Trevor Lawrence’s return was the big storyline but it was another quarterback who stole the show.
The Browns, led by 38-year-old practice squad call-up Joe Flacco, led wire to wire and beat the Jaguars 31-27 on Sunday afternoon. The final score masked how poorly Jacksonville played against Cleveland, but it did have its chances late.
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Lawrence tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram with 1 minute, 33 seconds to play, but he was sacked on a two-point attempt. The Browns recovered the onside kick and ended any hopes of a Jacksonville comeback.
The Jaguars have turned in back-to-back clunkers, losing for the second time in six days. Flacco, called up from the practice squad on Saturday for a second straight week, outplayed Lawrence from start to finish and handed Jacksonville its first loss on the road this season. It was just Flacco’s second win as a starter since 2019.
The only positive news for Jacksonville, if anything, was that both Houston and Indianapolis lost on Sunday, too. Both teams started the day trailing the Jaguars by a game in the AFC South race. Jacksonville (8-5) has lost back-to-back games and has a big assignment up next — Lamar Jackson and the Ravens at EverBank Stadium on Sunday night football.
With how Jacksonville’s defense has looked against the backups of backup quarterbacks the last two weeks, that’s not a comforting lookahead. Mistake after mistake after mistake plagued the Jaguars against Cleveland. Jacksonville had four turnovers, three interceptions by Lawrence and a fumble by Parker Washington, that led to a pair of Browns touchdowns.
“I think offensively we were a little disconnected. Trevor and the receivers were a little off,” coach Doug Pederson said. “We had opportunities to make plays in the first half and didn’t. Obviously, the turnovers are big and you can’t do that. We had a little success early running the football with some of the things we did to keep them off balance, but just overall just not enough plays made. Too many self-inflicted wounds that kept us from sustaining drives or staying on the field.”
Lawrence shaky in return
Lawrence’s return from a high ankle sprain was the storyline all week. He started his 47th consecutive game but was largely ineffective much of the game against a tough Cleveland defense. He was picked off twice in the first half by Martin Emerson Jr., one on a diving catch going backwards and the other when Calvin Ridley ran the wrong route.
The latter interception killed one of Jacksonville’s best drives of the half. Lawrence had just hit Engram on a 23-yard leaping sideline grab to get Jacksonville to the Cleveland 24. Lawrence’s third interception was solely on him, a disastrous decision on third-and-1 early in the fourth quarter where Lawrence tried to throw the long ball to Ridley.
Greg Newsome II stretched out to make an easy interception. On a fourth-and-3 call four plays later, Flacco avoided an all-out blitz and hit David Bell on an easy shot over the middle that the receiver stretched into a 41-yard touchdown to give the Browns a 28-14 lead.
“There’s no surprise that he’s still playing as well as he is this late in his career,” Pederson said of Flacco.
Lawrence had a touchdown pass to Engram for the second game in a row, a 10-yard touchdown late in the first half, then added another to the tight end late to give Jacksonville a pulse. Lawrence also tossed a scoring pass to Washington. He finished 28 of 50 for 257 yards, three touchdowns and three picks.
“It was not one of our cleaner games. Too many mistakes, penalties, missed opportunities, missed throws, drops. Just not playing sound football. I think we were just so inconsistent it was hard to get in a rhythm,” Lawrence said. “Feels like all the close plays that we didn’t make that you need to get some momentum back in games, seemed like all those we weren’t able to make today.”
Defense runs cold …
A hangover from the Monday night loss, perhaps? Flacco, who joined Cleveland’s practice squad on Nov. 20, made a spot start against the Rams last week. He went back down to the practice squad but was elevated back to the active roster Saturday and looked comfortable against a Jaguars defense still reeling from a lashing by Jake Browning and the Bengals.
Cleveland marched right down the field in six plays to open the game, with Flacco hitting David Njoku on a 34-yard touchdown strike to cap it. The veteran found Njoku again for a 30-yard touchdown early in the second quarter for a 14-0 lead. Flacco won just his second start since the 2019 season. He led the Jets to a win last season, but hadn’t won a start prior to that since Oct. 6, 2019 when he was with the Broncos. Flacco finished 26 of 45 passing for 311 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.
… And hot
Jacksonville made couple of big plays in the second quarter.
Andrew Wingard forced an Amari Cooper fumble and Devin Lloyd scooped it up and returned it to the 12. Two plays later, Lawrence floated a pass to Engram in the end zone to get Jacksonville on the scoreboard.
Outside of Lloyd’s fumble recovery, Darious Williams picked off Flacco at the Jacksonville 31 to end a legitimate scoring drive. The Jaguars moved the ball but couldn’t do anything with it as Lawrence was sacked on a third-and-4 to knock Jacksonville out of field goal range.
The Jaguars pass rush couldn’t do much against Flacco until Antonio Johnson rocked him on a safety blitz midway through the third quarter and jarred the ball loose. Jeremiah Ledbetter recovered the fumble at the Browns 25 and Jacksonville turned that into a Travis Etienne 1-yard touchdown six plays later to get within 21-14. Engram had 95 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 11 catches.
More injuries
The left tackle spot is a turnstile. Cam Robinson missed the first four games due to a performance-enhancing drug suspension and then started the next seven before a knee injury. His backup, Walker Little, started five games at left tackle but has missed three games with various injuries. Left guard Ezra Cleveland moved over from left guard to start against the Browns, but left in the first half with a knee injury. Blake Hance moved over to replace Cleveland.