The Bengals welcomed the Jacksonville Jaguars into Cincinnati for a highly anticipated Thursday Night matchup. The Bengals, on paper, are the better team, and were coming off a big win in Pittsburgh. However, injuries to key players like Jessie Bates, Chidobe Awuzie, and Tee Higgins may have evened the scale a little bit.
The game started off just how the Bengals would have liked. They forced a punt on the Jaguars’ first drive and then proceeded to drive down the field on offence. Tyler Boyd was a key player early, showing off his ability to run after the catch. Later, a nice pass from Burrow to Chase on 3rd & 12 moved the chains once again. The Bengals got deep into Jacksonville territory, but then Ja’Marr Chase was called for pass interference, leading the offence to stall out. McPherson was sent on to attempt a relatively short field goal, but missed wide left.
Getting the ball back, the Jaguars were able to take advantage of the miss. Plays of 10+ yards by Agnew, Lawrence, Robinson, and new addition Arnold helped bring the Jaguars down the field. It was James Robinson that got them into the end zone, as he scored on a 6 yard run to make it 7-0.
The next three combined drives consisted of a punt by the Jaguars and two by the Bengals. However, on the fourth drive after the game’s first score, the Jags brought it down the field once again. Plays of 10+ yard went to Dan Arnold, James Robinson, and former Bengal Marvin Jones. On 3rd & 3 from the Bengals 7, Trevor Lawrence ran the read option. He kept the ball and made a move on Hubbard to run in for the score. 14-0 Jaguars.
After a three and out by the Bengals, the Jaguars marched down the field for a third time. This was largely due to a 52 yard pass from Lawrence to Shenault that set up the Jaguars at the Bengals 10 yard line. The Bengals held the Jags to 4th down. Being on the 1, they decided to go for it. Trevor Lawrence attempted to run it into the endzone, but Logan Wilson and Larry Ogunjobi combined to make a HUGE stop.
The two teams went into the half with the Jags up 14-0. Jacksonville seemed to have all momentum, and the Bengals could only hope that their goal line stand to close the half would help spark something.
Well, it seems like it did, as the Bengals came out firing in the 2nd half. Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase deep down the left sideline for 44 yards and only a couple of plays later, CJ Uzomah for a 22 yard TD. This cut the lead to 14-7.
After a three and out by the Jaguars offence, the Bengals offence produced another impressive drive. Now utilizing more runs to the outside, Joe Mixon had some solid runs, and the Bengals OL was responding well to the zone blocking scheme. With Mixon picking up yards and Tyler Boyd making a few catches, the Bengals soon found themselves on the Jacksonville 1. Joe Burrow called his own number and QB sneaked it in for the TD. However, further review indicated that he was just short. On the next play, it was the other Joe that ended up running it in. Mixon’s score tied it up at 14.
The game didn’t stay tied long, however. Lawrence hit Agnew for 27 yards, with Agnew making a nice toe drag catch. After a sequence of short gains, he hit Shenault for 20 yards, which got them down to the Cincinnati 6. To open the 4th quarter, Trey Hendrickson came up with a big sack, however, Vonn Bell was called for holding, giving the Jags a new set of downs. On the next play, Robinson ran it in for the 4 yard TD. 21-14 Jaguars.
With the pressure back on the offence to answer, Joe Burrow took the field. Short pickups by Uzomah, Boyd, and Mixon got the ball to midfield before Ja’Marr Chase added on another 19 yards with two catches. On the next play, now facing 3rd & 3 from the Jacksonville 31, the play started to break down. Luckily, Burrow was able to direct traffic and CJ Uzomah was on the same page with his QB. Uzomah broke off his route, following Burrow to the left side of the field. The pass was completed and Uzomah ran it in for a 31 yard TD, his second of the game. For a second time, the Bengals tied it up. 21-21.
Looking to respond, Trevor Lawrence hit some quick passes to Marvin Jones and Shenault. However, once they got near midfield, the drive stalled out. Cooke punted the ball back to the Bengals. It went out of bounds at the 10, which is where the Bengals would begin their next drive.
This drive started with 5:33 left on the game clock. It was a very slow drive, with Burrow carefully picking apart the defence. However, it was a mistake by the Jaguars that might have been the biggest help. Burrow was sacked on 3rd & 1, but a holding call on the defence extended the drive. After a Carman false start put the Bengals back 5 yards, Burrow found Samaje Perine, who was able to pick up 15 yards for the 1st down. The clock continued to tick and the Bengals eventually found themselves in the Jaguars 46 yard line with 1:09 left. It was 2nd & 13. The Jags called an all out blitz, and Burrow audibled to seemingly the perfect play call. It was a quick screen to, you guessed it, CJ Uzomah. He took it 25 yards to the Jacksonville 21.
A few plays later, Even McPherson was sent out to attempt the game winner. It was a 35 yarder that he nailed down the middle as time expired.
It was an epic comeback by the Bengals. While the anemic first half was a cause for some concern, the fight they showed in the second half was equally impressive.
Now sitting at 3-1, the Bengals will have some extra time to prepare for when the Green Bay Packers come to town next week.
Modified Homescreen Image Via: Erik Drost (CC)