Big Cat Country
The Jacksonville Jaguars went on the road for the first time under Liam Coen, traveling to Ohio to face the Cincinnati Bengals. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence falls to 0-3 in the state with Doug Pederson and Urban Meyer both going 0-1 with a 2021 loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati and the 2023 loss to the Browns in Cleveland. Similar to the 2023 loss to the Bengals, Jacksonville was unable to hold onto a late lead, losing in the final moments to Bengals backup QB Jake Browing, with Joe Burrow leaving the game early.
Here’s everything you need to know from Jacksonville’s Week 2 31-27 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Live blog:
Catch up on all the big plays and best moments from tonight’s game in our live blog!
Pregame Notes:
The following Cincinnati players did not participate in this one: Bengals RG Patrick Lucas was placed on IR on Tuesday due to a calf injury suffered last week. Otherwise, Cincinnati was reasonably healthy on Sunday with WR Jermaine Burton a healthy scratch for the second consecutive week, with CB Marco Wilson, TE Cam Grandy, DT McKinnley Jackson, and DT Howard Cross III.
For Jacksonville, second-year defensive tackle Maason Smith was active for the first time this season after being inactive in week 1 while continuing to ramp up his conditioning. He spent much of the preseason out due to an undisclosed training injury. Additionally, the team was without CB Montaric Brown, who continues to work his way back from his training camp ankle injury. Rookie OL Wyatt Milum was ruled out on Friday due to his training camp knee injury. DL Danny Striggow, DL B.J. Green III, DT Khalen Saunders Sr, and the recently signed RB Cody Schrader were all healthy scratches this week.
1st Quarter
Jacksonville opened with the ball first, with Dyami Brown converting the opening drive third-and-three with an 18-yard gain. Brian Thomas then secured his second catch of the drive with an 18-yard first down reception. Jacksonville wrapped up the 11-play, 69-yard, 4:09 touchdown drive with a Dyami Brown 9-yard touchdown catch from Lawrence. (Jaguars 7, Bengals 0)
The Jacksonville defense opened up a dominant first series, nearly causing a second down fumble of Bengals QB Joe Burrow, which was reviewed by Liam Coen unsuccessfully. The Jacksonville defense then forced a punt on the following play via an Andrew Wingard pressure, resulting in a Foye Oluokun sack of Burrow.
The Jacksonville offense continued having success on the following series with multiple quality rushes by RB Bhayshul Tuten, who later completed a 24-yard reception to get Jacksonville in scoring range. Parker Washington then completed an incredible jump-ball 20-yard contested completion, before Lawrence was hit on third-and-goal attempt from the 8-yard line resulting in an interception. The Bengals offense then woke up, putting together a 12-play, 80-yard, 4:45 drive off the turnover, capped by a third-down four-yard Jamar Chase touchdown on Tyson Campbell. (Jaguars 7, Bengals 7)
2nd Quarter
Jacksonville would answer the turnover with their own touchdown...
