JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – This one was big for Urban Meyer.
Bigger and more emotional than most victories than he’s been a part of. Bigger and more emotional than victories with much more at stake.
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The Jaguars needed a win in the worst possible way. Riding a 20-game losing streak that was inching toward Tampa Bay’s incredible NFL record of 26 straight, the Jaguars finally won a game. It happened Sunday morning in London, a 23-20 walk-off win over the Dolphins when Matthew Wright kicked a 53-yard field goal at the wire.
And it couldn’t have happened at a more pivotal time.
When asked if it was more emotional than any of Meyer’s three national championships in college, he didn’t hesitate to put Sunday’s win up there.
“I think it was, maybe even including some of those big ones,” Meyer said.
Entering the bye week winless would have been alarming for a franchise, and an owner, who were expecting so much more than what’s been delivered. At 1-5, the Jaguars aren’t favorites to chase a playoff berth quite yet. But one win could be the trigger to much, much more.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence is getting much better every game out. He performed very well against the most pressure that he’s faced all season. While Wright’s winner made the highlight reels, it was Lawrence’s plays late that put the Jaguars in position for their first victory of the season.
After the Jaguars went backwards on two plays, Lawrence muscled up. He hit Laviska Shenault for a 12-yard gain to set up a fourth-and-8 with five seconds to play at the Dolphins 44. No way Meyer was going to let Wright try a 61-yard field goal. It was either a Hail Mary or a quick pass to try and pick up a first and get in field goal range. The problem was the time.
How could the Jaguars get the yardage they needed and still leave time on the clock to try and field goal?
Lawrence found Shenault on a quick slant over the middle, gaining nine yards and getting the timeout called with a second to go. The Jaguars call the play the “slider” play and they’ve been working on it for months.
“I think we practice that’s more than I’ve ever done that myself personally. We started that all the way back and OTAs,” Meyer said. “We did it all training camp. We do it once a week, twice a week during the week. And that’s usually one of the things you work on,”
Trevor Lawrence has also been working on his situational play. Red zone, third-down, and as was put to the test on Sunday, end of half plays as well.
“It’s a work in progress. It’s something that I think when you see his development, I think his involvement in everything is gonna be important for me, it’s how much I trust him already,” Meyer said of Lawrence.
Meyer no doubt felt that pressure to deliver, saying after a loss to the Titans in Week 5 that the team was “desperate” for a win. That statement came after a personally challenging time for Meyer and the organization. His actions in his Columbus, Ohio restaurant after the Week 4 loss to the Bengals brought embarrassment to the team, Meyer and owner Shad Khan.
So, positive attention after so much scrutiny, much of it self-inflicted, brought a welcome exhale for Meyer.
He said it was pure joy and celebration of winning in the locker room, not one of relief for not losing for the first time in 399 days.
“No, it was a celebration to win. We’re not at that point yet [of cheering not losing]. I’ve been in those situations where, no, this is celebrate, it was a celebration of overcoming some, we talked about a back and forth game,” Meyer said.
“And I know Miami has some injuries too and they’re going through some stuff, too, but their quarterback played his heart out. Tua played his heart out. And our guy, obviously Trevor, that was two really good quarterbacks playing against each other.”