The Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots’ Week 3 showdown felt like an early taste of the AFC Playoffs when the 2026 schedule was announced. Just a few weeks into the new season, these two teams already seem headed in opposite directions: the Jags feel like a rising Super Bowl contender with a stud quarterback, while the Patriots are experiencing the dreaded Super Bowl hangover as Drake Maye continues to regress against a tougher schedule.
The Jaguars beat the Patriots, 35-6, on Sunday in a dominant performance across all four quarters. Maye was horrendous for New England, turning the ball over three times and looking like a broken quarterback throughout the game. Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence quietly executed the Jacksonville offense at a high level, finishing with three passing touchdowns and one interception while adding 182 yards through the air.
Lawrence could have had another touchdown during the fourth quarter, but he decided to take a knee instead. On a designed run, Lawrence broke multiple tackles at the line of scrimmage to find a clear path to the end zone. Instead of running it in, he opted to take a knee, which felt incredibly odd in the moment because there was nearly nine minutes left in the game. NFL fans watching the game were super confused at what just happened. Watch the play here:
Why didn’t Lawrence just score? It was only a three possession game with about nine minutes left, which is way too much time to start bleeding the clock. Imagine if the Jags fumbled on the next play, or if Lawrence somehow threw a pick-six from the end zone.
Lawrence joked after the game that he just wanted to get teammate Bhayshul Tuten a touchdown for his fantasy owners. Tuten ended up scoring on the very next play. It was a good line, but it took until the postgame press conference for him to admit what actually happened.
Lawrence said after the game that he was trying to bleed clock, but he probably made a mistake. “When I broke free and nobody tackled me, it’s something we talk about all the time potentially, going down and keeping the clock running. That was too much time (left to take a knee). … It probably wasn’t the best decision.” Watch Lawrence’s full explanation here:
This felt like a mistake in the moment. It’s refreshing to hear Lawrence admit he screwed up.
Lawrence probably could have done his offensive line a favor by just scoring rather than making them line up for a highly physical goal line snap. In the end, Tuten scored, and the Jags rolled.
No one is going to remember this moment in a few weeks, and that’s just the way Lawrence wanted it.