They’ve been playing NFL football for 106 years now and no one – not even Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or Roger Staubach – has ever achieved in a game what Trevor Lawrence pulled off last weekend.
Do the math. Go back to the Papa Bear origins, when the league began in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA), and there’s been something like 88 million games, give or take a few.
Yet never until now has a player passed for 300 yards and 5 TDs, plus rushed for 50 yards with another touchdown in the same game. Sure, it was against the New York Jets. But it still counts.
No, this doesn’t mean the sizzling Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback is a “generational talent” fit to be cloned.
Generational. That’s what they called Lawrence when he came out of Clemson as the No. 1 pick overall in 2021 and, well, that description didn’t quite work out. It turned out to be the term that symbolized the prolific over-hype for Lawrence, who proceeded to take so many lumps like other human quarterbacks on the NFL learning curve.
If there’s a term that fits about now, just call him hot. Lawrence, 26, is playing the best football of his pro career. The past three games, the lanky, 6-6 thrower has tossed nine touchdowns and for the first time has gone three games in a row without a turnover. And he’s put up triple-digit passer ratings in three straight games for the first time.
Of course, it’s not just Lawrence. The Jaguars (10-4) have won 10 games for the first time since 2017 and ride into Denver with a five-game winning streak. While the defense leads the league against the run and has produced more takeaways than any team besides those pesky Chicago Bears, Trevor and Co. have gone seven consecutive games with at least 25 points.
And they’re in first place in the AFC South. Who knew?
When I visited the Jaguars in training camp, energetic new coach Liam Coen – who lasted just one season as the Bucs offensive coordinator until some people (Shad Khan, Tony Boselli) plucked him away and handed him the keys – stood on the practice field and demonstrated to me some of the mechanics key to his agenda for Lawrence. Stuff about footwork, torque and motion. I remember thinking: If nothing else, this dude will get his point across.
“Very intentional with how he talks to the staff, the players, all of us as a team,” Lawrence, named AFC Offensive Player of the Week, said during his Wednesday press fest. “You can tell it’s very directed. He knows what he wants to say and the message he wants to get across, and there’s no gray area.
“And then I’ve talked about the way he expresses himself and the passion and you can feel it coming from him, and I think that’s something that guys have really latched onto. That makes guys want to follow him because you can see it.”
Something is clearly working. In the case of Lawrence, who previously worked with Urban Meyer and Doug Pederson, the connection with Coen is increasingly showing up, too, with the nuances for managing the game at the line of scrimmage.
Coen said, “I think he’s more comfortable doing it and we’re able to attack people a little bit differently than maybe we were early on.”
Said Lawrence: “I feel like I’m seeing it really well…Guys are making plays, we’re trusting each other and it’s been fun. So, we should keep it rolling.”
The milestone game allowed fresh examples of Lawrence’s growth. Now comes perhaps the stiffest test yet as Lawrence gets set for his 75th NFL start on Sunday at Empower Field. What a reward after such a banner performance. The Broncos lead the NFL with 58 sacks, on pace to threaten the NFL record (72) set by the magnificent 1985 Bears. This underscores just how much of a hunted man Lawrence will be amid all of that noise and altitude in the Mile High City.
Jacksonville, though, comes off back-to-back games without allowing a sack and has had an NFL-high five sackless games this season.
That protection, too, is about to get a major litmus test.
“It’s not just the group up front, it’s the whole defense, every level,” Lawrence said of Denver’s unit.
Lawrence hasn’t played much meaningful football this time of year since arriving in the NFL. He won a playoff game under Pederson in his second season, but last year the Jaguars finished 4-13. His rookie year, they were 3-14.
Now the division title is in sight, with the Jaguars engaged in a three-way battle with the Texans (9-5) and Colts (8-6). Meanwhile, the Broncos (12-2) are carrying an NFL-best 11-game winning streak while trying to nail down the AFC West crown and No. 1 seed.
“Yeah, it’s a big game,” Lawrence said. “When you put yourself in position like we have and obviously like the Broncos have…every game is huge at the end of the year, which is where you want to be.”
Survive Denver and maybe another term will apply for Lawrence: street cred.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell