With a 30–12 win over the Jaguars, the Buccaneers get closer to winning the NFC South title.
The Buccaneers beat the Jaguars 30–12 at home thanks to two scores from Mike Evans and four turnovers by the Jaguars’ defense. In Week 17, they play at home against the Saints. In Week 18, they go to Carolina.
They are now 8-7 and have won four straight games. If they win one of the next two games, they will prevail in the division to feed the third year in a row.
The Buccaneers took a 20-0 lead once 30 minutes of play thanks to their experienced receiver and three turnovers on defense. Evans scored both his rushing touchdowns to the first half.
Evans caught seven passes and gained 86 yards on the day. Baker Mayfield, the quarterback, continued his individual hot run by completing 26 out of 35 passes for 283 yards.
While Devin White was having a rough week, he made things better by picking off a pass that led to his first touchdown and getting a half-sack.
Peace of mind Antoine Winfield registered a pick six and a sack, but his health will need to be watched after he left in the second half for a concussion assessment.
Trevor Lawrence, quarterback for the Jaguars, came back from his own concussion to start in Sunday, but he didn’t look quite right.
He threw two picks and dropped a fumble before getting hurt in the shoulder and leaving the game with the Jaguars down 30–6 in the second half.
Lawrence has been hurt for three weeks in a row—he hurt his high ankle in Week 14—and the Jaguars have lost four straight games. They now have an 8-6 record, the same as the Colts and the Texans.
Next week, they play at home against the 2-13 Panthers. Usually, that would be cause for celebration, but there isn’t much about the Jaguars at the moment that makes it seem like they’ll win any game.
“Putting it together piece by piece. Everyone is there to help each other. As Bowles’ team tries to make the playoffs for the fourth straight year, “everybody is locked in,” he said. “We’re scratching and clawing and doing everything we can.”
The Jaguars (8-7) lost their third straight game. Lawrence started but was having trouble getting into a flow after leaving the protocol on Saturday.
In the second half, the third-year player threw a touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley. However, he had to sit out the fourth quarter due to what the Jaguars said was a shoulder issue.
“It makes me mad.” He also said, “It’s really embarrassing.” Lawrence said he hurt his shoulder in a fourth-down dive that made the drive last longer, and he finished by throwing a touchdown to Ridley from 18 yards out.
“You worked hard to get ready for the game, but it looks like you don’t follow through.” Sometimes you just have to say what you think.
“Everything about it is bad,” Lawrence said. “We need to find ways to get better.” “We need to move forward.”
A week ago, Mayfield had a perfect passing grade of 158.3 in a win at Green Bay on the road. This week, he helped Tampa Bay get ahead 20-0 at halftime.
Lawrence hasn’t missed a game over his three-year career, and the Jaguars think he hurt his head while running up the middle on the team’s last drive in last week’s 23-7 loss to Baltimore.
The first pick in the 2021 draft trained on Friday, which was the initial time all week. He was allowed to play by the squad’s physicians and the league’s outside neuropsychologist before going to Tampa with the team on Saturday.
During his time at Lambeau Field, the 28-year-old turned the first player from another team to ever have a perfect passer rating (158.3). That’s 22 out of 28 passes for 381 yards, four scores, and no interceptions.