Jags 27 @ Bengals 31: Post Game Recap

No way to sugarcoat it, the Jaguars blew this game. They had a ton of chances to win this game and just couldn't get it done. Joe Burrow left the game early with an ankle injury at the 8:36 mark of the 2nd quarter and Jake Browning came in and carved up the Jaguars defense when it mattered most. He fed Jamar Chase the ball and the Jags defense had zero answers for it. Chase ended the day with 14 receptions for 165 yards and a TD. The Jaguars defense did manage to force 3 Jake Browning INTs on the drives they weren't getting sliced and diced by the Bengals. Unfortunately the offense, outside of a lone short TD drive, wasn't able to do anything in the second half.

The offense was a complete mess for a lot of the day. It's a modern miracle that they were able to even put up 27 points on this Bengals defense. Trevor Lawrence had two first half INTs (almost 3) that were probably only half his fault but still not great decisions. The first one came in the red zone with a chance for Jacksonville to take a commanding 14-0 lead against a Bengals team that came out flat. He was looking left to try and float a ball over the corner to Travis Hunter but Walker Little got beat badly on the play, Lawrence got hit trying to throw it, and the underthrown ball went straight to the corner instead. The second one the Jags again had a chance to drive the ball down the field and take a two score lead. Lawrence looked for Brian Thomas Jr on an in breaking route down the middle of the field where Thomas Jr stopped is route and Lawrence threw the ball out in front of him, missing BTJ and ending up with the safety. Lawrence made a bad read on the play thinking he was getting man and BTJ would continue the route. Instead Thomas Jr stopped and then never made an effort on a ball that he did deflect because he saw a hit coming. Lawrence shouldn't have thrown the ball the way he did but if you're Brian Thomas Jr you simply can's sell out your quarterback like that. The wide receivers were bad all day. Dyami Brown also dropped a ball in the end zone that would have given the Jags a late 31-24 lead. Instead the Jaguars had to settle for 3 which ultimately cost them the game.

The defense had far more positives on the day than the offense but still weren't awesome when it mattered. They almost gave the Jaguars a 14 point lead after the first Lawrence INT on a strip sack of Burrow but it was determined during replay that a ball that never once travelled forward was instead a forward pass. The Bengals would go on to score tying the game 7-7. The did manage to pick Browning off 3 times but on the drives they didn't force turnovers the corners had no answer for Jamar Chase. The Jaguars pass rush also only managed to sack Browning once in the 2nd half after getting 2 on Burrow early. Another thing to note is that Josh Hines-Allen remains sack-less on the year after two straight weeks of bad O-lines. The Jaguars will desperately need him to get going soon if the defense wants to take the next step.

All in all a rough day for the Jaguars who should be 2-0 right now. We'll see how quickly Coen can get this squad to regroup as they take on the Texans next week in a game they will need to win to not fall behind in the division early. Still have a ton of faith in a team that still looks better than last year despite the loss. Back to Jacksonville next week for a home game against Houston. As always player spotlight tomorrow, Wednesday QB battle, and Friday game preview. Thanks for reading!