The Jacksonville Jaguars did exactly what needed to be done three weeks ago. They regrouped. They had a reset. A refocus.
Going across the pond gave them an opportunity to have a change of scenery, a new chapter.
And that chapter reads "2-0".
After losing both games at home this season, first to the Kansas City Chiefs and the second to the Houston Texans (which continues a six-year losing streak at home to the Texans dating back to October 21, 2018), the Jaguars went to their home-away-from-home to London and won both of their contests there, the first versus the Atlanta Falcons and the latter against the Buffalo Bills.
Those two victories gives Jacksonville an above .500 record in London at 6-5 all-time.
Now, it is time for them to defend their outright home.
The Jaguars began the game down 3-0 to AFC South rival Indianapolis Colts, the team that they defeated in Week 1 in their only true road game of the season thus far, 31-21. Indianapolis took over eight minutes off the first-quarter clock on their game-opening drive and Jacksonville's first drive went seven-plus minutes.
That Jaguars' drive served as a positive response, with the team scoring within 33 seconds of the second quarter, taking their first-quarter drive into the end zone on a carry by running back Travis Etienne, Jr., for two yards up the middle to give the Jaguars their first lead of the day, 7-3, at the 14:17 mark.
On the first play of their next drive, the Colts would lose possession on a strip-sack by linebacker Josh Allen that was recovered by defensive end Angelo Blackson just outside the Colts' redzone, at their 22-yard line.
As it took one play for the defense to take possession, it took just one play for the offense to return to the end zone, with a direct snap going to Etienne, who took the carry 22 yards to paydirt for his second touchdown of the game, and the teams overall second score, moving the Jaguars further ahead, 14-3, just 16 seconds after their first score.
inside six minutes before the break, former Jaguars' starting quarterback who now is starting in the absence of rookie starter Anthony Richardson, Gardner Minshew found running back Jonathan Taylor wide open in the field on 3rd-&-5, with Taylor going down the left sideline for a 40-yard gain to the Jaguars' 30.
On the very next play, linebacker Devin Lloyd would get his hands on a pass from Minshew, but did not come up with the interception.
Free safety Andre Cisco would finish what Lloyd started, getting a key interception on the play immediately after, returning the ball from his own redzone 22 yards forward to the Jacksonville 35-yard line.
On their fifth drive of the first quarter, Jacksonville completed a third-down play, a seven-yard pass from Lawrence to wide receiver Calvin Ridley on 3rd-&-6, bringing the team to 50% efficiency on third down in the first half, at 3-for-6.
The next play ended in "glory territory" when Lawrence linked up with wide receiver Christian Kirk who had gotten well ahead of his defender. Kirk caught the ball, turned and saw where he was in relation to the left sideline, and remained inbounds for the 29-yard score to advance the Jaguars out to a 21-3 lead with 1:40 remaining in the first half.
Indianapolis would not, however, leave the first half without another score, with Minshew going 3-for-6 and the team moving down the field to the Jacksonville 38-yard line, setting up a 56-yard attempt by kicker Matt Gay, who had no issue sending the ball through the uprights to make it 21-6 Jacksonville at EverBank Stadium at the half.
A completion by Lawrence to rookie tight end Brenton Strange for 17 yards, that was the play that moved the Jaguars to the Colts' two-yard line, helping to set up the score by Etienne on the next play, gave Lawrence 34 yards on the day and moved him past Jaguars quarterback alum Byron Leftwich for fourth all-time in franchise history in passing yards; Lawrence moved to 9,046 passing yards in 40 regular-season games, passing Leftwich's 9,042 passing yards in 46 regular-season games.
After punting the ball away to begin the second half, Jacksonville's defense returned the ball to the offense on a ball that came right to strong safety Rayshawn Jenkins, who gathered the interception on Minshew and returned the ball 24 yards from his own 37 to the Indianapolis 39-yard line.
The Jaguars scored off of this turnover by the Colts when kicker Brandon McManus cashed in from 48 yards away to bring the score to 24-6 Jaguars at the 10:44 mark of the third quarter. With this score, Jacksonville had added points coming off of all three of the turnovers created by their defense, with two touchdowns and this field goal.
Jacksonville linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson would sack Minshew for a loss of four yards on the next Indianapolis drive, setting up 3rd-&-11. Fellow linebacker Foye Oluokun would tackle Taylor for a loss of one yard on the following drive, forcing a punt by the Colts on 4th-&-12.
The Jaguars would move down the field on offense to score after this punt by the Colts, when Lawrence surveyed the field, looking left, then middle, and then right, sending the ball to a wide-open Strange for Strange's first-ever touchdown in the National Football League (NFL), this a 10-yard score to make it 31-6 Jaguars with 3:51 remaining in the third quarter.
Indianapolis would go for it on two fourth-down situations on their following drive, the first a 4th-&-7 pass from Minshew to wide receiver Alec Pierce that achieved double the amount of yards needed on a 14-yard pass play, and the latter a 4th-&-2 pass from Minshew to rookie wide receiver Josh Downs in the end zone for the team's first touchdown of the day.
After going 0-for-2 to start that drive, Minshew finished 6-for-6, getting the Colts to double-digits, down 31-13, with 14:14 to play in the game.
The Jaguars first turnover of the game would come with 13:29 remaining, when Lawrence was intercepted by rookie cornerback JuJu Brents at the Jaguars' 40-yard line.
But the defense would intercept the ball to get it back to Lawrence when cornerback Darious Williams got in front of wide receiver Michael Pittman, Jr., in his own end zone to prevent another score by Indianapolis. This takeaway moved Williams' streak to three-straight games with an interception, returning one against quarterback Desmond Ridder for a score overseas in London versus the Falcons and grabbing one a week agao against Buffalo Bills' quarterback Josh Allen.
The offense, for the first time in this contest, would not score following a turnover, with the Jaguars punting the ball back to the Colts.
Minshew would guide Indy to two-straight first downs on the ensuing possession and the Colts would get into the end zone on just four plays, with running back Zack Moss running the ball over the threshold for a three-yard score to make it 31-20 Jaguars with 7:14 to go. On this drive, Minshew's back-to-back first downs were on pass attempts that both went to tight end Kylen Granson, the first for 45 yards and the second for 21.
McManus would connect from 40+ once again when he scored on a 49-yard field goal on the next possession for Jacksonville, extending the Jaguars out to a 14-point lead, 34-20, with 4:50 remaining in the contest.
The Jaguars had -14 yards in 19 seconds on four plays on their next drive, but McManus would still get the team points when he nailed a 51-yarder to expand Jacksonville's lead to 17, 37-20, with exactly three minutes left on the game clock.
With his team ahead by three scores, Lawrence was announced around the two-minute warning as having a knee injury and was questionable to return.
Minshew would go 1-for-3 on the next drive for the Colts and would be sacked by defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris and linebacker Travon Walker for a loss of nine yards on this drive, all culminating in a turnover on downs.
Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard would come in in victory formation to secure the 37-20 victory for the Jaguars, who are now 3-0 in their last three games, and 4-2 overall.
This also marks the first win for the Jaguars at home in EverBank Stadium this season, now 1-2.
The Colts are now 3-3, and have their first road loss of the season, currently at 2-1 away from home.
On Offense:
Lawrence finished 20-for-30 for 181 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.
Former Jacksonville, now Indianapolis starting quarterback Minshew ends this game 33-for-55 for 329 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.
Etienne had 55 of the Jaguars' 85 yards on the ground, averaging 3.1 yards per carry on 18 carries, with two rushing touchdowns.
Moss led all Colts with 21 yards on seven carries (3 yards per carry), with one rushing touchdown.
Taylor had 19 yards on eight carries (2.4 yards per carry).
Jacksonville tight end Evan Engram caught all seven passes thrown his way, including one with just his right hand by the sideline, gaining 41 yards.
Kirk would lead Jacksonville with 49 yards on three catches, one of those catches for a touchdown.
Pittman led all receivers on both teams with 109 yards on nine catches, targeted 14 times by Minshew.
Granson had three catches for 67 yards for the Colts.
On Defense:
Linebacker Foye Oluokun led all defenders on both teams in total tackles (15) and solo tackles (10).
Linebacker Zaire Franklin led all Colts in total tackles (9) and solo tackles (6).
The Jaguars would end the game with three sacks: Allen (1), Chaisson (1), Robertson-Harris (0.5), and Walker (0.5).
Indianapolis would also have three sacks: Defensive end Samson Ebukam (1), defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (1), and defensive end Tyquan Lewis (1).
Andre Cisco, Rayshawn Jenkins, and Darious Williams each had an interception for the Jaguars.
Brents was the lone Colt with an interception in this game.
On Special Teams:
McManus was 3-for-3 on field goals and 4-for-4 on extra points.
Gay was 2-for-2 on field goals and 2-for-2 on extra points.
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