Stampede Blue
In Week 14 of 2025 our Indianapolis Colts will travel to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars. Knowing the party was hitting the road, I sat down with Gus Lodge of Big Cat Country, SB Nation’s Jaguars blog. You can find him on Twitter @gus_lodge or @duval22dotcom. We swapped questions and answers about both the Jaguars and the Colts and what follows is what I’ve learned about this week’s enemy.
You can find my answers to his questions here.
Chris Shepherd: If you believe the headlines, Trevor Lawrence is bad, Brian Thomas Jr. is a bust and Liam Coen is a cornball most well known for his inability to pronounce the word “Duval” like a normal human (maybe this one’s true?). Yet, they’re 8-4, in first place in the AFC South. What is going right for the Jaguars this season and what does everyone “get wrong” when discussing this team?
Gus Lodge: My first instinct was to call Lawrence the most misunderstood element of the Jaguars. I don’t blame casual fans for thinking that he isn’t franchise quarterback material, but anyone who watches closely should be able to see that Lawrence has always elevated the team far more than he’s limited it. This year’s passing game recently found its footing thanks to the Jakobi Meyers trade deadline acquisition, as Brian Thomas Jr. couldn’t handle the slot role in Liam Coen’s offense and Travis Hunter’s development as a receiver started slow. Lawrence absolutely has to cut down on turnovers and be more consistent in general, but he did have a pretty perfect game last week in Tennessee. He’s good, I swear.
With that off my chest, I do think Coen is the most misunderstood part of the Jaguars. He’s known nationally as an offensive wizkid who’ll occasionally have an odd comment (have you seen what he said this week?). But the dude can coach. The Same Old Jaguars reappeared this season in collapses in Weeks 2 and 10, but time and time again, Coen rallied the troops and responded. His first season as head coach has been a win, no matter how it ends. Team owner Shad Khan said in reference to the hires of Urban Meyer and Trent Baalke in 2021, “This time, I got it right.” Jags fans ridiculed the statement for years. On this swing, Khan’s bat connected. The fact that Coen is a Football Guy through and through hasn’t quite been reflected by national media, but it’s what has this team at 8-4.
Chris Shepherd: The Jaguars defense has faced the fewest rushing attempts in the league this season. Is this front seven so good that teams have been unwilling to try their luck or has this been a product of game situations dicating opponent play calling?
Gus Lodge: *Like most binary questions, the answer falls somewhere in the middle. Jacksonville ranks eighth in average time of possession when excluding overtime (31:33), so they’ve naturally faced a high rate of dropbacks as teams try to come...
