The Jaguars have taken two more steps toward the playoffs over the last two weeks and they’ve done it in impressive fashion.
They followed up a 42-7 humiliation of the Colts in Week 8 with Thursday night’s 33-10 rout of the Ravens on the road. Blowouts are nothing new for the Jags as they have outscored their opponents by 108 points over their eight games this season and their 6-2 record has them well positioned to win the AFC South.
Winning another division title is not the team’s goal, however, and linebacker Foye Oluokun focused on that when he spoke to reporters on Thursday night.
“You win and it feels great. We can’t let wins mask stuff,” Oluokun said. “You’ve always got stuff to improve. I’ve been here a while, went through winning, winning, winning, and one season, we let a lot slide because we were winning. So we got to keep learning in wins and stuff because it’s all about who’s playing the best in December and then we make that run [in] January and February. We got to keep improving all the way through the year, get the advantageous situation going into the playoffs.”
The Jaguars hosted a playoff game after winning 13 games in 2025, but they were bounced out of the postseason by the Bills. Oluokun was on the field during that game and avoiding a similar outcome will be front and center as he tries to keep the Jaguars’ focus in the right place while they are running roughshod over weaker clubs.
Jaguars Clips
Trevor Lawrence has so much talent for the quarterback position that if freshmen could declare for the NFL draft, Lawrence probably would have been the first overall pick in 2019, when he had just led Clemson to a national championship as a true freshman. Instead, Lawrence stayed three years at Clemson and was the first pick in 2021, viewed as a sure-thing quarterback prospect.
In Year 6, Lawrence finally looks like everything he was supposed to be.
Lawrence is having by far the best year of his NFL career, with career-high stats across the board that are constrained only by the fact that the Jaguars win so many blowouts that Lawrence doesn’t throw many passes in the fourth quarter.
So far this season, Lawrence has completed 146 of 224 passes for 1,932 yards, with 18 touchdowns, four interceptions and an NFL-leading passer rating of 111.7. Project Lawrence’s totals to a 17-game season, and he’s on pace to finish with 4,106 yards, 38 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Those are MVP numbers.
Lawrence’s rookie year was a disaster, as he led the league in interceptions while playing on a chaotic Jaguars team coached by Urban Meyer, whose only foray into NFL coaching lasted less than one season. Lawrence and the Jaguars got a lot better once they kicked Meyer to the curb, but even in the next three years with Doug Pederson, an offensive coach with a Super Bowl-winning pedigree, Lawrence didn’t live up to the pre-draft hype.
Playing in Liam Coen’s offense, something has changed. Last year the Jaguars went 13-4, winning double-digit games for the first time since drafting Lawrence, and this year Lawrence and the Jaguars are even better. Lawrence’s average of 8.6 yards per pass is the best of his career by almost a yard and a half, a remarkable improvement for any quarterback to make in his sixth season.
Lawrence has thrown touchdown passes on 8 percent of his attempts, the best in the NFL this season and by far the best mark of his career. And after getting sacked a career-high 41 times last year, Lawrence has gotten much more comfortable reading the pass rush in his second year in Coen’s offense and has only been sacked 13 times this season.
Lawrence’s numbers would look even better if the Jaguars weren’t so often taking their foot off the gas late in games because they’re blowing opponents out. Lawrence has 1,196 yards and 12 touchdowns in the first halves of games this season, but he only has 736 yards and six touchdowns in the second halves of games.
The Jaguars currently have the fourth-best odds to win the Super Bowl, and Lawrence has the fifth-best odds to win MVP. That might be underselling them, and him. The Jaguars may just be the best team, with the best quarterback, in the NFL right now.
No NFL team is dominating opponents like the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After blowing out the Ravens 33-10 on Thursday night, the Jaguars have now outscored their opponents by a cumulative score of 229-121 this season. That’s a point differential of +108, by far the best in the NFL.
The team with the second-best point differential in the NFL is the 49ers, at +58. The Jaguars’ point differential is 50 points better than the next-best team.
At 6-2, the Jaguars do not have the best record in the league, as the Bills, 49ers and Vikings are all 6-1. The 49ers are favored to beat the Raiders and improve to 7-1, and the Bills and Vikings play each other on Monday night, so the winner will be 7-1.
But at the midway point of the season, point differential is a better indication of a team’s quality, and a better predictor of a team’s future success, than win-loss record. That’s because with as small a sample size as half a season, a few plays in a few close games can skew the won-loss record, but a few plays don’t skew point differential. Historically, the teams that prove to be the best over the course of a season are the teams that win some blowouts, even if they also lose some close games.
Winning blowouts and losing close games is exactly what the Jaguars do. Both of the Jaguars’ losses were one-possession games that were tied in the fourth quarter, while the Jaguars’ wins have included some massive blowouts: The Jaguars’ 35-point win over the Colts was the biggest blowout of this NFL season, their 29-point win over the Patriots was the fourth-biggest blowout in the NFL this season, their 24-point win over the Browns was the seventh-biggest blowout in the NFL this season, and Thursday night’s 23-point win over the Ravens was the 11th-biggest blowout in the NFL this season.
The Jaguars have won four games by more than 21 points this season; no other team has more than one win by more than 21 points.
Jacksonville has a 3.5-game lead in the AFC South, and six of the Jaguars’ nine remaining games are against opponents with a losing record. They’re poised to run away with their division, perhaps earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and maybe blow some teams out in the playoffs just like they have in the regular season.
The Jaguars didn’t eat the cheese. They didn’t overlook the Ravens.
Jacksonville cruised to a 33-10 victory, moving to 6-2. Baltimore lost its fourth consecutive game to fall to 4-5.
Without starting quarterback Lamar Jackson and backup Tyler Huntley, and with undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano making his first start, the Ravens’ game plan was simple: Run the ball and shorten the game. They didn’t stand a chance despite 34 runs and 19 passes and a slight edge in time of possession (30:45 to 29:15).
The Jaguars won for the eighth time by 20-plus points since the start of last season.
The Ravens didn’t have a first down in the second half until Justice Hill ran for a 65-yard touhdown with 7:15 remaining. Baltimore ended with three first downs in the second half and 10 for the game.
The Jaguars outgained the Ravens 319 to 227, and the visitors forced Baltimore into three turnovers. Jourdan Lewis and Montaric Brown each had an interception of Fagnano, and linebacker Jalen McLeod forced and recovered a fumble by LaJohntay Wester on a kickoff.
Fagnano finished 10-of-18 for 60 yards and two interceptions. Hill had nine carries for 85 yards, and Henry moved up to seventh on the NFL’s all-time rushing list with 57 yards on 17 carries.
Lawrence went 16-of-26 for 242 yards and a touchdown. Jakobi Meyers had four catches for 65 yards; rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher caught two passes for 61 yards; and Parker Washington had two catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Bhayshul Tuten had 12 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown, and Ameer Abdullah had seven carries for 30 yards.
Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton was injured in the second quarter and briefly returned after halftime. His night, though, is finished.
The Ravens ruled out Hamilton with a hip injury.
He has three tackles, including a tackle for loss, and a pass defensed.
The Jaguars lead 23-3 in the fourth quarter after Cam Little’s second-half field goals of 45 and 47 yards.
The Ravens had 25 yards and no first downs in the third quarter and have only 126 yards and seven first downs for the game.
The Ravens were hanging . . . until they weren’t.
Baltimore was within one score with less than 2 minutes to play in the first half. But Parker Washington beat Malaki Starks, and after a bobble of Trevor Lawrence’s pass, secured the catch and raced 50 yards for a touchdown with 58 seconds left in the half.
The Jaguars lead the Ravens 17-3 at halftime.
The Ravens started undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano with Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley on injured reserve. They opened the game with Derrick Henry in the wildcat and called seven plays out of the formation.
The Ravens had 17 runs and 12 passes as they shortened the half. Henry had 12 carries for 51 yards and threw a pass that lost 3 yards.
Zay Flowers had two rushes for 16 yards and two catches for 2 yards.
Fagnano, who lined up at quarterback for only 12 plays, was 7-of-11 for 30 yards.
The Jaguars outgained the Ravens 223 to 101, with Lawrence going 9-of-15 for 197 yards and a touchdown.
Running back Bhayshul Tuten, who was questionable to play with ankle and foot injuries, scored a 1-yard touchdown on the team’s opening drive. He has 22 yards on eight carries.
Jakobi Meyers has four catches for 65 yards, with Washington adding two for 61 and rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher one for 52.
Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun leads the Jacksonville defense with six tackles and a sack.
The Ravens held the ball for 17:31 of the first 30 minutes.
The Jaguars didn’t waste any time in showing off on national television.
They took the opening kickoff and moved 77 yards on seven plays, with running back Bhayshul Tuten scoring from the 1 on third down. Tuten was questionable to play with ankle/foot injuries.
It was the only third down the Jaguars faced on the drive.
Trevor Lawrence was 3-for-4 for 72 yards, including a 52-yarder to rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher. Boerkircher got lost by the defense as Lawrence rolled to his right to avoid pressure.
Lawrence also threw a 16-yard pass to Jakobi Meyers.
Tuten has two carries for 5 yards.
The Jaguars will have running back Bhayshul Tuten and defensive end Travon Walker for Thursday Night Football against the Ravens.
Both players are active after being questionable on the final injury report.
Walker has a rib injury and Tuten injured his ankle/foot last week.
Walker has played in every game, seeing action on 330 defensive snaps. He has totaled three sacks, seven quarterback hits, one pass defensed and 18 tackles.
Tuten has played 241 snaps in seven games, totaling 125 touches for 673 yards and six touchdowns.
The Jaguars’ inactives are wide receiver CJ Williams, cornerback Alijah Huzzie, safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and defensive end Wesley Williams.
The Ravens’ inactives are quarterback Kedon Slovis, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, offensive lineman Emery Jones Jr., defensive lineman Aeneas Peebles, cornerback Nate Wiggins (stinger/illness) and safety Jaylinn Hawkins (knee). Slovis is the emergency third quarterback, meaning Austin Reed, who the Ravens signed on Monday, will be the No. 2 quarterback behind Joe Fagnano.
Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley are officially on the Ravens’ injured reserve list.
It’s been known for a few days that both quarterbacks were headed to the list and the moves were announced ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Jaguars. Huntley is going to miss the rest of the season with a toe injury and Jackson may be out for the rest of the year as well. He is set for surgery on his right thumb after being injured early in last Sunday’s loss to the Bills.
Huntley was injured a short time later, which led to Joe Fagnano’s regular season debut. He’ll make his starting debut against Jacksonville and Austin Reed will be on hand to back him up. Reed signed to the practice squad this week and the team announced that he’s now been signed to the active roster. They also signed Kedon Slovis off of the Packers’ practice squad this week.
The makeup of the quarterback room is set to change again next week. The Ravens are finalizing a trade with the Cardinals that will bring Jacoby Brissett to Baltimore.
In addition to the quarterback moves, the Ravens also elevated kicker Jake Moody and linebacker Adisa Isaac from the practice squad for Thursday night.
Bill Belichick fell short of the necessary votes to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026, but he may have another chance in 2027.
The Hall of Fame announced the five coaches who have advanced to the next round of consideration in the current selection process. One of those coaches will be selected for consideration by the full selection committee ahead of the Super Bowl.
Belichick is joined by Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Dan Reeves, and Mike Shanahan. All five coaches also advanced to this point in the selection process last year. This is the fourth time that Holmgren has advanced to this point.
Don Coryell was the last coach selected for the Hall of Fame. He was part of the Class of 2023.
