Jacksonville's Defense Back to Its Old Ways in Road Win vs. Bengals

The Jaguars are 3-4 after a big road win against a struggling Cincinnati Bengals team on Sunday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars' defense was the backbone of the team against the Cincinnati Bengals - it didn’t allow any backbreaking plays. 

The run defense was stout all game, making a lot of plays in the backfield and limiting Joe Mixon to two yards rushing on 10 carries, and this would set the tone for the entire game. 

The first half was a low scoring affair that featured 12 punts. The second half was when things got rolling for the Jaguars. They scored both of the touchdowns in the second half, including a backbreaking pick-six by Yannick Ngkaoue. The Jaguars would go on to defeat the Bengals 27-17.

Jacksonville’s defense forced back-to-back-to-back interceptions in three of the Bengals final drives, and the Jaguars didn’t miss Jalen Ramsey much in this contest after ultimately forcing four turnovers. It only had two coming into the game.

Myles Jack came away with one of those turnovers, an interception that led to Andy Dalton's domino effect of interceptions, and this week was his best game thus far. The man that the Jaguars extended for four years at $57 million had five tackles along with the interception and some strong plays vs. the run.

D. J. Hayden continues to stand out for Jacksonville’s defense. He racked up three tackles and a forced fumble that was beautifully executed. Tyler Boyd was holding the ball extremely carelessly - as Hayden went in for the tackle he managed to punch the ball out.

The defensive line was a big factor in this game, the front four managed to hold the Bengals to 33 rushing yards, and Andy Dalton was the leading rusher with 33 yards. Josh Allen, Ngkaoue and Calias Campbell were all effective as expected. 

But for the third straight week, depth guys on the defensive front stepped up. One player that stuck out in particular was Taven Bryan. Bryan had three tackles - he also put the pressure on Dalton that forced him to throw the Ngkaoue pick-six.

Tre Herndon continues to struggle - he got bullied this week as he has been all season and his penalty issues continued. He’s the weak link of a Jaguars defense which has impressed the last two weeks.

The offense managed to put up over 450 total yards - it had over 300 in the first half but found themselves down 7-6. Penalties along with an ineffective red zone offense were the primary culprits of that, but Gardner Minshew struggled to make plays inside the red zone They had multiple trips but managed three Josh Lambo field goal, with a Keelan Cole two-yard touchdown as their only effective red zone production.

The wideouts as a group played well this week. Dede Westbrook notched his first 100 yard game of the season,  as on six receptions he went for 103 yards. Chris Conely also had his first big day - on three receptions he had 83 yards. Conley is a guy that was expected to play a big role in this offense. This week was his first real showing of what kind of player he can be.

The Jags move to 3-4 on the season, and now they got the New York Jers at home next week. Can Jacksonville make it two wins in a row?