JACKSONVILLE – The Jaguars are alone in first place.

And if that doesn't immediately earn the respect of the NFL-watching world, they're OK with that. More than OK, actually.

Travis Etienne Jr. rushed for two touchdowns, Trevor Lawrence threw two more and the defense turned in another front-line performance – and the Jaguars took sole possession of first place in the AFC South with a dominant, impressive 36-19 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in front of 60,067 on a cold, wet December afternoon at EverBank Stadium Sunday.

"Our guys took control of the moment," Head Coach Liam Coen said.

The Jaguars (9-4) won their fourth consecutive game – and their 11th consecutive home game against the Colts (8-5), who lost a third consecutive game and fourth in their last 5. The Jaguars lead the Colts by a game in the division, with the third-place Houston Texans (7-5) visiting the Kansas City Chiefs (6-6) Sunday night.

Jaguars players afterward spoke of a collective "chip" about by a perceived lack of respect despite their first-place status and a four-game winning streak.

"I just think for our team, anything you can use as fuel, you use it," said Lawrence, who – like Etienne – accounted for two touchdowns in a first half dominated by the Jaguars, who led 14-7 after a quarter and 28-10 at halftime.

Lawrence threw touchdown passes to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers in the first quarter Sunday and wide receiver Tim Patrick in the second.

"We know it doesn't really matter what anyone says on the outside, but you use all that as fuel," Lawrence said. "We all feel like we're a really good team and probably don't get the credit we deserve. Everybody talks about every other team. Even in our own division, it's all these other teams that are going to go win the division and do all these things.

"Nobody really cares about the Jags, which is fine. It's just how it is. We'll use that as a chip on our shoulder and keep playing."

Etienne, who led the Jaguars with 74 yards rushing on 20 carries Sunday, gave the Jaguars a 7-0 lead with a first-quarter, 3-yard touchdown run and extended the lead to 21-7 with a 28-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

"At the end of the day, I feel like no one likes us except for us," Etienne said. "We're not going to get the respect. We kind of don't even care. As long as we know we have a tight locker room, we can go out and take it. There's no better feeling than being disrespected and having an extra chip on your shoulder and playing with an extra edge.

"It gives you extra motivation each and every Sunday. No one's going to just paint us as the person to go win it all. We have to go out there and take it and I love that."

The Jaguars forced 3 turnovers, with 2 leading to first-half touchdowns, and held Colts running back Jonathan Taylor to 74 yards rushing. The Jaguars entered Sunday ranked No. 1 in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing 82.4 yards per game and 3.9 yards per carry. Taylor entered leading the NFL in rushing at 106.3 yards per game.

"That's the kind of football team that we are right now is having the ability to go stop the run," Coen said.

Lawrence completed 17 of 30 passes for 244 yards and 2 touchdowns with 0 interceptions, with wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. leading the Jaguars with 3 receptions for 87 yards.

An interception by Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd, his team-high fifth of the season, set up Etienne's first touchdown. Cornerback Jarrian Jones' second-quarter fumble recovery set up Etienne's second rushing touchdown.

Colts starting quarterback Daniel Jones left in the first half with an Achilles injury after completing 5 of 7 passes for 60 yards and no touchdowns with 1 interception. Colts backup quarterback Riley Leonard completed 18 of 29 passes for 145 yards and 0 touchdowns with 1 interception.

Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen registered a fourth-quarter sack for a safety, and cornerback Greg Newsome II intercepted Leonard in the fourth quarter –plays that capped a dominant victory.

And if that victory doesn't earn the Jaguars respect, Coen made clear that's fine.

"I don't think it helps," he said. "I've heard the rat poison before. Everybody loves you when you're doing well and then you're always going to find something. Our guys just keep finding ways to get a little bit pissed and go play their tails off and execute at a higher level."

2025 Week 14, Step by step:

• Etienne's 3-yard run capped a 4-play, 21-yard drive and gave the Jaguars 7-0 lead with 10:39 remaining in the first quarter; Lloyd's interception that set up the score came off Jones on the Colts' first play of the game. Taylor's 1-yard run capped an 11-play, 76-yard drive on the ensuing possession and tied the game, 7-7. Lawrence's 14-yard pass to Meyers capped a 5-play, 74-yard drive on the ensuing possession and gave the Jaguars a 2:27 lead; Thomas' one-handed, 39-yard reception on third-and-5 gave the Jaguars a first down at the Colts 30 to set up the touchdown.
• Etienne's 28-yard touchdown run with 12:52 remaining in the second quarter turned the Colts' second turnover of the first half into a 21-7 Jaguars lead, coming 1 play after Jones' fumble recovery. Colts kicker Blake Grupe's 28-yard field goal cut the lead to 21-10 with 4:54 remaining in the second quarter. Lawrence's second touchdown pass of the game – a 7-yarder to Patrick – gave the Jaguars a 28-10 lead with :07 remaining in the second quarter and capped a 12-play, 55-yard drive that began when defensive end Travon Walker stopped Taylor for a loss of 1 yard on fourth-and-1 from the Jaguars 44.
• Grupe's 36-yard field goal capped an 8-play, 56-yard drive on the second half's first possession and cut the lead to 28-13 with 9:57 remaining in the third quarter.
• Jaguars kicker Cam Little's 35-yard field goal with 14:05 remaining capped a 12-play, 71-yard drive and pushed the lead to 31-13. Hines-Allen's sack/safety with 6:57 remaining made it 33-13, Jaguars, and Little's 48-yard field goal on the drive following the ensuing free kick pushed the lead to 36-13 with 4:41 remaining. Leonard's 6-yard run cut the lead to the final margin with 1:51 remaining.

Notable: Walker returned Sunday after a two-game absence with a knee injury after being questionable on the injury report entering the weekend; the Jaguars' seven inactive players Sunday were: Starting wide receiver Parker Washington (concussion), starting left tackle Walker Little (concussion), tight end Johnny Mundt, defensive tackle Austin Johnson, defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, linebacker Yasir Abdullah and starting safety Andrew Wingard (concussion). Starting safety Eric Murray also played after being activated from injured reserve Saturday.

Jaguars injury report: The Jaguars reported no injures Sunday.