JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — If anyone could appreciate the feeling of going from the bad end of something to the opposite Monday night, it was Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd.
The Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes were at the Jacksonville 3-yard line late in the third quarter, poised to retake the lead, when Lloyd picked off Mahomes, then ran it back 99 yards down the Jaguars sideline for a game-changing touchdown.
“It was just a great call,” Lloyd said after the game. “It was a zero look, and I was able to pop out. We know the ball is coming out quick, so it’s really about me getting my eyes back and getting in the right vicinity. So, the ball was right there, thankfully, and I picked up a couple blocks. Those were big. I don’t know if I would have made it if I didn’t get those. Grateful for everybody who helped me get into the end zone.”
After picking off Patrick Mahomes, Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd races with a convoy of blockers for a 99-yard pick-six. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
The game was far from over, but an hour later, the Jaguars got another apropos touchdown, with quarterback Trevor Lawrence falling down as he tripped over a guard’s foot, struggling to get up, then diving into the end zone for the winning score with 23 seconds left. The resilient Jaguars, once down 14-0, pulled out a 31-28 win over the defending AFC champs, improving to 4-1 in a surprising start under first-year coach Liam Coen.
“Hopefully we put the league on notice, but obviously, it’s a week-by-week basis, so we can’t really look at it too far outward,” defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said. “We can only look internally, and I think defensively, we can get a lot better. Offensively, we battled our ass off, and special teams, they did a great job as well.”
Much has been made of the Chiefs being 12-0 last year in one-score games and now being 0-3 this season, but the Jaguars are the opposite side of the same scoreboard. Jacksonville went 3-10 in 2024 in one-score games, but now they’ve won three of those in a row against the Texans, 49ers and Chiefs.
“We were close, but we never finished those out,” Lloyd said. “For us, I think we always had grit, and it was more so execution. We can’t beat ourselves. I think now we’re at a point where we’re really not beating ourselves, and then … when we needed [it] most, guys stepping up, executing and making performs.”
Recreation-changing takeaways have been the Jaguars’ energy below first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. They’ve pressured opponents into 14 turnovers whereas no different NFL group has greater than 10. A 12 months in the past, they pressured an NFL-low 9 turnovers, so that they’ve gone from worst to first. Lloyd has led that cost, with a league-best 4 interceptions in 5 video games, matching his complete in his first three NFL seasons.
“A playmaker,” Coen mentioned of Lloyd. “A man that has simply gotten higher and higher day by day, and he is put it on tape via coaching camp. He is put it on tape all through the season. Actually happy with Devin as a competitor, as a pacesetter. He is someone that’s strolling across the facility with a chin up and actually assured proper now, for a motive.”
How good can the Jaguars be? Take away a Bengals landing with 18 seconds left in Week 2, and they might be undefeated. Because it stands, they’re even with the Colts atop the AFC South, and their schedule nonetheless consists of two video games in opposition to the Titans (1-4), one in opposition to the Raiders (1-4) and one other in opposition to the Jets (0-5).
Coen, employed after a single season because the Buccaneers‘ offensive coordinator, took Tampa Bay’s run recreation from the worst within the league in 2023 to a top-five dashing assault final 12 months. He is doing the identical in Jacksonville. The Jaguars’ run recreation ranked twenty sixth a 12 months in the past and now ranks fifth, led by working again Travis Etienne Jr., and the Jags have jumped from twenty sixth in scoring offense to tenth.
A group with two playoff appearances up to now 17 seasons now has a transparent path to the postseason, and a troublesome win like Monday in opposition to the Chiefs sends a message of how huge the turnaround has been in simply 5 weeks.
“It wasn’t excellent by any means, however the resiliency is de facto what I believe this group has and has continued to indicate,” Coen mentioned. “There was actually no flinch or blink once you’re down 14-0. I believe early on we’d have had a little bit little bit of vibrant eyes in a sort of huge recreation, which you can perceive a little bit bit, in some methods. However obtained down early, made an effort to return again. The blokes caught with it. … A ton of stuff to right, however the toughness and resiliency is de facto one thing I am happy with.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports activities. He beforehand spent a decade protecting the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Instances and The Athletic. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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