The Jacksonville Jaguars are 12-4 and riding a seven-game winning streak, but it took beating Denver for Jonathan Jones to believe in them. The CBS Sports analyst admitted on Sunday that the national media haven’t given Jacksonville enough credit during its run, acknowledging he needed to see the Jaguars beat a legitimate playoff team before he was convinced they were for real.

Jones made his comments after Jacksonville beat the Colts 23-17 to inch closer to clinching the AFC South. Trevor Lawrence went 23-of-37 for 263 yards with no passing touchdowns and an interception, but he scored twice on the ground and converted key plays with his legs to keep Jacksonville’s seven-game winning streak alive. It was the kind of performance that wouldn’t typically convince national analysts that Jacksonville is a threat, except Jones had already been convinced the week before when the Jaguars went to Denver and snapped the Broncos’ 11-game winning streak.

“I want to say because maybe we in the national media haven’t given the Jaguars enough love as they have gone on this run,” Jones said. “After last week’s run, I was like, ‘OK, I believe in the Jacksonville Jaguars now.’ Once they beat the Denver Broncos, it’s like, ‘Yeah, OK, I’ve seen it now.’ Maybe not against the Colts and maybe not against some of the other teams they faced and beat handily, but last week did it for me.”

“We in the national media haven’t given the Jaguars enough love”@jjones9 says he believes in the Jaguars pic.twitter.com/c1dAH3Dl6K

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 28, 2025

The Denver win was different than everything else Jacksonville had done. The Broncos hadn’t lost at home in over a year and had won 11 straight games. They were 13-3 and one of the best teams in the AFC. Lawrence threw three touchdown passes and ran for another in a 34-20 Jacksonville win that snapped Denver’s winning streak. That’s what convinced Jones the Jaguars were legitimate, not beating the Colts on Sunday or blowing out inferior teams earlier in the streak.

Jacksonville has been dealing with significant injuries all season. Travis Hunter, their No. 2 pick, has been out since early in the year. Running back Bhayshul Tuten missed Sunday’s game. Lawrence has compensated by making plays with his legs when the passing game stalls. Against Indianapolis, he scored on runs of 4 and 6 yards after falling behind 10-0, giving Jacksonville a 14-10 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Late in the fourth quarter, he converted a fourth-and-1 that effectively sealed the win. Those plays don’t show up in a pedestrian passing stat line, but they’re why Jacksonville is 12-4.

“I will allow Trevor Lawrence to have a mistake. I’m OK with that,” Jones said. “I’m also OK doing it when [Bhayshul] Tuten is out for this game, so they’re down a running back. Let’s not forget, they’re also winning these games when they’re down their No. 2 pick in Travis Hunter. And, yeah, it wasn’t necessarily working out, but things might’ve caught flames just a little bit. So they’re down a guy that should be contributing in the pass game, and they were down a running back, and Trevor Lawrence is getting it done with his legs.”

Jacksonville converted third downs consistently against Indianapolis, extending drives and wearing down a Colts defense that couldn’t get off the field. Indianapolis has been eliminated from playoff contention for weeks, but the Jaguars still needed to grind out a division road win to clinch the AFC South.

“The thing that stood out to me, while Trevor Lawrence didn’t have an amazing statline, 7-of-14, the Jaguars were on third down,” Jones continued. “So they just kept extending the drives. So that will wear out a good defense, right? That they just couldn’t get off the field. So, credit to the Jaguars. I believed in them after last week. I will allow Trevor Lawrence to have a mistake against a good defense.”

Jones believes in them now. Whether the rest of the national media follows suit depends on what Jacksonville does in the playoffs, but beating Denver forced everyone to at least pay attention.