Instant Takeaways: Joe Burrow's Rally Falls Short, Bengals Lose to Jaguars 22-17

The Bengals had a chance to establish themselves as one of the AFC's top teams, instead they fell back to the pack.

Joe Burrow and the Bengals fell to the Jaguars 22-17 on Sunday at Paycor Stadium.

Burrow led the Bengals downfield for what would've been the go-ahead touchdown with 50 seconds left, but Chase Brown was tackled one yard short of the first down to end it. Burrow completed his first three passes on the drive and got the ball quickly downfield. The drive stalled in the red zone.

Cincinnati appeared to be on their way to taking a lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but that didn't happen.

Burrow threw an interception to Foyesade Oluokun on the second play of the fourth quarter with the Bengals just 10 yards away from the end zone. The defense held the Jaguars to a punt, but that was Cincinnati's chance to climb out of a 13-3 hole that they were in earlier in the game.

Here are our instant takeaways from the loss:

Main Takeaway

The Bengals were lifeless for most of this game. The crowd wasn't engaged because they didn't have much to cheer for. Cincinnati stayed within striking distance, pulling within 13-10 early in the third quarter, but untimely turnovers, penalties and mistakes got in the way.

Cincinnati falls to 2-2 on the season and have more questions than answers after Sunday.

Joe Burrow's Performance

Burrow completed 39-of-54 passes for 428 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was hit on the first interception while throwing and it came up short. Jourdan Lewis made the easy interception. The second one felt like a backbreaker.

The Bengals were just 10 yards away from tying the game and likely taking their first lead. Instead, Jacksonville got the ball with the lead.

Outside of the turnovers, which are impossible to overlook, Burrow played well. He hung tough in the pocket and delivered the ball with accuracy for most of the game.

Ja'Marr Chase's Injury

Ja'Marr Chase caught three passes for 27 yards before being knocked out of the game by Ventrell Miller. The Jaguars linebacker hit Chase with Jarrian Jones already making the tackle. Jones grabbed Chase's facemask and was twisting him down. Miller came in late and delivered the hit on Chase.

Chase was officially declared out with a concussion at the start of the third quarter.

Ja’Marr Cause took a monster hit here.

He walked off under his own power and is in the blue tent pic.twitter.com/e8AE28VpgG
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) October 4, 2026

Other Offense

Tee Higgins led the way on offense, finishing with 11 catches for 157 yards. He suffered what appeared to be a leg or groin injury late in the game while catching a ball on the sideline, but return to action a few plays later.

Mike Gesicki had one catch for 15 yards and a touchdown. Dohnte Meyers caught six passes (seven targets) for 67 yards.

The run game was awful. Chase Brown had nine yards on eight carries. Samaje Perine had seven yards on three attempts and Burrow had six yards on three carries and a touchdown.

Brown did have 10 catches for 62 yards, but the Bengals' run game was non-existent.

Bengals Defense

The defense was shorthanded on Sunday, playing without safeties Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger. They were also without starting nickel Jalen Davis.

Overall, they held up well enough, but couldn't get off the field late in the game to give Burrow and the offense a chance at the win. They did hold up following Burrow's ugly fourth quarter interception and got the ball back to the offense with less than two minutes left in regulation.

Missed tackles are still a major issue for this defense. Jordan Battle led the way in that department, which included a missed open field tackle on 3rd-and-18 early in the first quarter.

Up Next

The Bengals travel to Miami to play the Dolphins on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 1 p.m. ET.

Add us as a preferred source on Google