INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Trevor Lawrence took the Jacksonville Jaguars back to the playoffs with his nearly flawless work through the air.
On Sunday, he used his legs to put the Jags on the cusp of a division title.
Lawrence ran for two scores, Cam Little made a tiebreaking, 42-yard field goal with 6:58 to play, and the Jags beat the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 to move within one victory of their first AFC South crown since 2022.
“We are a very confident group. We feel like, ‘Why not us?’ We feel like it should be us,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got to go and finish the job next week. It’s a huge game — a division game to win the AFC South. We know what we have to do, and we know what we have ahead of us.”
Their celebration was put on hold for another week after two-time defending division champion Houston beat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 on Saturday. That result also eliminated the Colts (8-8) from the postseason.
Still, it didn’t diminish what the Jags (12-4) did Sunday.
Jacksonville won its seventh straight to remain one game ahead of the Texans. The Jags are also in the mix for the AFC’s top seed under Liam Coen, who became the first coach to win 12 games after taking over a team that won four games the previous season.
Lawrence had a workmanlike performance, completing 23 of 37 passes for 263 yards — ending his streak of four straight games with 275 yards, two TDs and a passer rating over 100. He also threw his first interception in five weeks.
The numbers weren’t important to Lawrence.
“We’ve got the confidence that when we play well, we can beat anybody,” he said. “Who cares who thinks who is the best team? We’ll actually have the chance to prove it. We’ll have our shot.”
Jackonville kept 44-year-old Colts quarterback Philip Rivers winless in three games since he returned to the league following a five-year retirement.
Indy (8-8) has lost six straight and seven of eight to become the sixth team since 1970 — and the first since the 1995 Oakland Raiders — to miss the postseason after starting 7-1.
“We were talking in there and I think the start, the hot start, is what probably makes this whole thing hurt even more,” Rivers said. “If it had been one of those kinds of back-and-forth years the whole year — you look up and you find a way to win eight, nine games and you go, ‘Shoot, just kind of a grinding kind of year.’ But the fact they were at eight (wins) so soon and it’s just been a tough last six-game stretch or so.”
Rivers went 17 of 30 for 147 yards with one TD and one interception. His pick set up Jacksonville’s go-ahead score.
The fourth-oldest quarterback to start an NFL game relied on his wisdom to put Jacksonville in an early 10-0 hole. A long opening kickoff return by Ashton Dulin set up a field goal, and the Colts converted a Jags turnover into a 3-yard TD run from Jonathan Taylor.
Lawrence answered with a 4-yard TD run and again in the third quarter with a nifty 6-yard scoring run midway through the third quarter to make it 14-10.
Dulin’s second long return, a 56-yarder, set up Rivers’ 5-yard TD pass to Mo Alie-Cox that put Indy up 17-14 with 5:58 left in the third.
Then Little tied the score with a 34-yard field goal, broke the tie with his 42-yarder and extended the margin with a late 53-yarder before the Jags sealed it by intercepting Riley Leonard’s final heave into the end zone.
More celebrations could be coming soon for the Jags.
“We haven’t addressed making the playoffs as a team,” Coen said. “We haven’t talked about goals, about the division, the conference, the Super Bowl, none of that. We’re focused on being 1-0 each week and keeping the mindset as singular as we can.”
Stat pack
Jaguars: Etienne rushed 17 times for 76 yards to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in his four seasons. … Parker Washington caught eight passes for 115 yards.
Colts: Taylor tied his single-season franchise records for TD runs (18) and total TDs (19), matching his totals from 2021. … The Colts lost their final three home games after winning their first six, including a game in Berlin.
Injury report
Indy receiver Michael Pittman Jr. left briefly in the first quarter with a calf injury, and two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner did not return after aggravating the calf injury that kept him out the previous three weeks.
Up next
Jaguars: Can win the division title with a victory over visiting Tennessee next weekend.
Colts: At Houston next weekend to conclude their fifth straight season without a playoff berth.
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