The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the New England Patriots, 35-6, in Week 3. It was a rough day for Drake Maye and the Patriots, but so many things went right for the Jaguars they barely knew what to do with themselves.
The Jaguars have been a good team since head coach Liam Coen took over. They went 13-4 last season before losing to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs. They won their last eight games of the regular season in 2025, and six of those games were decided by at least two touchdowns. Their one loss this month came against a solid Denver Broncos team on the road. Their last loss to a non-playoff team came in Week 2 last season.
You’d think they’d be used to winning by now, but quarterback Trevor Lawrence proved there’s always room for improvement when he took a knee at the 1-yard line on Sunday, Sept. 27. The Jaguars held a 28-6 lead, but there were still more than 8 minutes remaining in the game. Asked about it later, Lawrence could only laugh as he admitted the analytics would disagree with his decision.
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“People will probably be all over it online”
— Jason Hamby (@Jason_Hamby14) September 27, 2026
Trevor Lawrence on taking a knee at the 1 to keep the clock running with 8 minutes left. @ActionSportsJax pic.twitter.com/Ln79q4nyse
“When I broke free and no one tackled me, it was just something we talk about all the time, potentially, in those situations. Like going down, keeping the clock running. That was too much time. I saw looking at the clock after, oh, there’s eight minutes left. So it was probably unnecessary there, but just trying to eat as much clock as possible. They used a timeout after that,” Lawrence said, per Jacksonville TV producer Jason Hamby on X.
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Liam Coen reacts to Trevor Lawrence’s knee
Lawrence had already accepted that the analytics people would disagree with his decision. And his coach was right there with them. When Coen was asked about the knee, he joked that Lawrence just wanted to give someone else a touchdown before confirming that, “no,” it was not what he was supposed to do in that situation.
Liam Coen on Trevor’s knee on the one-yard line with 8 minutes to go.
— Action Sports Jax (@ActionSportsJax) September 27, 2026
“I think he just wanted to give a touchdown to somebody else.” 🤣#Jaguars #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/AOz4AYhBQo
Lawrence was so locked into running out the clock that he completely lost track of the time. That may sound silly, but what a great problem to have. Players are always praised for their unselfishness when they do this late in the game. When you’re rolling like the Jaguars were rolling against a truly bad team, this might have been the right play. It certainly worked out for the Jaguars and it’s difficult to question anything that happened on a drive that ended with a touchdown. Jacksonville running back Bhaysul Tuten scored on the play after Lawrence knelt.
If anything, this proves the Jaguars might be too dominant. With the Texans losing again in Week 3, Jacksonville is in a position to coast to another division title.
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