Jacksonville loses 34-27 as Christian McCraffrey and Panthers pound the rock, snap Jaguars win streak

Jacksonville tried to rally after a 21-7 deficit, but it could not manufacture a comeback for the second week in a row.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-3) did their best to be a heart attack inducing team for the second week in a row, losing 34-27 to the Carolina Panthers (3-2) in a dramatic back-and-forth game in Charlotte on Sunday.

Despite the Panthers boasting one of the NFL's truly elite defenses coming into Sunday, it was an offensive explosion that led to the game coming down to the wire, but the Carolina defense simply made more game-changing plays. 

After the game was tied 7-7 following Christian McCaffrey and DJ Chark scores, Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew made one of his first rookie mistakes all season and fumbled a handoff in Jacksonville territory. This set up a 18-yard Christian McCaffrey touchdown catch, and the Panthers defense continued to force turnovers, with Minshew fumbling two more times. 

One of the fumbles resulted in a 56-yard Brian Burns fumble recovery for a touchdown. This occurred when left guard Andrew Norwell was forklifted into Minshew by a 240 lb defensive end as he was winding up to throw. 

Yet, even with the Jaguars facing an early 21-7 deficit and neither side of the ball really clicking, the Cardiac Cats scratched and clawed their way back into the game thanks to a deadly Minshew and DJ Chark connection on an 11-yard score with about 4:00 left in the first half. 

Minshew and Chark were the players that made the Jaguars offense hum, leading the way to a 507-yard day from the unit. Minshew was 26-of-44 passing for 374 yards and two touchdowns, with the dominant Chark on the receiving end of both. 

Chark ended his day with eight catches for 164 yards and the pair of scores, while also catching a pass at the one-yard line that set up Leonard Fournette's first rushing score of the season. 

But despite the offensive finding their rhythm after allowing a fumble to be scooped up for a score, the Jaguars defense had no answer for the Panthers running game. McCaffrey was a one-man wrecking crew, leaving a sea of Jaguars defenders with broken ankles in his wake on seemingly every run, and he made the offensive plays that ultimately made the deficit too much for Minshew to overcome. 

McCraffrey ended his day with a wild 237 yards from scrimmage, with 176 of those coming on the ground on only 19 carries (9.3 yards per carry average). Among his huge plays was a gut punch 84-yard touchdown run on one of the first plays of the second half, with him moving up the gut of the Jaguars defense with ease and running nearly the distance of the field without a hand touching him. 

But it wasn't just McCraffrey the Jaguars couldn't stop. Backup running back Reggie Bonnafon tacked on 80 yards himself despite only getting five carries. This included a 59-yard run with only 2:18 left, an effective nail in the Jaguars defensive coffin. 

The Jaguars offense made a ton of exciting plays on Sunday, but ultimately the defense once again failed to create any turnovers while the Panthers defense did the exact opposite. 

And when a future Hall of Fame talent like McCraffrey is cooking an entire defense like he was on Sunday, that is simply no way to win the game.