JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars are entering a critical stretch of games over the next few weeks, and they got off to quite the good start with a Week 8 manhandling of the Indianapolis Colts.
But even with a 42-7 blowout of their AFC South rivals,
there was some good, some bad, and some in between for the Jaguars in Week 8. So, what was the good and the not so good from the Jaguars' Week 8 win? We break it down below.
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The Good
The Nate Boerkircher Pick
Nate Boerkircher caught his second touchdown in two games on Sunday, and it was a beauty. Boerkircher has five catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns since the Jaguars left for the London trip last month, and he has made the selection of him in the second-round look smarter than anyone anticipated. He isn't setting any game on fire with his receiving skills, but he clearly has the pass-catching traits to win on big plays and get designed touches in the passing game. Add in his run-blocking, and this has been a very impressive pick so far.
The Running Game
The Jaguars clearly came into this game thinking they could run the ball, which resulted in Trevor Lawrence only throwing 14 passes in three quarters. It isn't hard to see why the Jaguars leaned on the rushing game, with the unit producing 183 yards, 5.5 yards per carry, and two explosive touchdowns. The Colts only played with a light box on 19.2% of snaps, the lowest of any defense against the Jaguars this season, but the Jaguars still hammered away with relative ease.
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Second-Year Jaguars
What a day for second-year Jaguars. Let's run down the list:
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Travis Hunter was mostly avoided on defense but opened up things for a Bhayshul Tuten touchdown.
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Wyatt Milum stepped in at right guard and ... played really well!
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Rayuan Lane recorded the second-longest defensive touchdown in franchise history.
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Branson Combs recorded his first-career interception.
Jalen Huskey's Splash Play
Jalen Huskey had not seen any playing time on defense during the first six weeks of the season, but that changed in the fourth-quarter on Sunday. Huskey got some run at the end of the Jaguars' blowout and was able to record his first-career sack off a blitz call from Anthony Campanile on 3rd down, and his emotional celebration afterward says all that needs to be said about the confidence that it can give him moving forward.
The LT Spot
Walker Little allowed zero pressures
against the Colts, which means he has allowed just two pressures in his two starts at left tackle this season. The Jaguars may have lost star offensive tackle Anton Harrison for the year with a knee injury, but Little has managed to slide into the left tackle role and give the Jaguars strong play in back-to-back weeks.
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Little has proven his worth to the Jaguars in spot starts before, but he is now continuing to show that he is a critical piece of the offensive line depth chart. If Little can play like this the rest of the year, he might deserve a real shot at entering Week 1 as a starter when it comes to the Jaguars' 2027 offensive line.
Anthony Campanile's Bounceback
Have a day, Anthony Campanile. After one of the worst defensive performances from the Jaguars in the Campanile era in Week 6 against the Houston Texans, the Jaguars rebounded with one of their best against the Colts in Week 8. Almost nothing the Colts did worked in Week 8, with Campanile's pressure schemes working perfectly to force Daniel Jones into a bevy of mistakes.
Add in another week of slowing down Jonathan Taylor, and this was a vintage Campanile performance. Daniel Jones is no CJ Stroud and Keenan Allen is no Nico Collins, but it is still worth respecting after the previous performance. He is going to be a head coach one day, Duval, so appreciate him while he is here.
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The Not So Good
Davon Hamilton's Injury
This goes without saying. Davon Hamilton has been the key to the Jaguars' stellar run defense over the last two years, and now it almost feels like the Jaguars will be forced to make some kind of move at the deadline. Feeling the pressure of a must-move at the deadline
is normally not a spot you want to be in from a leverage perspective, and that doesn't even mention the fact that a trade is not guranteed to even help replace Hamilton.
With the Baltimore Ravens and Derrick Henry next up for the Jaguars, we should find out very quickly what the loss of Hamilton looks like. Still, this is a brutal result for a player who had truly hit his stride and prime at the position. Hamilton was having a Pro Bowl season, and now we will have to wait to see what happens with
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The Other Injuries
Davon Hamilton wasn't the only Jaguars player
who got banged up on Sunday, with the Jaguars also having a few other players leave the game with injury. Three other starters (Eric Murray, Ezra Cleveland, Travon Walker) sustained injuries at one point or another, and this wouldn't be good news for the Jaguars no matter what the circumstances. But in the specific situation the Jaguars are in at all three of those positions, it is far from ideal.
Antonio Johnson could be back in Week 9
after missing Week 8, but Murray would still be missed at safety since Caleb Ransaw is also injured. Rayuan Lane and Kaevon Merriweather have flashed, but safety has been hit hard this year. Then there is the offensive line, where Wyatt Milum did play well at right guard, but where they have already lost Anton Harrison and likely would not want to risk much more offensive line depth. As for Walker, he might be the team's second-best run defender after Hamilton; it is either him or Josh Hines-Allen.
The Pressures
While the Colts entered the game with one of the worst pass-rushes in the NFL and without DeForest Buckner, they still got after the Jaguars' pass protection a bit. Trevor Lawrence was sacked three times and the Colts recorded a season-best pressure rate (50%) and sack rate (13.6%). The Jaguars' pass-protection normally more than holds its own against so-so pass-rushes, but this was not the case this week.
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These were not all on the offensive line, of course. There were some plays that looked like they were on the running backs, some on the tight ends, some on the edge, and some in the interior. Outside of Walker Little, it seemed like everyone took a turn. The Jaguars will need to be better than that when they play better fronts.
Today's best reads
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/jaguars/onsi as Good, Not So Good From Jaguars' Week 8 Colts Triumph: Nate Boerkircher's Development
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