The Bengals have finally won a game in the Joe Burrow era.
After falling behind early, the Bengals’ offense fired on all cylinders to emerge as 33-25 victors over the Jaguars.
Joe Burrow passed the ball 36 times for 300 yards and a touchdown, but did not take a sack for the first time all season.
Naturally, Tyler Boyd was Burrow’s leading receiver with seven receptions for 90 yards. Tee Higgins also had a great game with four receptions for 77 yards. Higgins did have a few dropped passes that could have made his performance even more dominant if he had hauled them in.
Joe Mixon had his best game of the season by a long shot. He had 30 touches, 175 total yards, and three touchdowns.
Laviska Shenault Jr. was the Jaguars’ most dangerous player on offense. He already had 80 yards at halftime, but left the game in the fourth quarter due to an injury.
The Bengals got on the scoreboard in the first quarter after a missed field goal by Aldrick Rosas. Burrow connected on passes to Auden Tate and Boyd to get to the red zone, but the Bengals only got a field goal out of the drive. Randy Bullock made the 35-yard kick with 2:41 to go in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead.
On the next drive, the Bengals defense helped the Jaguars with defensive penalties. The Bengals had 38 yards from penalties to the Jaguars’ 52 yards of offense. Gardner Minshew threw a nice ball to the corner of the end zone where D.J. Chark hauled in the touchdown. The extra point was good after the 11-yard touchdown, and the Jaguars had the lead 7-3 with 16 second left in the quarter.
The Jaguars got the ball back and went to the air. After 34 yards on the first two plays, the drive eventually stalled and the Bengals forced them into a field goal. This kick from Rosas was good from 32 yards, and the Jaguars took a 10-3 lead with 3:45 to go until halftime.
Burrow got one more chance to score before halftime. He started three for three with 45 yards and capped off the drive with a swing pass to Joe Mixon. The ball was thrown close to the line of scrimmage, and Mixon ran all the way to the end zone, hurdling a defender to get over the line. The extra point was good, and the Bengals tied the game at ten points apiece with 56 second until the half.
Joe Burrow to Joe Mixon for the #Bengals first TD of the day pic.twitter.com/K8SvIxdXe6
— Evan McPhillips (@emcphil) October 4, 2020
With less than a minute to go, the Jaguars went to Shenault. The rookie receiver had 59 yards receiving yards to get the ball to the two-yard line with six seconds to go. Rosas made the chip-shot field goal to recapture the lead with three second before halftime, up 13-10.
The Bengals got the ball back at halftime and scored on their first possession of the quarter. Burrow looked good passing, but it was Mixon who punched the ball in on a 34-yard touchdown run. The Bengals ran five plays on that drive, and four of them were from first down. After the extra point, the Bengals were up again, 17-13 with 12:29 remaining in the quarter.
The Bengals got a three-and-out and went right back to work on offense. Mixon ran for another long touchdown to put the Bengals out in front by two scores. The 23-yard run gave Mixon the first three-touchdown game of his career, and helped the Bengal lead 24-13 with 8:34 remaining in the third quarter.
After another three-and-out on defense, Burrow started the next drive with a 24-yard dart to Cethan Carter. The drive stalled at the 22-yard line, and Randy Bullock came out for the 40-yard field goal attempt. The kick was good and the Bengals took a 27-13 lead with 3:29 left in the third quarter.
The Jaguars finally got their offense started up again. Minshew completed his first passes since the second quarter, finding Chark and Tyler Eifert to get the ball to the red zone. But Jordan Evans and Carl Lawson got to Minshew for the first sack of the game to force a field goal. Rosas made the 50-yarder and the Jaguars were getting closer, down 27-16 with 14:33 to go in the game.
Burrow kept feeding Higgins and Boyd, and tallied 54 yards between the two. But the Jaguars blitz kept the Bengals to a 47-yard field goal from Bullock. With 9:20 left in the game, it seemed like the Bengals’ 30-16 lead was secure.
The Jaguars needed a score, and Minshew found Chark and Chris Conley for huge gains. On second and goal, Minshew hit Chark on a slant for the two-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was stopped for no gain, so the Bengals kept the 30-22 lead.
The Bengals ran the ball to keep the clock going on their next possession. Mixon, Burrow, and even Alex Erickson ran the ball during the drive. The drive ended in a 30-yard field goal from Bullock, and the Bengals led 33-22 with 1:46 to go in the game.
The Jaguars got down the field pretty quickly. They were down to the Bengals’ 31-yard line after only two plays. But they managed the clock poorly and drained the clock almost all the way down. Rosas made a short field goal with 12 seconds left to get the score to 33-25.
The Jaguars attempted an onside kick, but the Bengals recovered it. After a Burrow kneel, the Bengals won the game 33-25.
The Bengals improved to 1-2-1 after their first win of the season. They will go to Baltimore and face the 3-1 Ravens next week.