Jaguars 25, Bills 20: Jacksonville Gets a Statement Win in London

The Jaguars made a statement to the rest of the NFL this Sunday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be leaving London with consecutive wins, taking down the Buffalo Bills in a statement 25-20 win on Sunday to improve to 3-2.

The Jaguars picked up 25 yards on their first two plays -- a 16-yard gain to Luke Farrell and a nine-yard gain to Evan Engram -- before stalling out on third-down. 

On back-to-back plays with just a yard needed for a conversion, the Jaguars failed to generate any movement in the running game. No gain on 2nd-and-1 by Travis Etienne and then a loss of a yard by Tank Bigsby on 3rd-and-1 led to a quick punt and a missed opportunity for the Jaguars.

Luckily for the Jaguars, a James Cook drop on third-down let to a Buffalo three-and-out, giving the Jaguars five games in a row with a forced three-and-out on the first possession. 

Jacksonville came out firing after the Bills' failed drive, with an 11-yard end around by Calvin Ridley and a 30-yard catch by Christian Kirk setting the Jaguars up across midfield.  

After Etienne picked up 18 yards with two effective runs, the Jaguars got third down in the red-zone and were bailed out by an Ed Oliver hands-to-the-face penalty, setting up a 1st-and-Goal from the five.

A few plays later, Lawrence connected with a returning Zay Jones for a six-yard touchdown pass. Due to a roughing the passer penalty on the Bills, the Jaguars went for the two-point conversion from the one and saw Etienne break free across the right end, giving the Jaguars an 8-0 lead. 

Jacksonville's defense then did its job again, forcing a second three-and-out from the Bills after Tre Herndon forced Dalton Kincaid out of bounds a yard short of the first-down marker.

The Jaguars then got across midfield thanks to a 20-yard gain to Kirk and a 14-yard pass to Ridley, but Dane Jackson made a great defensive play to break up a 31-yard potential touchdown to Evan Engram. Jacksonville would settle for a 44-yard Brandon McManus field goal, taking an 11-0 lead.

After Buffalo came into the game with just seven punts all season, they were forced into their third punt of the game after Andre Cisco knocked the ball out of Dawson Knox's hands on third down.

Jacksonville found some more momentum on the next drive, but a holding penalty on Anton Harrison and a drop by Jones on third-down led to the Jaguars' second punt of the day. 

After another forced punt on the Bills, a Harrison penalty negated another big gain, with Harrison being flagged for ineligible man downfield on a 19-yard gain by Luke Farrell, leading to a punt.

Buffalo's offense then finally came alive, with an 11-play, 86-yard scoring drive that was finished off with a 15-yard touchdown catch by Stefon Diggs.

Jacksonville attempted to answer back before halftime and even got the ball to Buffalo's 12-yard line, but Cam Robinson was beat for a sack by A.J. Epensa, leading to a strip-sack and zero points.

After the Jaguars forced an early punt in the second half, the Jaguars were able to move the ball thanks to a roughness penalty on Jordan Poyer and a 31-yard run by Travis Etienne. 

But, once again, the offense stalled. A sack on first down and then an errant snap by Luke Fortner on second down led to a 3rd-and-36 and another missed opportunity by the Jaguars.

Jacksonville's defense hung tough, though, forcing their sixth punt of the day despite a 48-yard gain by Diggs on first down. But just like seemingly every other drive of the game, the Jaguars got in their own way.

After multiple third-down conversions on a 16-play drive that started at their own five, Lawrence made his biggest mistake of the day by fumbling on a third-down sack, erasing a potential three points for the second time. 

Jacksonville was able to get the momentum right back, though. Josh Allen forced a holding penalty to stall the Buffalo offense before Darious Williams picked off Josh Allen for his second pick in two weeks, helping negate a potential explosive gain to Diggs. 

Jacksonville then, finally, took advantage. Big runs by Etienne, a pass interference penalty on Taron Johnson, and some nifty work in the pocket by Lawrence against an intense Bills' pass-rush led the Jaguars to Buffalo's six-yard line and a touchdown from Etienne, his second of the season.

Holding an 18-7 lead with 7:44 left, the Jaguars' defense needed one more stop to send the Jaguars home with a win. But after two different roughing penalties on Chad Muma and Josh Allen, the latter of which negated a sack, the Bills were able to find the end zone with Gabe Davis, bringing the score to 18-13.

Facing 3rd-and-4 a few plays later, Lawrence showed off his star status yet again by connecting with Ridley for 32 yards, their biggest gain of the afternoon ... until Etienne hit a 35-yard run for his second touchdown, giving the Jaguars a 25-13 lead.

But the Bills refused to go quietly into the night, with Allen completing passes of 43 and 29 yards before running it in from three yards out to bring the score to 25-20 with 2:11 left. 

After the Jaguars killed enough clock to force the Bills to get the ball with just over 20 seconds left, Travon Walker recovered a fumbled trick play to give the Jaguars the win and improve them to 3-2.

Stats of the Game (10/8/23 vs. the Bills) Via: @theryanmichael

Trevor Lawrence finished the game 25 of 37 (67.6%) for 315 yards (8.5 YPA), 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, 5 sacks, 2 lost fumbles and a 102.9 passer rating. Lawrence produced 346 total yards of offense (passing + rushing).

Lawrence’s passer rating was +36.5 points higher than what the Bills allowed prior to Sunday’s matchup (102.9 vs. 66.4).

Travis Etienne carried the ball 26 times for 136 yards (5.2 YPC) and 2 touchdowns. Etienne produced 184 yards from scrimmage.

Calvin Ridley caught 7 passes for 122 yards and averaged 17.4 yards per receptions.

Foyesade Oluokun led the Jaguars with 7 total tackles.