National Football League

Jaguars maintain control of AFC South by cruising past Titans 34-14

Updated Nov. 21, 2023 1:08 p.m. ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After the Jaguars' humiliating loss to the 49ers last week, coach Doug Pederson stressed that there was no panic. Doing so, he explained, would be similar to waving a white flag.

The reality was that Jacksonville still controlled its destiny. The loss, despite being a bad one, was still just one loss.

"What I want our team to understand is you're still sitting in first place [in the AFC South]," Pederson said last week. "Everything is still right here in front of you. You control it. You put yourself in a good situation."

Now, the Jaguars have put themselves in an even more favorable situation.

Jacksonville rebounded from its blowout loss by dominating Tennessee in a 34-14 victory at EverBank Stadium. Beyond morale and getting back into the win column, the victory is important because it keeps the Jaguars (7-3) ahead of the Texans (6-4) — who beat the Cardinals on Sunday — in the AFC South.

The division rivals square off next week in Houston, the second of the season series, for first place in the AFC South entering the final stretch of the year. The Texans blew out the Jaguars in the first matchup in Week 3, winning 37-17 in Jacksonville.

That contest could also have major implications for the AFC at-large. Entering Week 11, the Jaguars were the No. 3 seed while the Texans held the seventh seed, the final wild-card spot.

"We owe them for what they did last time, for what they came in here and did to us last time," said Jacksonville tight end Evan Engram of the Texans, who've won three straight. "They're rolling right now. They're playing good football. It's going to be a big challenge for us on the road."

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence on Sunday got back on track after what he acknowledged was one of the worst games of his career last week against San Francisco. He had a season-high four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing), completing 75% of his passes for 262 yards and rushing five times for 17 yards.

He became the fourth Jaguars quarterback to surpass 10,000 career passing yards for the franchise. At 24, Lawrence is also the third-youngest player in NFL history to reach the milestone, topped only by Drew Bledsoe and Jameis Winston, both of whom were 23 when they hit the mark.

Calvin Ridley was Lawrence's favorite target on Sunday, with a team-high seven catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns. It marked Ridley's first two-touchdown game since 2020 and his third 100-yard receiving game of the season.

The Jaguars noted that Lawrence was moving better than he had in previous weeks. He's been wearing a knee brace since suffering a sprain late in Week 6 against Indianapolis.

"Just to be healthy, especially at that position, it's huge," said Engram. "That's a big part of Trevor's game — his athletic ability and his ability to extend plays and make defenses account for that. There were a couple plays where [the Titans] didn't, and he made them pay. Adding that into our offense, getting that back and getting him in a groove and feeling a lot healthier, is huge for us."

The Jaguars defense and special teams also registered takeaways on Sunday. In the first quarter, Titans rookie quarterback Will Levis couldn't secure a bad snap from center Aaron Brewer in plus territory, and the ball was recovered by linebacker Foyesade Oluokun. And early in the final period, long snapper Ross Matiscik forced and recovered a fumble on a punt return by Tennessee's Eric Garror.

The Titans are a bad team, but it's understood in the NFL that no game can be overlooked, especially ones within the division. And the Jaguars not only won, but they did so in dominant fashion after the worst loss of the Pederson era.

The Jaguars looked like a team in control of their destiny.

"It just goes to show the resiliency of our football team," said Pederson of the bounce-back win. "We've only been together a short while, but this is a resilient group. They always seem to work themselves back and fight their way back. They had a setback and they've done it. They did it again today. Hats off to the leadership of the football team and really each man doing his job.

"That's the kind of football we're capable of playing."

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.