Injury-Depleted Jaguars Drop Third Straight, Lose 33-25 to Bengals

Jacksonville's defense was once again dominated, while a few self-inflicted mistakes from the offense didn't help much in the Jaguars' third consecutive loss.

When it comes to the Jacksonville Jaguars' 33-25 loss to the previously winless Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4, the blame can be shifted in a number of different directions. Injuries, coaching, lack of execution; it was all prevalent at one point or another.

Ultimately, so many aspects of the team falling apart at once are what doomed the Jaguars on Sunday, leading to the Jaguars falling to 1-3 after their third consecutive loss. It is also the second week in a row the Jaguars have lost to a winless team, and the third week in a row the Jaguars allowed at least 30 points. 

Jacksonville's defense is the primary culprit behind the latest loss, which has quickly become a worrying trend for the Jaguars. The defense was far from the only reason the Jaguars lost their third consecutive games, but it was another instance in which the Jaguars looked helpless. 

On the day, the Jaguars only forced the Bengals and rookie quarterback Joe Burrow to punt once, a three-and-out on the first drive of the game. Otherwise, the Bengals' offense scored on the Jaguars on every other drive but two ... and one of those drives was a one-play kneel down at the end of the first half with three seconds left.

Ultimately, the Jaguars' defense was the victim of a blown lead, though it mostly happened with the defense at less than full strength. After entering halftime with a 13-10 lead, in large part thanks to a first half Myles Jack interception the end zone, the Jaguars allowed 23 points in the second half as cornerback C.J. Henderson (shoulder), cornerback D.J. Hayden (hamstring) and Jack (ankle) all left the game with injuries.

Burrow shredded the depleted Jaguars defense in his first-ever NFL win, completing 26-of-35 passes (69.4%) for 300 yards (8.3 yards per attempt) and one touchdown with one interception, which gave him a quarterback rating of 92.4. Burrow's one interception wasn't his fault, either, so he was mostly flawless in his fourth NFL start. 

Perhaps most worrisome is the fact that the Jaguars didn't sack Burrow once. Burrow entered the game having been sacked 14 times, which led the NFL through three weeks. Despite this, Burrow stayed upright vs. the Jaguars more often than not.

"High," defensive tackle Abry Jones when asked about the frustration level of the pass rush after the game.

"I mean, their offensive line gets paid too just like us. They did their job, we didn't."

Aside from the injuries and lack of pass rush, Jacksonville also struggled to keep the Bengals from finding success through running back Joe Mixon. After not allowing a 100-yard rusher in any of the first three weeks, the Jaguars allowed Mixon to gain 151 yards on 25 carries (6.0 yards per rush) and two touchdowns, each being 20+ yard runs n the third quarter. 

Mixon also scored on a nine-yard reception before halftime. After entering Sunday with zero touchdowns through three weeks, Mixon scored three against the Jaguars. This was the first three-touchdown game of Mixon's career.

"He is a really good back. We knew that coming in," head coach Doug Marrone said after the game. 

"And it is just, again, consistency. There is times we did a good job and times we gave up big plays."

Offensively, the Jaguars were a story of ebbs and flows. Quarterback Gardner Minshew started the game off with some struggles, throwing an interception on third down on the first drive after throwing to a covered Tyler Eifert. He then left the pocket too early on third down on the next drive, which preceded a missed Aldrick Rosas field goal.

The offense had its moments, compiling 429 yards on 63 plays (6.8 yards per play). It also scored on each of the game's final three drives. Minshew was 27-of-40 (67.5%) for 351 yards (8.8 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns with one interception. 

In key situations, the offense was sloppy, however. Aside from the two poor drives to start the game, the Jaguars also had several self-inflicted mistakes. This included a missed field goal from Rosas in the first quarter, a failed two-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter, and a messy hurry up offensive strategy on the game's final drive in which the Jaguars stopped the clock too late. 

But perhaps the two biggest plays that hurt Jacksonville on offense were due to tight ends instead of Minshew. On the first drive of the third quarter, James Robinson broke off a 40-yard run into Bengals territory, but the run would be negated by a James O'Shaughnessy hold. Jacksonville would respond with one completion and five incompletions over the next six plays, which resulted in two different three-and-outs.

"That really hurt us, because we couldn't respond to it," Marrone said about the negated run. "And I think that is what you have to do in games like this." 

The second play came on Jacksonville's third drive of the second half, with Minshew throwing a terrific pass to Tyler Eifert near the Bengals' goal line. Eifert caught the pass at first, but contact from Jessie Bates knocked it loose. 

There were some bright spots for the Jaguars, such as Chark catching two touchdowns in his return to the field, but ultimately it was a team loss by Jacksonville. 

Marrone made some strange calls, such as kicking a field goal at the end of the half instead of going for it on fourth-and-inches; Minshew wasn't consistently sharp; the defense was dominated by a rookie and arguably the league's worst offensive line. 

"Just the small things that we have to fix ... but also every week we can't say we have to fix it," Chark said after the game.

"We have to step up and do it."