The Jacksonville Jaguars returned from their bye week and once again looked like one of the NFL’s best teams. 

On Sunday, the Jaguars were back playing inside EverBank Stadium for the first time since Week 3. Jacksonville welcomed the Indianapolis Colts to town. 

The Jaguars were anything but gracious hosts. 

Jacksonville showed no mercy to a depleted and rebuilding Colts team. The Jaguars dominated from start to finish. By halftime, the game was already decided, with Jacksonville up 28-0. 

By the time it was over, the score was 42-7. The Jaguars earned their fifth win of the season and now hold a three-game lead in the AFC South over the Houston Texans, who had their bye in Week 8. 

The win was Jacksonville’s first in the division. The only other game the Jaguars have played against an AFC South foe was their “home” game against the Texans in London in Week 6, which they lost 34-31. 

Now that the Jaguars have secured their first division win, hopefully they can continue to extend their lead in the South. 

Here are my five biggest takeaways from the Jaguars’ destruction of the Colts:

1. Bhayshul Tuten is terrific: With every passing week, Tuten is making the Jaguars look like geniuses for entrusting him with the RB1 job. 

Against the Colts, Tuten had 16 carries for 104 yards as well as two receptions for 55 yards. He finally got loose on his 39-yard TD run and finished the day’s scoring with a 25-yard TD catch. 

Tuten became the first player in team history with at least 100 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards, and both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. 

No wonder he is PFF’s highest-graded running back. 

2. Trevor Lawrence is a top-3 MVP candidate: Lawrence had one of the most efficient MVP-level performances of any quarterback this season. He completed 10 of 14 passes for 210 yards with three TDs and zero interceptions, though he did lose a fumble. 

Lawrence continues to play at an incredibly high level and may bring home his first MVP trophy this season. 

3. Liam Coen is a hell of a head coach: This game had all the ingredients of a trap game for Jacksonville. The Jaguars were coming off a tough loss before their bye week. The Colts had already punted on the season with their trades of Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner earlier in the week. Jacksonville has a big road game up next against the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football. 

It would have been easy for the Jaguars to overlook the Colts, but Coen made sure his team was ready and completely focused on Sunday. 

The Jaguars did exactly what contenders should do: they dominated a lesser opponent from start to finish. 

4. Jacksonville’s defense showed up in every way: Anthony Campanile’s defense gave up seven points, held superstar Jonathan Taylor to 23 rushing yards, notched four sacks, and forced three turnovers, including Rayuan Lane III’s 92-yard pick-six at the end of the first half. 

If the defense continues to play at this level, there is no team the Jaguars can’t beat. 

5. Jaguars are a top-2 team in the AFC: After eight weeks, the only team that has looked better than Jacksonville in the AFC is arguably the 6-1 Buffalo Bills. 

Other teams, like the Chiefs, Broncos, and Steelers, have been impressive, but none have been as consistently great as the Jaguars. 

Yes, the Broncos beat Jacksonville in Week 2, but I would pick the Jaguars in a rematch 10 out of 10 times.