The Jaguars opened the season with the kind of performance that makes a coach exhale early: a 34-10 rout of the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 13 at EverBank Stadium, built on balance, pressure and just enough cleanup work to keep the grade from getting even higher.
Trevor Lawrence was sharp from the jump, going 18 of 23 for 245 yards and three touchdowns. His 150.6 passer rating was a career high for a single game. Jacksonville scored on its first four possessions and on six of its first seven, and the offense only needed two punts all afternoon.
The run game did its part, too. The Jaguars ran it 32 times for 126 yards, while Lawrence and the passing game added 245 more through the air.
Seven players got carries on running plays or QB scrambles, eight receivers caught passes, and 10 different targets were hit. The one area that still left room for frustration was short-yardage work on third and fourth down when just 1 or 2 yards were needed.
Jacksonville converted its first two tries, missed the next three, then got one more.
On defense, the Jaguars wasted no time setting the tone. They forced a turnover on the Browns’ first possession, added another takeaway and four first-half punts, then kept the heat on with five sacks and eight quarterback hits against a mobile Deshaun Watson. The unit checked every box in the opener and played like a group that expected to control the game.
Special teams, though, was the one area that lagged behind. Kickoff coverage was a problem again after showing cracks in the preseason, and Cleveland found good field position multiple times on returns.
The longest came on a 74-yard burst down the left sideline by Raheim Sanders. Cam Little handled his end of the bargain by making all three field-goal attempts, pushing his streak to 20 straight over his last 11 games dating back to last season.
Long snapper Ross Matsicik also delivered a notable hit on a punt return.
There were a few opening-day hiccups mixed into the overall clean finish. Lawrence lost track of the line of scrimmage and was penalized for an illegal forward pass, and center Robert Hainsey jumped early for a false start.
Still, the line held up well overall despite only one player returning, Hainsey, to the same position he played last year. Jacksonville also stayed turnover-free and let Cleveland help sink itself with four penalties on a failed push for points near the end of the first half.
In the end, the Jaguars did exactly what they were supposed to do: handle a team they were expected to beat and walk away with a convincing win.
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