Jekyll and Hyde: Jaguars Suffer an All-Too Familiar Defensive Failure in Loss to Bengals

For two quarters, the Jacksonville Jaguars looked like they finally figured things out on defense. Joe Burrow was flustered. Joe Mixon was contained. Zac Taylor was waving the white flag with two timeouts left to end the half. And, most importantly, the Jaguars held the Bengals to zero first-half points.

But that was Dr. Jekyll. For the next 30 minutes, the Jaguars' defense reverted back to its version of Dr. Hyde.

After giving the Bengals fits for the first 30 minutes, the Jaguars couldn't stop a thing in the second half, giving up 24 points over the final two quarters. In four drives, the Bengals scored four times, including driving down the field for a 10-play, 83-yard drive that set up Evan McPherson's game-winning 35-yard field goal as time expired.

On the same night the Jaguars kept Burrow and Zac Taylor's offense completely grounded and scoreless for two quarters, the same Jaguars' defense suffered a complete and total collapse at the hands of that same Bengals offense over the second half.

The Jaguars have seen their fair share of heartbreak losses over the last 19 games, but few have fallen directly at the feet of a second-half defensive failure like Thursday's 24-21 loss. The Jaguars simply needed one defensive play made over the course of the final two quarters, but they didn't get it.

Instead, they saw the Bengals roll over Joe Cullen's unit with relative ease, putting together four consecutive touchdown drives, which included two touchdown passes to tight end C.J. Uzomah.

Uzomah called caught a 2nd-and-13 screen and took it 25 yards with 1:09 left to set up McPherson's game-winning field goal. Uzomah proved to be a thorn in the Jaguars' side all night, forcing Rayshawn Jenkins to miss a tackle on his first 22-yard touchdown, before scoring a 33-yard touchdown on a busted play to tie the game 21-21.

Uzomah finished the game with five catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns -- all in the second half. Considering he entered the game with four catches for 36 yards, the fact that he steamrolled the Jaguars' secondary and linebackers on his way to a career game is a direct reflection on the failure the Jaguars put forth on Thursday.

The Jaguars had one chance to stop the Bengals during the nightmarish second half, with linebacker Damien Wilson sacking Burrow on 3rd-and-2 on the final drive of the game. But as Wilson and the Jaguars' defense celebrated what they thought would be a potential game-winning stop, a yellow penalty flag came out. Tre Herndon was called for defensive holding, and the rest was history.

With the only positive play of the second half being erased to penalty, the Jaguars left Thursday with little to show. Rookie cornerback Tyson Campbell was targeted by the Bengals' offense consistently and lost nearly every single matchup, including giving up a 44-yard gain to Ja'Marr Chase on the opening drive of the second half.

The Jaguars failed to generate any pressure on Burrow, collecting zero sacks in the second half and sacking him just once on the night. Burrow frequently had time in the pocket to find receivers as the Jaguars' remained stuck to blocks and as key pass-rusher Josh Allen dropped into coverage on pivotal downs.

After allowing only five first-half first downs, the Jaguars allowed 16 in the second half. The Bengals were only forced into four third-downs over the final two quarters, completing 100% of them as they carved through the Jaguars' defense like a knife through hot butter fresh out of a microwave, recording 313 total net offensive yards in the process.

The Jaguars had their chances to knock off the Bengals. They just needed one play from the defense -- one stop. After getting those stops for the first 30 minutes, they got none for the final 30. And that reality is what doomed the Jaguars in Cincinnati.

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