Jaguars 40, Cowboys 34: Rayshawn Jenkins' Walk-Off Pick-Six Puts Jacksonville Over
As Rayshawn Jenkins ran into the north end-zone at TIAA Bank Field, an eruption of joy could be felt all over Jacksonville.
Jenkins, with his second interception of Dak Prescott of the game, returned it 52 yards in overtime to give the Jaguars a thrilling 40-34 victory after the Jaguars fell behind 27-10 earlier in the game.
24 second-half points helped the Jaguars and quarterback Trevor Lawrence put away the Cowboys for the most emotional win in Jacksonville in the era of Shad Khan's ownership. It showed the Jaguars get off the mat time and time again, punching back until Jenkins served the final knockout blow.
Lawrence finished the game with 27-of-42 (64.3%) passing for 318 yards and four touchdowns, along with one interception and one fumble. He ended the game with a 109.0 rating, helping the Jaguars fight back and score a tying field goal after getting the ball with just a minute.
The Jaguars were able to force the Cowboys to punt on the first drive thanks to a split-sack from Arden Key and Foley Fatukasi, while Darious Williams provided exceptional coverage on third-down. The punt was the first opening-drive punt the Jaguars had forced since Week 9 vs. the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jacksonville then got off to a good-looking drive of their own, picking up first downs through the air and the ground before a Travis Etienne fumble near midfield put them in a hole. It was Etienne's second fumble in three weeks and his third lost fumble this season, while officially being his fifth total fumble.
The fumble opened the way for Dallas to be the first team to put points on the board, this time via a 10-yard rushing score from Ezekiel Elliot. Jacksonville's offense failed to match the score, going three-and-out on the subsequent drive after Micah Parsons beat Brandon Scherff for a sack.
Dallas took advantage on the next drive, marching down the field on a 10-play, 69-yard drive that ended in a 20-yard touchdown pass to backup tight end Peyton Hendershot with Josh Allen in man coverage.
Jacksonville finally made their counterpunch to start the second quarter, though. Etienne bounced back from his fumble with a pair of tough runs and a big gain on a screen, while Jamal Agnew picked up 22 yards on two carries. The nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive ended with a five-yard touchdown to Zay Jones, his second score in the last two weeks.
Josh Allen recorded his fifth sack of the season, and his second in the last two weeks, to force a third-down on the following drive but Dak Prescott was able to surgically carve up the middle of the field to keep the drive going.
Jacksonville ended up doing plenty of bending and breaking to end the drive, which culminated in a one-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Noah Brown to give the Cowboys their third-consecutive touchdown drive and take a 21-7 lead.
The defense offered no resistance to Prescott in the first-half, allowing him to go 15-of-16 for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Other than two sacks, the Jaguars' defense failed to put up a fight.
Jacksonville attempted to close the gap to open the second-half after a first half that saw Etienne's fumble and a critical drop from Christian Kirk end two earlier drives. Kirk picked up 30 yards on an impressive downfield play to get the Jaguars downfield to open the drive, which ended in a 33-yard field goal by Riley Patterson to make it a 21-10 game.
Dallas continued to pick on nickel corner Tre Herndon on the following drive, with Herndon being beat for gains of 39 and 22 by CeeDee Lamb. Dallas ended up settling for a 24-yard field goal to take a 24-10 lead, but the Jaguars' three points to open the half had been negated.
Then disaster struck. For the first time in 204 passes -- and the first time since Week 8 -- Lawrence threw an interception, lofting a deep pass to Kirk that was picked off by DaRon Bland in Jaguars territory. The interception led to a Cowboys field goal to put the Jaguars in a 27-10 hole.
Lawrence made up for the mistake in a big, big way. After a big run by Etienne, Lawrence found Zay Jones for a 59-yard touchdown, his longest touchdown throw of the season to close the game to a 27-17 lead. The pass hit Jones perfectly in stride, and it wasn't all the Jaguars had left in them.
The next two plays for the Jaguars' defense turned into two of the biggest of their season: a first-down sack of Prescott by Arden Key followed by a Rayshawn Jenkins interception of Prescott, Prescott's first mistake of the day.
After a 30-yard gain from Agnew on a reverse, Lawrence once again worked his magic again and completed a 10-yard touchdown to Marvin Jones Jr. for his third touchdown pass of the game, drawing the Jaguars within three.
The Jaguars forced a huge punt on the next drive before a 16-yard carry from Etienne and a 27-yard catch from Kirk put the Jaguars in scoring position. Kirk's catch was particularly impressive, extending full length near the sideline to haul in the deep pass.
Lawrence finished the drive with his fourth touchdown pass of the day, a three-yard strike to Zay Jones. It was Jones' third touchdown of the day and Lawrence's eighth in the last two weeks, also marking Lawrence's first-ever game with four passing touchdowns.
Dallas made things look easy on the next drive, though, consistently picking up 3rd-and-shorts on a seven-minute drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Brown, Brown's second catch of the game.
Jacksonville got the ball with roughly three minutes left in the game and, at first, it looked like fate was on their side. Several big first down conversions later and the Jaguars were seemingly set to enter field goal position after a long Lawrence scramble ... before Lawrence fumbled at the end of the play, his second turnover of the day.
The Jaguars managed to get a much-needed defensive stop and only had to use two timeouts on the next drive, getting the ball back for Lawrence and the offense with just a minute left on the board.
That was all the Jaguars needed, though. Big completions to Kirk, Engram and Zay Jones brought the Jaguars into field goal territory, with a 48-yard kick by Patterson sending the Jaguars into overtime.
A Jawaan Taylor false start kept the Jaguars from moving the ball to open overtime, however, and the defense was then quickly put on their heels by a 21-yard Tony Pollard run.
But it didn't matter. Jenkins' second pick of the game was the nail in the coffin, improving the Jaguars to 6-8 for their second win in a row.
Stats of the Game (12/18/22 vs. the Cowboys) Via: @theryanmichael
Rayshawn Jenkins produced a career-high 14 total tackles and a career-high 2 interceptions, including a game-winning pick-six in overtime.
Trevor Lawrence finished the game 27 of 42 (64.3%) for 318 passing yards (7.6 YPA), 21 rushing yards (339 total yards), 4 touchdown passes, 1 interception, 1 lost fumble, 1 sack and a 109.0 passer rating.
Lawrence’s 4 touchdown passes were a career-high. That brings to his touchdown total for 2022 (passing + rushing) to 28.
With 318 passing yards, Lawrence (7,161) eclipsed 7,000 for his NFL career.
Lawrence notched his 9th career win—defeating opposing quarterbacks: Dak Prescott, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Matt Ryan, Tua Tagovailoa, Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz and Derek Carr.
Lawrence’s 109.0 passer rating was his 9th game of 105.0+ over his last 15 games.
Zay Jones led the team in receiving yards (109) and set a career-high with 3 touchdown receptions.
Foyesade Oluokun led the NFL with 102 solo tackles heading into today’s game and added 9 more to bring his season total to 111.
Photo via Chris Leduc.
