8 Winners, 5 Losers From Jaguars' Win Over Bengals: Brian Thomas Jr. Responds

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars left Cincinnati with a much different feeling this time around.

After a 31-27 loss to the Bengals in Week 2 a year ago, the Jaguars righted some of their wrongs with a 22-17 win over the Bengals in Week 4 on Sunday. But who were the Jaguars who were the biggest winners from the game, and which Jaguars came out on the other end?

Winners

TE Brenton Strange

Brenton Strange entered Sunday's game with seven catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, but he greatly boosted his season's production with his performance against the Bengals. He caught seven passes for 95 yards to lead the Jaguars in receiving for the first time this season, giving the Jaguars their third different leading receiver in four games. Strange was clutch for the Jaguars on more than a few occasions on Sunday.

WR Brian Thomas Jr.

The Jaguars saw Brian Thomas Jr. have a much smaller role in the offense a week ago against the New England Patriots, but he was able to respond with a big week of practice ahead of Sunday. He then came up big for the Jaguars with a seven-yard touchdown for his first score of the season. He still did not get many targets, but it was a better day.

"Everyone is going to try and create a narrative. Maybe it isn’t a star day for everybody and everybody is going to try and create a narrative, but we’ve always been consistent in our messaging to BT (Brian Thomas Jr.), to everybody else, to this locker room, and all he can do is stay the course. He showed up in a major way for us today," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said after the game.

CB Travis Hunter

The Jaguars saw Travis Hunter have perhaps the best performance of his career ... for the second week in a row. Hunter was all over the field for the Jaguars, recording two pass brekaups for the first time in his career and having an interception and long return negated by a penalty in the first-half. He looked like the type of talent that is very much worth a big trade up to No. 2 overall.

"He played his ass off today. He had a ton of PBUs, he had the huge tackle where he ended up knocking that guy out pretty good. I thought he balled today," Coen said. "We knew with (Christian) Braswell being down, he was going to play every snap of the game. We had some things for him on offense that we didn’t feel like putting him out there because if he gets hurt on offense, we’re in a real bad spot. We didn’t want to put ourselves at risk there. I was very proud of how Travis played defensively today.”

DE Josh Hines-Allen, DE Travon Walker, & DT Arik Armstead

nfl — Oct 4, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (41) reacts after the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Jaguars needed their pass-rush to come up big for them on Sunday, and that is exactly what the unit did against an improved Bengals' offensive line. Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker, and Arik Armstead all had big moments, from Armstead's pressures and third-quarter sack, to Hines-Allen forcing a Burrow interception to Jourdan Lewis in the first-half.

RB Bhayshul Tuten

Imagine the kind of day Bhayshul Tuten would have had if the Jaguars did not play with an officiating crew whose atittude toward the game was similar to overeage hall monitors? Tuten rushed for a team-high 73 yards and his eight runs of 10-plus yards are tied for the sixth most in the NFL this season. He consistently was able to make something out of othing against an improved Bengals' front, and he made plays in the passing game, too. Tuten is the real deal through the first month of the season.

WR Josh Cameron

nfl — Oct 4, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Josh Cameron (19) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Josh Cameron had two catches for 42 yards, including the Jaguars' biggest gain of the day on a 29-yard catch-and-run. Add in what he did in the running game and the DPI penalty he drew downfield, and Cameron proved himself to be an important part of the offense even without getting another look in the red-zone. Cameron's arrow is pointing up, and it feels like he is playing better every week.

Losers

WR Parker Washington

I thought Parker Washington would have nearly 100 yards and torch the Bengals' defense. Instead, he had just one catch for seven yards and had a few odd plays where he simply did not make the plays he has made so often over the course of his career. Washington will need to improve over the course of the next few weeks to wash away what felt like a bit of a wasted game for Washington.

DB Caleb Ransaw

nfl — Aug 21, 2026; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars safety Caleb Ransaw (27) is introduced before a preseason game against the Carolina Panthers at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Jaguars secondary has taken some tough hits over the last few days. Montaric Brown and Christian Braswell were both missing from Sunday's action due to injuries, then the Jaguars saw safeties Caleb Ransaw and Eric Murray leave with injuries. Ransaw left the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and dd not return, which felt like a particularly tough break for a player who missed his entire game with a foot injury.

OT Anton Harrison & OT Cole Van Lanen

The Jaguars allowed four sacks on Sunday, and it felt like a lot of the pressure the Bengals were able to generate came off the edge. Kris Jenkins and Dexter Lawrence recorded sacks as well, but each seemed to benefit from Trevor Lawrence being forced to move up in the pocket and into harm's way due to the pressure coming off the edge. Anton Harrison and Cole Van Lanen will have better games than the ones they had on Sunday.

RB Bhayshul Tuten

Tuten was a winner on the day because he was able to put togehter a really efficient and productive outing against a good Bengals defensive line. With that said, he also has to qualify in a way as one of the losers of the night considering he had two different touchdowns wiped off the board due to holding calls. One of these was a 44-yard run that finally showed Tuten's home run ability, but we will have to just wait for that to show back up in the weeks ahead.

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