JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For his 25th birthday, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence gave his team its first victory of the season -- and gave himself a present, too: his first victory in nearly 11 months.
Lawrence threw for a career-high 371 yards and two touchdowns and led the Jaguars on their final drive to set up Cam Little's game-winning 49-yard field goal to beat the Indianapolis Colts 37-34 at EverBank Stadium.
"It's a good birthday," Lawrence said, then corrected himself. "It's a great birthday."
It was a cathartic performance for Lawrence, who hadn't thrown for more than 220 yards in the first four games of the season and hadn't surpassed 300 yards since he threw for 364 in the Jaguars' 24-21 victory at Houston on Nov. 26, 2023. That was also the last time Lawrence won a game as a starter. He had gone nine consecutive starts without a victory. (He missed the Jaguars' victory over Carolina on Dec. 31, 2023, with a shoulder injury.)
This was also the best the Jaguars' offense had looked all season. Jacksonville had scored just 60 points -- including 20 last week -- and only topped 300 yards twice in its first four games. The Jaguars put up 497 yards against the Colts, which was the most they've had since they had 503 in an overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 18, 2022. It's the most yards they've had in regulation since they had 507 in a 34-27 loss at Carolina on Oct. 6, 2019.
"I think it's always good to use these games to build confidence," Lawrence said. "It gives you confidence in the forward. I think for myself and for the team, just even the way the game went. Obviously we were in control and it got crazy at the end. I thought it was good for us to continue to deal with the adversity and to find a way to finish when things didn't go perfect at the end of the game.
"First win of the season was tough and it came down to the very end and we had to earn it."
Lawrence completed 82.4% of his passes against the Colts, the third-best completion percentage of his career, and the only blemish was an underthrown pass to receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in the end zone that got intercepted. Lawrence also hooked up with Thomas on an 85-yard touchdown pass and a 61-yard pass to receiver Christian Kirk on a drive that eventually ended with his 4-yard TD pass to tight end Brenton Strange.
"I always say nobody deserves it more," Kirk said of Lawrence. "He weathers the storm, he doesn't blink and we all have the confidence in the world that he's going to come out here and have one of those games. I'm thankful that he did and when he does, good things happen for us. I know it's great for him and his confidence and for the confidence of the team, that he's going to lead us and get us to where we want to go."
Sunday's performance will certainly dull some of the criticism on Lawrence after the rough start to the season, but it won't completely go away until he puts together a string of solid performances. That was what he did in the second half of the 2022 season to lead the team to the playoffs and the first half of the 2023 season before he was hit with multiple injuries.
"That stuff doesn't matter," Lawrence said. "You can't listen to the good or the bad. So, I do think stuff that does get through, and I'm sure there's a lot of questions. What's going on with the Jags? What's this? What's that? After four weeks, good, we'll use it as a chip on our shoulder and have that 'us against the world' mentality and bring us closer together."
That showed up in the locker room after the game when the players sang "Happy Birthday" and doused Lawrence with water after one of the best games of his career. And one of the best in NFL history for a quarterback on his birthday: Only David Woodley (408 yards) and Brett Favre (390) have thrown for more yards on their birthdays than Lawrence.
"Got some momentum now, and we've got to take it and run with it and try to get another one more week," he said.