Prime time and still going strong.
The losing streak, that is.
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Dominant in the opening half and fading after that, the Jaguars couldn’t close in a 24-21 loss to the Bengals on Thursday night as Jacksonville climbed higher on the losing ladder of NFL history.
Much like it did four days earlier against the Cardinals, Jacksonville turned in a performance worthy of winning, but came up short during crunchtime as its defense failed to make a play in the second half.
The Jaguars led 14-0 at the break but couldn’t stop the Bengals after that. Joe Burrow and Cincinnati scored touchdowns on all three of its drives in the second half and kicked the game-winning 35-yard field goal by Evan McPherson as time expired on its final one.
Talk about a prime-time letdown by the defense.
The 19th consecutive loss moves Jacksonville into a tie for the third-longest streak in NFL history with the Lions (2007-09) and Raiders (1961-62). The longest streak since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger is 26 by the Buccaneers in 1976-77.
Jacksonville (0-4) will try and snap that skid at 19 when rival Tennessee comes to TIAA Bank Field on Oct. 10.
Jacksonville played far more controlled than it did in a Week 3 implosion against Arizona. When the Bengals (3-1) jumped out with two touchdowns quick in the third quarter to tie things up, the Jaguars had the muscle to answer.
But it couldn’t scratch out one final drive.
It stalled out at midfield and had to punt it away with 5 minutes, 33 seconds to play, too much time for Burrow, last year’s No. 1 overall pick.
He got some help though.
Just when it looked like Jacksonville had forced a stop, a sack on third-and-1, Tre Herndon was called for defensive holding. That gave the Bengals a fresh set of downs. Burrow marched Cincinnati down the field in six plays to set McPherson up with an easy kick to win it.
Ballgame, Bengals.
Burrow was 25 of 32 passing for 348 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Jacksonville’s offense played far better than it had this season, especially in a tense second half.
When the Bengals scored two touchdowns in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, the Jaguars responded in a big way.
Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars countered with an 11-play, 77-yard drive that included a fourth-and-2 conversion toss to Laviska Shenault. James Robinson dove across the goal line to finish off the drive and a 21-14 Jacksonville lead.
It just couldn’t hold off the Bengals and Burrow for a full game. Burrow’s second touchdown pass of the game to C.J. Uzomah, a 31-yarder just over the fingertips of Myles Jack, tied things at 21-all with 9:08 to play.
Jacksonville stalled out at midfield and had to punt it away, which gave Burrow all the time he needed to drive Cincinnati down the field and set McPherson up for the game winner.
After a Sunday collapse against the Cardinals, Jacksonville looked like a different team early. It leaned on Robinson more to eat up the time of possession. It worked the tight ends into the passing game and allowed Lawrence to get out of the pocket more.
Lawrence used his legs to extend plays and scored his first rushing touchdown on a 7-yard run that put Jacksonville up 14-0 midway through the second quarter. Lawrence flashed accuracy on the deep ball, too.
He hit Shenault for a 52-yard gain, the longest completion of his career. But that drive ended with nothing as Lawrence was stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the 1. That stop would prove significant in the end.
Lawrence was 17 of 24 for 204 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed for 36 yards, too. Robinson finished with 78 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Shenault had 99 yards on six catches.