Ben Arthur

AFC South Reporter

Call it a signature second for Trevor Lawrence. 

The Jaguars quarterback led an excellent 10-play, 75-yard recreation successful drive Sunday as Jacksonville topped Baltimore in a Week 12 thriller at dwelling. Lawrence threw with surgical precision on the sequence, stored alive by his fourth-and-5 conversion to receiver Marvin Jones. He accomplished 7-of-9 passes for 91 yards and a landing on the possession, plus the game-winning two-point conversion to receiver Zay Jones. 

Sunday’s showdown in opposition to the Ravens had the whole lot, too. Drama. Pressure. Seven lead adjustments. A star quarterback on the opposite facet in Lamar Jackson. A contest that went all the way down to the wire. And Lawrence delivered for a franchise that has traditionally fallen quick in these kinds of video games; one which has been a laughingstock in NFL for years. 

It begs the query: Has Lawrence, the 2021 No. 1 general choose who got here to Jacksonville with excessive expectations, lastly arrived? Has he cemented himself as a real franchise quarterback of the longer term? 

It’s changing into more and more troublesome to argue in opposition to that notion. 

Inconsistency, his largest knock, has been nonexistent over the previous month. 

Since Week 9, Lawrence has arguably been one of the best quarterback in soccer, finishing 76.8% of his passes (83-of-108) for 815 yards and 6 touchdowns with zero interceptions. 

“It’s a step in the right direction, you know?” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson mentioned Sunday. “I would say these last three games or so, he’s really done a really nice job with our system and our offense. Even a game like (Sunday), again, it wasn’t a perfect game, but statistically speaking, I think he had a pretty good game and took care of the football. He’s heading in the right direction.”

Although Lawrence’s previous three video games are a small pattern measurement, you need to consider all the opposite optimistic strides he is made this season.

He received his first profession AFC Player of the Week award in Week 3, the spotlight of a scorching two-game span when the Jaguars received back-to-back video games in dominant style, with Lawrence finishing 76.8% of his passes for 497 yards and 5 touchdowns with zero interceptions.

Lawrence has had six video games this season with a passer score over 100, after only one such recreation as a rookie. His drastic enchancment is plain. 

Look at a numerical comparability between the primary 11 video games of every of his first two seasons:

2021: 231-of-398 (58%) for two,369 yards and 9 touchdowns with 10 interceptions and a 72.3 passer score

2022: 256-of-385 (66.5%) for two,655 yards and 16 touchdowns with 6 interceptions and a 93.6 passer score 

Lawrence’s clutch efficiency in opposition to the Ravens marked a big step ahead within the former No. 1 general choose’s improvement. It’s as a result of the inconsistency that has outlined his younger profession has usually confirmed up in these sorts of moments: situational soccer, the place the execution must be at its finest. 

There was the Eagles recreation in Week 4, when Lawrence had the ball in his palms — with an opportunity to guide a game-tying drive and pressure extra time — solely to lose a fumble on the primary play of the Jaguars’ final sequence. There was Week 5 in opposition to the Texans, when Lawrence made an ill-advised throw inside the ten and was intercepted in the long run zone by Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. There was Week 8 in opposition to the Broncos in London, when he was once more picked off in the long run zone after telegraphing a go on the aim line by security Justin Simmons. 

Entering Week 12, Lawrence ranked thirty second of 34 certified quarterbacks in Expected Points Added per dropback within the purple zone — whereas being ranked fifth in EPA per dropback all over the place else on the sector, in response to TrueMedia. (EPA is a sophisticated metric that quantifies the worth added to a play, taking into consideration numerous elements, together with down, distance and subject place.)

As of Monday, Lawrence is tied for seventh in general EPA/dropback with the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, who’s seen as an MVP candidate. 

“This guy throws an incredibly good football and he’s smart and he sees the field, and he can make all the throws,” Pederson mentioned Sunday. “You’re just seeing that. You’re just seeing that execution with him and that maturity with him.”

After topping the Ravens, after the good efficiency that reminded the NFL world why he was considered a generational expertise popping out of Clemson, Lawrence did not essentially feed into the frenzy about the best way he performed.

“I’ve always been this guy,” Lawrence mentioned Sunday. “I haven’t always played my best every week, and that’s going to happen sometimes, but I really love the direction that this offense, this team is heading, and we feel really good about who we are, but I’m the same guy.”

Being the “same guy” has him on observe to being a game-changing quarterback — in due time. 

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He beforehand labored for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, the place he was the Titans beat author for a yr and a half. He lined the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for 3 seasons (2018-20) previous to shifting to Tennessee. You can comply with Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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