Broncos 21, Jaguars 17: Pair of Trevor Lawrence Blunders Dooms Jacksonville in London
It has become a trend for the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars to drop close game after close game.
No matter the path taken to the final snap, the result has been the same for the entire month of October, with the Jaguars losing another close game on Sunday, falling to the Denver Broncos 21-17 in London to drop to 2-6.
The loss is Jacksonville's fifth in a row and likely ends their chances to compete for the AFC South despite this just being the midpoint of the season. And the loss can't be pinned on any singular aspect of the team, either, which makes it all the more frustrating.
Bad quarterback play? Check, with Trevor Lawrence throwing two bad interceptions to take away points and a final chance to score.
Defensive breakdowns? Check, with the Jaguars allowing a 98-yard touchdown drive and allowing the NFL's worst scoring and worst red-zone offense to go 3-of-3 in the red-zone.
No matter what, the Jaguars simply failed to get it right yet again on Sunday, leading to the all-too-familiar result. A fast start followed by a bad end to the half and then a meltdown to finish the game. Rinse and repeat.
Jacksonville's defense struggled to get after the quarterback in recent weeks, but Arden Key put an end to that on the first drive of the game with a third-down sack of Russell Wilson, his second sack of the season.
After Evan Engram failed to bring in a potential catch of the year candidate on third-down to end their first offensive drive, the Jaguars' defense continued their hot start with a Tyson Campbell interception of Wilson. It was Campbell's second interception of the year and the first Jaguars takeaway since the first quarter of Week 4 vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.
Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars overcame a second-down holding from Cam Robinson to respond following the turnover, with a 15-yard Travis Etienne run setting up a 22-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to Engram on third-down. With the Broncos entering the game as an elite third-down and red-zone defense, Engram's first touchdown of the year was a significant one.
Jacksonville was able to move the ball with relative ease on their next drive, with the Broncos giving them four first downs and over 30 yards. Whether it was holding, taunting, or going low, the Jaguars took the assistance and marched to the red-zone.
But the Jaguars then ran into their first self-inflicted adversity of the day. Just as he did in Week 5, Lawrence again threw a back-breaking red-zone interception while rolling to his right. This time it landed in the hands of Justin Simmons at the one-yard line as Lawrence tried to unnecessarily force a first-down pass to Marvin Jones.
The interception is Lawrence's fifth red-zone interception in his first 25 career games, the most of any quarterback during that span. Perhaps most concerningly, the interception looked exactly like the one Lawrence threw to Derek Stingley during a loss to the Houston Texans earlier this month.
Denver once again failed to get a first down following the interception, though, leaving them with three punts, a turnover, 30 yards and zero first downs during the first four drives.
Jacksonville's offense got a jolt from Etienne popping off a 49-yard rush on the following drive, setting up a 37-yard field goal from Riley Patterson to extend Jacksonville's first-half lead.
Denver's first first-down came with 8:35 in the second quarter, and they managed to turn it into a scoring drive to cut Jacksonville's lead to 10-7 after a six-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Jerry Jeudy. This featured Wilson and Jeudy hooking up for 25 yards on 3rd-and-7, with the Broncos picking up five first downs and showing a slight give in the Jaguars' defense.
Etienne continued to give the Jaguars a boost, though, with a few productive runs and a pair of first downs from Christian Kirk helping the Jaguars get into scoring range. Etienne rushed for 94 yards and averaged 8.5 yards per carry in the first-half, totaling 106 yards from scrimmage.
Another Lawrence error at a critical moment came, though, with the 2021 No. 1 overall pick being flagged for intentional grounding on third down with the Jaguars in potential field goal territory.
Thanks to a Dawuane Smoot sack taking the Broncos out of their own field-goal opportunity on the final drive, the Jaguars entered halftime with just a 10-7 lead despite the hot start.
Jacksonville continued to get in their own way after the break, though, with Lawrence nearly committing his second turnover on a second-down strip sack by Nik Bonitto. Despite the Jaguars moving it to Denver's 41, two negative plays a row forced a long third-down and an eventual punt.
Despite Jaguars punter Logan Cooke booming a kick to Denver's two-yard line, the Broncos were able to pick up gains of 18, 22 and 38 to Greg Dulcich to move the ball to the Jaguars' one-yard line. Melvin Gordon then punched it in to give the Broncos their first lead, dropping the Jaguars to a 14-10 deficit.
Penalties and negative plays continued to put the Jaguars behind the sticks, with a false start on Brandon Scherff and a loss of six on a screen to Etienne leading to the Jaguars facing 3rd-and-21 and eventually yet another punt, their fourth punt in a row.
The Jaguars' pass-rush attempted to push the Jaguars back into the game, with Travon Walker and Smoot splitting a sack to get the Broncos off the field on third-down. Then, the Jaguars' pass-rush forced Wilson to hurry a 3rd-and-7 incompletion that Key deflected.
Jacksonville finally showed some life on the following drive with Etienne and a 17-yard throw from Lawrence to Zay Jones putting the ball at Denver's 42-yard line. After four punts in a row, the Jaguars' offense at last began to show the same rhythm and consistency it started the game ... until it didn't.
Just like the previous drives, the Jaguars once again let opportunities slip for their hands. This time it came via a Marvin Jones drop on second down that was followed by a sack on third-down, leading to Cooke's fifth punt in a row and another wasted drive by the Jaguars' offense.
The Jaguars were able to force a Broncos' punt from their own six after Russell Wilson missed a deep throw on 3rd-and-10. The short field let the Jaguars start the drive at Denver's 47-yard line after an eight-yard return from Kirk, who then opened the drive with a 25-yard catch.
A few Etienne runs later, the Jaguars saw their 2021 first-rounder score from one yard out for his second rushing score in as many weeks to go up 17-14 with 3:54 left. But the Jaguars' defense still needed to get a stop to push them over the hump, and from the very first Broncos snap it didn't look like this would be the case.
With backup cornerback Tre Herndon lined up against K.J. Hamler on the outside in place of an injured Shaquill Griffin, the Broncos found the big play they just barely missed the drive before. This time it took them to Jacksonville's 33 after K.J. Hamler beat Herndon badly downfield for a 47-yard gain.
After Russell Wilson scrambled for a first on 3rd-and-5, Latavius Murray was able to run it in from two yards out to put the Jaguars behind 21-17 with 1:43 left. Much like the last four weeks, the Jaguars were yet again tasked with responding with a last-minute drive to attempt to climb back into the game.
But just like against the Commanders in Week 1, the Eagles in Week 4 and the Texans in Week 5, Lawrence couldn't get out of his own way, throwing an interception to Broncos' K'Waun Williams on the very first play of the drive.
It was that kind of day for Lawrence, who finished 18-of-31 for just 133 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He finished the day with a passer rating of 52.2, with the Jaguars once again falling in critical moments when the game was in his hands.
Just like in each of their first five losses, the Jaguars had a chance to win on Sunday. They should have pulled away early, but didn't. They should have held them late, but didn't. And they should have had a chance to take the lead but, because of Lawrence's interception, they didn't.
It has been that kind of year for the Jaguars. And today, it was that kind of Sunday.
The Jaguars (2-6) will next host the Las Vegas Raiders in Jacksonville.
Stats of the Game (10/30/22 vs. Broncos) Via: @theryanmichael
- Travis Etienne carried the ball 24 times for a career-high 156 rushing yards, averaged 6.5 yards-per-carry and rushed for 1 touchdown.
- Trevor Lawrence finished the game 18 of 31 (58.0%) for 133 yards, 1 touchdown pass, 2 interceptions, a 52.2 passer rating and 2 sacks.
- Lawrence averaged 4.3 yards-per-attempt, the second lowest mark of his NFL career (lowest: 3.6 on 9/19/21 vs. Broncos).
- The Jaguars had 4 dropped passes.
- Foysade Oluokun led the Jaguars with 9 total tackles (8 solo).
- The Jaguars sacked Russell Wilson 3x (Dawuane Smoot with 1.5, Arden Key with 1.0 and Travon Walker with 0.5).
