The Jacksonville Jaguars wrap up their two-week stay in London on a positive note. Trevor Lawrence and Co. earned their second win of the season, moving to 2-5 on the year after taking down the New England Patriots, 32-16.
Overall, this was a game of two major swings in the first half. From the jump, New England landed the first punch, taking a 10-0 lead at the start of the second quarter. However, the Jags not only absorbed that hit, but delivered a knockout blow of their own with a 25-0 run through the start of the second half to run away with the game.
Brian Thomas Jr. was the sparkplug of the first half comeback, scoring the team's first touchdown and then hauling in a 58-yard reception that led to their second touchdown of the day. Jacksonville not only saw the offense put up points over that stretch, but special teams also got in on the action with Parker Washington returning a punt 96 yards to the house to put them up by two scores.
While Thomas and Washington owned the second quarter, it was the Jaguars rushing attack that carried the club to rest of the way. Jacksonville leaned on the ground attack in the second half and chewed off a ton of clock in the process to help negate a true comeback attempt by New England. Tank Bigsby finished his day with two scores on the ground and 118 yards rushing on 26 carries.
On the other side, it was another encouraging showing by No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye, albeit in a losing effort. He completed 26 of his 37 pass attempts for 276 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence completed 15 of his 20 throws for 193 yards and a touchdown.
For more on how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below.
Why the Jaguars won
After a sluggish start, the Jaguars finally were able to push the ball down the field in the second quarter. Trevor Lawrence helped spark scoring drives with a couple of key chunk plays. On the club's first scoring drive of the day, Lawrence completed a 24-yard pass to Christian Kirk to help flip the field and travel deep into New England territory. On the ensuing possession, he completed a 58-yard bomb to Brain Thomas Jr. that led to another touchdown and established their lead.
Once Jacksonville jumped out in front, they simply let Tank Bigsby and the rest of the backfield cook. As a team, the Jaguars rushed 39 times for 172 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Of those 172 yards, 121 of them came in the second half, which helped them chew a chunk of time off of the clock.
Why the Patriots lost
New England looked solid out of the gate as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but didn't have the stamina or execution to hold it for all four quarters. Specifically, the defense had no answer for the Jaguars rushing attack as they were bullied on runs up the middle throughout the day. On top of their issues slowing down the ground game of the Jaguars, it was another outing by Jerod Mayo's team that was littered with penalties. In all, the team was called for seven infractions for 35 yards. Coming into this game, New England's defense was among the most penalized teams in the league when it comes to pass interference. That reared its head again on the opening drive of the second half where safety Kyle Dugger was called for a DPI call that would've set up a third-and-long situation instead of chewing over five more minutes off the clock before the Jaguars kicked a field goal.
Meanwhile, the offense had no semblance of a running game. Excluding Drake Maye's three rushing for 18 yards, Patriots backs logged 20 yards rushing on 12 carries.
Turning point
The second quarter was where things shifted in favor of the Jaguars as they scored 22 answered points to take the lead before the break. Brian Thomas Jr. was the key catalyst during this run as the rookie wideout caught the team's initial touchdown of the day and then had a 58-yard reception that put the offense on the doorstep of the red zone and helped them take the lead.
For that second quarter, the Jaguars posted 156 total net yards while the Patriots had just 18. Jacksonville was also able to convert both of their red zone trips into touchdowns in the quarter.
Play of the game
The longest punt return in Jaguars history now belongs to Parker Washington. The Jacksonville return man fielded a second quarter punt by New England inside his 5-yard line and took it 96 yards to the house for a touchdown, extending the Jaguars lead. To cap off that scoring play, Trevor Lawrence completed a pass to Brian Thomas Jr. to convert the 2-point attempt, extending the lead.
What's next
After a two-week stint in London, the Jaguars will return to Jacksonville and gear up for a Week 8 matchup at home against the Green Bay Packers. As for New England, they'll return to Foxborough and await the New York Jets.
