Jaguars Hold Off Bengals 22-17 With Fourth-Down Stop in the Final Minute, Take 3-1 Record to London

The Jacksonville Jaguars survived 13 penalties, 428 passing yards by Joe Burrow and a final Cincinnati drive that reached their 12-yard line, beating the Bengals 22-17 on Sunday, Oct. 4, at Paycor Stadium to improve to 3-1 and stay atop the AFC South heading into back-to-back games in London.

The game ended on a fourth-and-10 with 50 seconds left, when Burrow found running back Chase Brown for 9 yards and safety Rayuan Lane III dropped Brown a yard short of the line to gain. It was Jacksonville's second straight win and its 11th in its last 12 regular-season games, according to the team.

Lawrence efficient, Little steady

Trevor Lawrence completed 18 of 23 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions, and he beat the Bengals for the first time in four tries, according to The Associated Press. Kicker Cam Little made field goals of 55, 28 and 54 yards.

The Jaguars ran for 111 yards. Bhayshul Tuten carried 17 times for 73 yards, and Chris Rodriguez Jr. ran six times for 35 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that pushed the lead to 22-10.

"It's hard to win," Lawrence said afterward, according to the team's game report. "Anytime you get one, especially on the road in a tough place to play, it's big."

How the game unfolded

The scoring followed a familiar Jacksonville pattern this season: a quiet first half for the opponent and just enough offense.

The swing play came late in the first half. Cornerback Jourdan Lewis intercepted Burrow and returned it 45 yards to the Cincinnati 18, and Lawrence hit Thomas for the touchdown with 1:23 left before halftime. Early in the fourth quarter, with Jacksonville protecting a 16-10 lead, linebacker Foyesade Oluokun intercepted Burrow at the Jaguars 10 to end another Cincinnati threat.

A defense that bends, then holds

Burrow completed 39 of 54 passes for 428 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions, and he ran for a late score. Cincinnati piled up yards but came away empty on two trips deep into Jacksonville territory, with the Oluokun interception and the final fourth-down stop both coming inside the Jaguars 15.

The Bengals played much of the game without All-Pro receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who left with a concussion in the second quarter, according to the AP.

Jacksonville sacked Burrow twice, with defensive end Danny Striggow getting one in the first quarter and defensive tackle Arik Armstead adding one in the third. The two interceptions extended a streak that the team says is now nine consecutive games with an interception, the longest active run in the NFL and the longest in franchise history. The Jaguars have eight takeaways this season.

The defense also held an opponent to three or fewer first-half points for the fourth straight game, matching a streak by the 2019 New England Patriots, according to the team. Through four games, the Jaguars have allowed 10, 20, 6 and 17 points.

"The defense not breaking at the end, that's huge for us," edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen said, according to the team.

Winning through the flags

Jacksonville made it harder than necessary. The Jaguars were penalized 13 times for 125 yards, including 10 for 100 yards in the first half alone.

Coach Liam Coen summed up the finish as a "game of inches," according to the team, and credited the opponent: "Winning in the NFL isn't easy, and that's a good team." He also acknowledged that Cincinnati did a good job against the Jaguars' run game for much of the afternoon. Lawrence made a similar point, saying the Jaguars will have to win games like this when they do not play their best.

The win came at a physical cost in the secondary. Safety Caleb Ransaw suffered a knee injury in the first quarter and did not return, and safety Eric Murray left in the third quarter with a concussion. Cornerback Montaric Brown missed the game with a hamstring injury, according to the team.

Where the season stands

The Jaguars' only loss came at Denver in Week 2. Their results so far:

At 3-1, Jacksonville leads the AFC South by one game over the Indianapolis Colts (2-2). Cincinnati fell to 2-2; the Bengals opened their season with a 33-27 home win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Jaguars have allowed 53 points in four games, a little more than 13 per game, and Sunday's 17 came against an offense that threw for more than 400 yards. The week before, Jacksonville held New England to six points in a 35-6 rout in Jacksonville. Against Cincinnati, the formula was different: the offense did not dominate, the penalties piled up, and the defense won the game with takeaways and one last tackle.

What's next

The Jaguars now head to London for two straight designated home games, the first time any NFL franchise has held two home games in London in the same season. They face the Philadelphia Eagles at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 11, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a game that sold out in September, then play the Houston Texans at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 18, at Wembley Stadium. Both games are scheduled to air on NFL Network.

The Wembley game will be the Jaguars' 12th at that stadium, and the Eagles game their fourth at Tottenham. Houston is playing in London for the first time since beating Jacksonville there in 2019.

Jacksonville's bye follows in Week 7, and the Jaguars return to EverBank Stadium to host the Colts on Nov. 1 in what could be an early AFC South showdown.

The Bengals, meanwhile, travel to Florida next: Cincinnati visits the winless Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 11.