Trevor Lawrence runs for 2 scores as Jaguars close in on AFC South title with 23-17 win over Colts

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Trevor Lawrence took the Jacksonville Jaguars back to the playoffs with his nearly flawless work through the air.

On Sunday, he used his legs to put the Jags on the cusp of a division title.

Lawrence ran for two scores, Cam Little made a tiebreaking, 42-yard field goal with 6:58 to play, and the Jags beat the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 to move within one victory of their first AFC South crown since 2022.

“We are a very confident group. We feel like, ‘Why not us?’ We feel like it should be us,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got to go and finish the job next week. It’s a huge game — a division game to win the AFC South. We know what we have to do, and we know what we have ahead of us.”

Their celebration was put on hold for another week after two-time defending division champion Houston beat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 on Saturday. That result also eliminated the Colts (8-8) from the postseason.

Still, it didn’t diminish what the Jags (12-4) did Sunday.

Jacksonville won its seventh straight to remain one game ahead of the Texans. The Jags are also in the mix for the AFC's top seed under Liam Coen, who became the first coach to win 12 games after taking over a team that won four games the previous season.

Lawrence had a workmanlike performance, completing 23 of 37 passes for 263 yards — ending his streak of four straight games with 275 yards, two TDs and a passer rating over 100. He also threw his first interception in five weeks.

The numbers weren't important to Lawrence.

“We’ve got the confidence that when we play well, we can beat anybody,” he said. “Who cares who thinks who is the best team? We’ll actually have the chance to prove it. We’ll have our shot.”

Jackonville kept 44-year-old Colts quarterback Philip Rivers winless in three games since he returned to the league following a five-year retirement.

Indy (8-8) has lost six straight and seven of eight to become the sixth team since 1970 — and the first since the 1995 Oakland Raiders — to miss the postseason after starting 7-1.

“We were talking in there and I think the start, the hot start, is what probably makes this whole thing hurt even more,” Rivers said. “If it had been one of those kinds of back-and-forth years the whole year — you look up and you find a way to win eight, nine games and you go, ‘Shoot, just kind of a grinding kind of year.' But the fact they were at eight (wins) so soon and it's just been a tough last six-game stretch or so.”

Rivers went 17 of 30 for 147 yards with one TD and one interception. His pick set up Jacksonville's go-ahead score.

The fourth-oldest quarterback to start an NFL game relied on his wisdom to put Jacksonville in an early 10-0 hole. A long opening kickoff return by Ashton Dulin set up a field goal, and the Colts converted a Jags turnover into a 3-yard TD run from Jonathan Taylor.

Lawrence answered with a 4-yard TD run and again in the third quarter with a nifty 6-yard scoring run midway through the third quarter to make it 14-10.

Dulin's second long return, a 56-yarder, set up Rivers' 5-yard TD pass to Mo Alie-Cox that put Indy up 17-14 with 5:58 left in the third.

Then Little tied the score with a 34-yard field goal, broke the tie with his 42-yarder and extended the margin with a late 53-yarder before the Jags sealed it by intercepting Riley Leonard's final heave into the end zone.

More celebrations could be coming soon for the Jags.

“We haven’t addressed making the playoffs as a team,” Coen said. “We haven’t talked about goals, about the division, the conference, the Super Bowl, none of that. We’re focused on being 1-0 each week and keeping the mindset as singular as we can.”

Jaguars: Etienne rushed 17 times for 76 yards to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for the third time in his four seasons. ... Parker Washington caught eight passes for 115 yards.

Colts: Taylor tied his single-season franchise records for TD runs (18) and total TDs (19), matching his totals from 2021. ... The Colts lost their final three home games after winning their first six, including a game in Berlin.

Indy receiver Michael Pittman Jr. left briefly in the first quarter with a calf injury, and two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner did not return after aggravating the calf injury that kept him out the previous three weeks.

Jaguars: Can win the division title with a victory over visiting Tennessee next weekend.

Colts: At Houston next weekend to conclude their fifth straight season without a playoff berth.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers (17) throws under pressure from Jacksonville Jaguars safety Eric Murray (29) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Germaine Pratt (53) intercepts a pass intended for Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) celebrates after scoring during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) scores past Indianapolis Colts safety Nick Cross (20) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington (11) catches a pass as Indianapolis Colts cornerback Mekhi Blackmon (29) and safety Nick Cross (20) defend during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence scores past Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore (95) and safety Camryn Bynum (0) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo 's Prime Minister Albin Kurti appeared set for another term in office after his party on Sunday convincingly won an early parliamentary election in the Balkan country, preliminary results showed.

The Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party won nearly 50% of the ballots, far ahead of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo with 21%, and the Democratic League of Kosovo with nearly 14%, the state election, authorities said after nearly all the ballots were counted.

“Congratulations on the biggest victory in the history of the country,” a cheerful Kurti said after results were announced. “Now we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

The snap ballot on Sunday was scheduled after the Self-Determination party failed to form a government despite also winning the most votes in a Feb. 9 election, which led to a monthslong political deadlock.

It was not immediately clear whether the Self-Determination party has won 61 seats in the 120-member parliament to be able to rule alone. Kurti said a new parliament and a government will be formed as soon as possible.

“We don’t have time to lose and must move forward together as quickly as possible,” he said.

Hundreds of ruling party supporters gathered outside the party offices in Pristina in celebration, chanting Kurti's name.

The previous postelection stalemate marked the first time Kosovo could not form a government since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a 1998-99 war that ended in a NATO intervention.

Kosovo has not approved a budget for next year, sparking concern over the already poor economy in the country of 2 million people. Lawmakers also are set to elect a new president in March as current President Vjosa Osmani’s mandate expires in early April.

After voting Sunday, Kurti urged Kosovo’s 1.9 million voters to turn out in large numbers to grant “more legitimacy for our institutions.”

Turnout was at around 44%, according to the state election authorities.

According to Kosovo’s election laws, 20 parliamentary seats are automatically assigned to ethnic Serb representatives and other minority parties.

Opposition parties have accused Kurti of authoritarianism and of alienating Kosovo’s U.S. and European Union allies since he came to power in 2021. Kurti also briefly served as prime minister in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lumir Abdixhiku from the Democratic League of Kosovo earlier on Sunday urged voters to “move away from the gloom, the deadlock and the division that has accompanied us for these years.”

A former political prisoner during Serbia’s rule in Kosovo, the 50-year-old Kurti has taken a tough stand in talks mediated by the European Union on normalizing relations with Belgrade. In response, the EU and the United States imposed punitive measures.

Kurti has promised to buy military equipment to boost security.

Ilmi Deliu, a 71-year-old pensioner from the capital, Pristina, said he hoped the election will bring a change or “we will end up in an abyss.”

“Young people no longer want to live here,” he said.

Tensions with restive ethnic Serbs in the north exploded in clashes in 2023 when scores of NATO-led peacekeepers were injured. In a positive step, ethnic Serb mayors this month took power peacefully there after a municipal vote.

Kurti has also agreed to accept third-country migrants deported from the United States as part of tough anti-immigration measures by the administration of President Donald Trump. One migrant has arrived so far, authorities have told The Associated Press.

Kosovo has one of the poorest economies in Europe. It is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must first normalize relations.

A man folds his ballot prior to voting in early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

A couple cast their votes in early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Voters fill their ballots behind voting booths for early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Kosovo's acting prime minister and leader of VeteVendosje political party Albin Kurti casts his ballot in Kosovo's capital Pristina, Sunday Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Supporters of Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista prepare to go at a polling station and cast their ballots in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)

A voter arrives at a polling station in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)

A voter prepares her ballot at a polling station in an early parliamentary election in the northern Serb-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Bojan Slavkovic)

People walk past a giant banner of the leader of VV (Selfdetermination) political party Albin Kurti, in the capital Pristina on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People waiting in the iluminated bus station with banners of LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo) leader Lumir Abdixhiku in capital Pristina on Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)