars entered Sunday knowing they were heavy favorites against a struggling team – with the Titans having lost six consecutive games – and also knowing a victory would mean playing for first place in the AFC South next Sunday at home against the Indianapolis Colts. That made Sunday a potentially tricky test for a Jaguars team that hadn’t registered all that many one-sided victories this season. They handled the tricky task more-than capably, responding quickly to an early Titans 3-0 lead and gaining firm control of the game by early in the second quarter. The defense was suffocating. The offense took advantage of its good drives by finishing them with touchdowns. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was solid – and “solid” described a lot about this one. Solid was what the Jaguars needed Sunday. Solid was what they got. Solid has them tied for first place in the AFC South. They’re a good team and they showed it yet again by making what was potentially a tricky game decidedly un-tricky. “You see a lot late in the year, these are kind of trap games,” Jaguars safety Andrew Wingard said. “The maturity to win last week against Arizona [27-24] in overtime was clutch, but then that just carries over to this week. “You could tell everyone was dialed. It wasn’t like, “Oh, whatever, we play the Titans.” It was like, “Okay, we play in the NFL this week.’ So that was big for us.” Onward.
2. D-Fense. It’s difficult to analyze Sunday’s game without overusing words such as steady, solid and workmanlike. Those words define much about this victory, particularly on defense. The Jaguars on Sunday played without two of their best front-seven players – end Travon Walker and tackle Arik Armstead – and they remain without safety Eric Murray. Still, after an early Titans field-goal drive, the Jaguars steadied defensively and limited Tennessee to 35 yards and no points the rest of the half. The Titans for the game produced 188 total yards and 11 first downs, with the defense registering three sacks and a takeaway. Yes, the Titans are a struggling offense – and yes, rookie quarterback Cam Ward particularly struggled for them Sunday. But good teams in the NFL take advantage of those situations and the Jaguars did just that Sunday. “Campy (defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile) just continues to do a great job in his first year as a coordinator,” Coen said. “The whole staff I thought had a really good plan, and the players executed at a high level. I thought the front and the coverage were in alignment in the back end especially, and we were able to get after the quarterback at a pretty good clip.”