Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars(0-4) were close to getting their first win on Thursday night in Cincinnati against the Bengals(3-1). Jacksonville led 14-0 in the second quarter and was one yard away from making it 21-0. However, the Bengals stopped Trevor Lawrence on fourth and goal from the one, and the Jaguars had to settle for a 14-0 halftime lead.
However, they were outscored 24-7 in the second half and would fall to the Bengals 24-21 after Evan McPherson’s 35-yard field goal with no time left on the clock.
“When you can control the game like we did in the first half, that’s the key,” Lawrence said after the game. “It should have been 21-0 (at halftime), but we got stuffed at the goal line. Second half, we didn’t do a great job of eating clock and moving it.”
The Jaguars fall to 0-4, but they made progress. However, this loss still hurts.
“We’ll have to regroup a little,” Lawrence said. “This one hurts to be up 14-0 and somehow come up on the wrong side of it. We’ll bounce back; I know what we’re made of. Seeing how we’ve handled the first three weeks, I know nothing will change. I really want to get a win with these guys. We’ve been working so hard and put ourselves in positions the last two weeks to win. We just have to finish. It’s collectively. It’s not one side of the ball. We’re right there. This hurts for sure. It’s a primetime, Thursday night game. But it happens. We’ll keep working.”
Lawrence was solid against Cincinnati. He was 17/24 for 204 yards and added 36 yards on the ground and one touchdown, and most importantly, no turnovers after having nine turnovers in his first three games.
“We played better on offense, as far as cleaning up turnovers,” he said. “I did a good job of not putting the ball in harm’s way and used my legs well. The guys up front killed it. The run game, especially in the first half, was really good. The pass protection was awesome with no sacks. We’re getting better every week. It’s a heartbreaking loss, but we’re getting better.”
There’s no such thing as a good loss and moral victories on the NFL level, but this one is pretty close for the Jaguars, especially when you consider they lost WR D.J. Chark to an ankle injury. Now, they regroup and get ready for a home game against the Titans.
