Giants 23, Jaguars 17: Wild Finish Leads to Jaguars' Fourth-Consecutive loss

The Jacksonville Jaguars continue to find new ways to lose.

No matter what changes about the coaching staff, the schemes, the locker room, or even the smallest of details, the Jaguars find a new way to lose each week. This week it came via a self-inflicted 23-17 loss at the hands of the New York Giants, dropping the Jaguars to 2-6 and extending their four-game losing streak.

The Giants opened up with seven-straight passing plays, with the fourth resulting in a Daniel Jones scramble for a first-down. It wasn't until the seventh play that Barkley even touched the ball and it wasn't until the eighth play that he recorded a carry.

But the Giants didn't need Barkley on the first drive, picking up four first downs and 8.3 yards per play as Jones hit Darius Slayton for a 32-yard touchdown against Tre Herndon. Jones finished the first drive 6-of-7 for 65 yards, along with a 14-yard rush.

Jacksonville managed to fight back with a masterful drive of their own. While the Giants went with a quick-hitting passing attack, the Jaguars targeted the Giants' linebackers with screens, reverses and intermediate throws.

The Jaguars never had a third-down in their response, picking up five first downs in six plays and averaging 11.7 yards per play on a drive that was capped off by a seven-yard Travis Etienne touchdown run, the first of his career.

After a Giants penalty on the point-after attempt, Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson each emphatically came back on the field to stress to the referees that the Jaguars wanted to go for two. They did just that, handing it off to Etienne for a quick score that resulted in an 8-7 lead.

Jacksonville continued to get in their own way on defense, though. After forcing a Daniel Jones fumble on 3rd-and-8 that was negated by a Josh Allen offsides penalty, the Jaguars allowed the Giants to pick up a 3rd-and-3. The Giants, though, would not be outdone, committing a holding penalty of their own that resulted in 1st-and-20 and killed the drive following a Darious Williams breakup on 3rd-and-14.

The backfield turned into the Etienne show, with Etienne being the major focus of the Jaguars' following drive after a 15-yard run. Throw in a long completion to former Giants tight end Evan Engram and a 4th-and-1 conversion to Zay Jones and the Jaguars moved it to Giants' territory with ease.

Jacksonville went away from the run once they got near the end-zone, though, with incompletions on first- and second-down to James Robinson and Evan Engram resulting in 3rd-and-10. After a five-yard gain on a screen from Etienne, the Jaguars had to settle for a 27-yard field goal for Riley Patterson.

Jacksonville's defense managed to limit Barkley to just two rushing yards on his first five carries, but it was Jones who continued to hurt them with his legs and quick passes. After missed tackles from Arden Key and Tyson Campbell, the Giants managed to turn a drive full of short gains into a 60-yard drive that ended in a field goal.

After a series of penalties forced the Jaguars to have to pick up big gains through the air to Christian Kirk, the Jaguars' offense was able to get two shots at the end-zone from the Giants' 17-yard line. The first was a missed potential touchdown throw from Lawrence to Zay Jones where Lawrence failed to put the proper touch on the ball. The second, though, was much worse.

On second-down, Etienne took a carry and exploded through the middle of the Giants' defense for what should have been a 12+ yard gain to at least their five-yard line. Instead, though, he failed to properly secure the ball, with Xavier McKinney knocking the ball out of his hand and forcing an awful turnover.

Jacksonville then struggled to get the Giants off the field, allowing Barkley and quick passes from Jones to pick them apart on a 12-play dive before halftime that resulted in a field goal. Etienne's fumble ended up costing a 10-point swing, putting the score at 13-11.

Pederson's offense started out hot to enter the second-half, though, making up for the lack of impact plays on defense. After a 49-yard Etienne run got the Jaguars into the red-zone, a roughing the passer on the Giants pushed the Jaguars to the Giants' doorstep, resulting in Lawrence's third rushing touchdown in two weeks.

The defense that had struggled to force a big stop all game -- whether it be a sack, third-down stand or a turnover -- seemingly got back into their game with an ensuing interception of Jones by Devin Lloyd ... but much like the last three weeks, the Jaguars were their worst enemy. The pick was negated after Foyesade Oluokun was called for roughing the passer on a play where he nearly headbutted Jones.

The Jaguars' defense finally got into a groove on the next drive, forcing just their second punt of the day. And even after a Cam Robinson holding pushed the Jaguars back, Lawrence hit Zay Jones for a 20-yard gain on 3rd-and-8 before completing a 3rd-and-10 to Engram to extend the drive.

The drive stalled near the 20-yard line, though, as the Jaguars went back to the well with a quarterback sneak on 4th-and-1 but the Giants were ready this time, stuffing him for a turnover and a costly, costly loss of potential points.

The Giants wasted no time on the ensuing drive, marching 80 yards in 10 plays thanks to a mix of Jones' legs and big runs from Barkley. Add in several penalty issues from the Jaguars such as a 12-men on the field penalty and a pass interference on Williams, and the Giants took the lead with a one-yard touchdown run from Jones.

A delay of game on the Jaguars' offense to open the next drive practically ended the Jaguars' potential final drive before it even began. After a third-down incompletion to Engram forced a punt, the Jaguars had to helplessly watch as the Giants rattled off runs for 20 and 13 yards to ice the game away.

It felt that way all game, too. Barkley and Jones each rushed for over 100 yards as the Giants picked up 236 yards and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. Add in 12 penalties from the Jaguars and costly red-zone gaffes such as the turnover on downs and Etienne's fumble, and the Jaguars found yet another way to lose a game.

Jacksonville showed a bit of life on the final drive following Barkley stepping out of bounds with 1:07 left. Following a third-down conversion to Kirk and back-to-back penalties. Then a fourth-down completion to Marvin Jones plus a roughing the passer penalty put the Jaguars at the Giants' 17-yard line.

After failed shots to the end zone to Zay Jones and Marvin Jones, the Jaguars attempted a seam throw to Kirk that ended with him being tackled at the 1, dropping Jaguars' offensive players to their knees in disbelief.

With the loss, the Jaguars are now winless in October and are 0-4 in the month. They will next play the Denver Broncos in London.

Stats of the Game (10/23/22 vs. Giants) Via: @theryanmichael

Trevor Lawrence put up 313 total yards, a touchdown (rushing), 0 fumbles, 0 sacks and 0 interceptions despite 5 drops.

Lawrence completed 22 passes, eclipsing 500 in his NFL career and surpassing Gardner Minshew (501) and Chad Henne (513) to move into 5th place in Jaguars franchise history (514).

With 0 interceptions, Lawrence produced his 13th career game without a pick.

Travis Etienne rushed for a career-high 114 yards, averaged 8.1 yards-per-carry and scored the first touchdown of his NFL career.

Christian Kirk led the Jaguars in receptions (7, off 10 targets) and receiving yards (96).

4 Jaguars receivers produced 50+ receiving yards: Kirk with 96, Evan Engram with 67, Marvin Jones Jr. with 57 and Zay Jones with 54.

The Jaguars defense gave up 436 total yards of offense, including 107 rushing yards to quarterback Daniel Jones.

Foyesade Oluokun led the Jaguars with 12 total tackles.