Eagles 29, Jaguars 21: Trevor Lawrence Turns It Over 5 Times in a Meltdown Game
The Jacksonville Jaguars had a chance to arrive on Sunday. To prove they were ready to be considered one of the NFL's best.
But just like on some of the most critical plays of the game, the Jaguars fumbled away their chances, losing 29-21 to the Philadelphia Eagles to drop to 2-2 as Trevor Lawrence turned it over five times.
After the Jaguars started the game with a three-and-out, the defense was able to get on the board early with a game-changing play. Slot cornerback Darious Williams managed to deflect a second-down Jalen Hurts pass, sending it into the hands of second-year safety Andre Cisco.
Cisco, who now has two interceptions on the season, returned it 59 yards for a touchdown, the first touchdown of his career and the first defensive score of the season for the Jaguars so far. The interception was Jacksonville's ninth takeaway (seven interceptions, two fumbles) this season, already tying their mark from a year ago.
Jacksonville got to a 14-0 lead on the Eagles in the first quarter after forcing a punt and then marching on an eight-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a four-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Lawrence to Jamal Agnew.
Things went south for the Jaguars in a big, big way in the second-quarter, though. Whether due to the windy and rainy conditions that potentially led directly to multiple bobbles, fumbles and missed kicks, or due to the merits of a still young and growing team, the Jaguars fell into a hole.
The second quarter was unkind for both Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville's defense, though it is tougher to say for who. Lawrence missed Jamal Agnew deep that would have put the Jaguars up 21-0 before then fumbling it while running out of the pocket on 4th-and-3 from the Eagles; 34-yard line.
This was just one of three fumbles from the Jaguars in the first half, and the first of two fumbles Lawrence would lose. James Robinson fumbled earlier in the half before it was recovered by Christian Kirk, but Kirk and Tim Jones also went on to deal with issues due to the wet ball.
Lawrence's second fumble came after Travis Etienne had a nine-yard run that looked at first like a first-down. With the Jaguars instead needing a yard, they asked Lawrence to run a quarterback sneak, but the second-year passer fumbled the snap and allowed the Eagles to recover their second turnover of the day.
The Eagles trounced the Jaguars' defense after the fumbles, rattling off 15 first downs in the second quarter alone as they picked up 163 yards on 24 plays. This included 96 yards rushing, with Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell and Hurts all scoring on rushing touchdowns in the second quarter.
The Jaguars got a slightly lucky break when Jake Elliott failed to make an extra-point attempt following their third touchdown, but the 20 answered points made a big statement going into halftime. A statement big enough that the Jaguars still struggled out of the gates in the second half, with Lawrence taking a sack and underthrowing a pass on the first-drive of the second-half.
Jacksonville's defense responded in a big way when they needed them the most. Shaquill Griffin made a clutch tackle of Sanders on a play where he evaded several tackles and cut-back across the field for a potential touchdown. Then Adam Gotsis deflected a Hurts third-down pass to give the defense the breather they needed.
Engram made his first catch of the day with a 16-yard gain several plays later, giving the Jaguars the spark they needed on offense since it was just Lawrence's sixth completion in his first 16 dropbacks. But even as the Jaguars found some hope, a bad day for Lawrence got worse.
With the Jaguars knocking on the Eagles' doorstep, Lawrence made yet another critical mistake, throwing an interception to James Bradberry while at the Eagles' 16-yard line. Two plays later, Sanders gashed the Jaguars for 36 yards before a facemask by Roy Robertson-Harris helped push the Eagles 15 yards closer, leading toan Eagles field-goal and a nine-point lead.
The Jaguars had a chance to make it a ball game, down just nine with most of the final quarter left to play. But Lawrence's bad day continued with a fourth turnover, this time a fumble after a Haason Reddick sack in Jaguars' territory. Six plays later, Sanders scored his second rushing touchdown of the day from five yards out, the fourth rushing score allowed by the Jaguars after allowing zero through the first three games.
Jacksonville breathed some life back into the game with a 45-yard completion from Lawrence to Kirk before an eight-yard pass to Agnew for his second touchdown of the day. The Jaguars even showed some life on defense, with Tyson Campbell forcing the Eagles off the field on fourth-down with a pass breakup against A.J. Brown.
Lawrence's shop of horrors extended to the final drive, though. After the defense gave the Jaguars momentum, Reddick once again beat Jawaan Taylor off the edge before knocking the ball out of Lawrence's hands to end the game.
After one turnover in the first three games, Lawrence had a career-worst five in the rain in Philadelphia, including four lost fumbles. The Eagles took advantage again and again, with Lawrence's day ending with four fumbles and 11-of-23 passing (47.8%) for 174 yards (7.6 yards per attempt), two touchdowns and one interception, giving him a passer rating of 83.
The Jaguars failed to stick to the plan the Eagles made sure to follow. Mix this in with Lawrence's epically bad day, and it was tough sledding for the Jaguars. While the Jaguars handed it off to James Robinson just eight times and had 19 rushes total, the Eagles ran it 50 times for 210 yards and four touchdowns. The Eagles ended the game with more rushing first downs (14) than the Jaguars' entire first down total (13).
The moment proved to be too big for the Jaguars. Even with the elements factored in, the Jaguars had a chance to make a big statement on Sunday and failed to do so as a result of themselves and themselves only.
The 2-2 Jaguars will next play the Houston Texans (0-3-1) in Jacksonville.
Stats of the Game, Via: @theryanmichael
- Trevor Lawrence turned the ball over 5x (4 fumbles and 1 interception).
- The Jaguars receiving corps produced 6 drops. Lawrence finished 11 of 23, but would have finished 17 of 23 (73.9%) had those 6 drops been caught.
- With 2 touchdown passes, Trevor Lawrence has thrown multiple touchdown passes for 3 consecutive games, the longest streak of his NFL career. He has thrown 8 touchdown passes to 2 interceptions this season.
- Lawrence averaged 7.6 YPA, the 5th highest mark of his NFL career.
- Jamal Agnew hauled in 2 touchdown receptions, a career high. Prior to today, he had only 1 touchdown reception in his NFL career.
- The Jaguars defense had two defenders produce 15+ total tackles (Foysade Oluokun with 16, Devin Lloyd with 15).
- Despite the 29-21 loss, the Jaguars have been within 8 points in every one of their last 5 games dating back to last season.
