Jaguars 27, Raiders 20: Jacksonville Completes Comeback to Snap Losing Streak

The Jaguars are finally back in the winning column after a wild win against the Raiders at home.

After weeks of having simply bad luck, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally found their rabbit's foot on Sunday vs. the Las Vegas Raiders. 

The last five Sundays had featured nothing but close losses for the Jaguars. Nothing but pain and heartbreak. But the tables finally turned with a one-score win of their own in Week 9 thanks to a ___

Jaguars running back Travis Etienne led the way on the ground with his third-consecutive 100-yard rushing day and fourth game in a row with 100 yards or more from scrimmage, rushing 28 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

Jacksonville also got improved play from quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who finished the game with 25-of-31 passing (80.6%) for 235 yards and one touchdown, giving him a passer rating of 109. Lawrence also rushed for 53 yards. Dawuane Smoot also recorded two sacks. 

Smoot helped the defense get off to a fast start, recording his fourth sack of the year on the very first third-down of the game. The offense got off to its own fast start, too, after Jamal Agnew returned a Raiders punt 13 yards to Jacksonville's 30-yard line.

A solid Travis Etienne run and a Trevor Lawrence-to-Marvin Jones third-down completion latee, the Jaguars picked up 23 on a chunk play from Lawrence to Christian Kirk and moved into Raiders territory. 

But just like the last two games, turnovers continued to bite the Jaguars squarely where it hurts. Facing 3rd-and-5, the Jaguars subbed out Etienne for JaMycal Hasty, who lined up on the outside. Motioning to the backfield and behind Lawrence, Hasty was set to receiver the pitch ... until the ball ended up on the ground in front of a hungry Raiders defense, with Maxx Crosby recovering it. 

Jacksonville's defense began to make crippling mistakes of their own on the following drive. After the offense let them down a drive previously, the defense allowed the Raiders to convert a 3rd-and-20 with a 21-yard gain to Davante Adams. 

Then, after another holding call on the Raiders forced yet another 3rd-and-20, the Jaguars allowed Adams to get 16 yards and allow the Raiders to go for it on fourth down. After an Adams conversion on fourth down, the All-Pro continued to dominate the Jaguars, catching a 25-yard touchdown pass over Tyson Campbell to cap off a 10-play, 71-yard drive.

With just 4:45 remaining in the first quarter, Adams recorded six catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. A Jaguars player had recorded more than 88 receiving yards just three times in the first eight games of the season.

After the Jaguars' next drive ended in a four-yard loss on a 3rd-and-1 toss to Etienne, the Raiders extended their lead to 10-0 after another third-down conversion through the air led to a 38-yard field goal from Daniel Carlson.

But the Jaguars' offense still failed to shake off the fumble from the opening drive, going three-and-out for the second drive in a row after Lawrence missed an open Evan Engram on third-down. Through the first three drives, the Jaguars recorded just 54 yards and two first-downs, a reflection of their sluggish production in recent weeks. 

The Raiders kept their foot on the gas pedal, though. After a massive 30-yard gain to a wide open tight end, the Raiders ran two different run fakes on the same play before unloading it to Adams for a 38-yard touchdown. The closest defender, Andre Cisco, was practically in a different area code, leading to a 17-0 deficit. 

Jacksonville's offense finally awoke from its fumble-induced slumber on the next drive to at least keep things interesting. A pair of nice runs from Etienne, a Lawrence scramble for 16 and a 22-yard catch from Zay Jones set up a one-yard touchdown from Etienne, his third rushing score in the last three games.

After Chad Muma's keister forced a 3rd-down pass-breakup in the red zone thanks to a Carr underthrow, the Jaguars looked likely to enter halftime facing a 20-7 deficit. But the Jaguars instead managed their second scoring drive of the day thanks to a 24-yard scramble from Lawrence, resulting in a 44-yard field goal from Riley Patterson and a 20-10 halftime hole.

A 52-yard Angew kick-off return to open the half set the Jaguars up at the Raiders' 45-yard line coming out of the locker room. After a big connection to Christian Kirk to move the ball into the red-zone, Lawrence continued to look Kirk's way with a seven-yard touchdown pass to cut the Raiders' lead to 20-17.

Jacksonville looked like the team with simply more juice in the second-half, though even the defense couldn't stop itself from turning game-changing plays into just OK ones, with Andre Cisco dropping a would-be pick-six on third down. 

Jacksonville came out firing on all cylinders on the next drive, though, with Lawrence completing gains of 15, 11 and 19 yards and picking up several third downs. Lawrence finished the drive 5-of-5 for 57 yards, with the drive ending in a five-yard touchdown from Etienne. The score, which was Etienne's second of the game, was his fourth over the last three weeks and put the Jaguars up 24-20.

With the Raiders running just five plays for 22 yards in the third quarter and the Jaguars storming back, the tide inside TIAA Bank Field. The crowd came alive with each stop, roaring to life as the Jaguars forced a punt following a drop by Adams.

After some early success through the air on the next drive, which included a terrific first-down throw from Lawrence to Marvin Jones with a blitzing linebacker in Lawrence's face, the Jaguars began to look like a different team than past fourth quarters. 

But, sometimes you are what your record says you are. For the Jaguars, this statement has stood the test of time, once again coming into play as a Lawrence third-down throw to Kirk was tipped at the line, forcing a punt with 7:30 remaining.

A Jaguars' pass-rush that routinely forced Carr into pressure continued on the next drive, though. First, an Andrew Wingard pressure made Carr get rid of it too early on first-down. Then, a Devin Lloyd quarterback hit on third-down led to Carr just barely missing Adams for a conversion. 

Jacksonville marched down the field the next drive with a pair of big third-down conversions from Lawrence and a big run from Etienne, the Jaguars found themselves with a 4th-and-1 in the red-zone. 

In past weeks, Doug Pederson saw these kind of opportunities as chances to keep the offense on the field and just get a yard. It happened just two weeks ago at home vs. the Giants, after all. This time, though, Pederson trusted his kicker. 

Maybe he shouldn't have, however. With the Jaguars and Pederson doing what seemingly the entire stadium wanted them to do and lining up for a kick to make it 27-20, the Jaguars again made things come down to the end. With just a 42-yard kick needed, Patterson drilled it directly into the right goal post, giving the Raiders the ball back. 

But after forcing three punts on the first three yards of the half, the Jaguars weren't letting the Raiders march up the field. Not again. Not this week. 

Instead, the defense tightened up, with Tyson Campbell providing great coverage on Adams and Darious Williams locking down Hunter Renfrow on fourth down to force a turnover on downs and, at last, give the Jaguars the game back. Another Patterson field goal later, and the Jaguars ended their losing streak.

The Jaguars (3-6) will next travel to play the Kansas City Chiefs.

Stats of the Game (11/6/22 vs. the Raiders) Via: @theryanmichael

Trevor Lawrence finished the game 25 of 31 (80.6%) for 235 yards passing (7.6 YPA), 1 touchdown pass, 0 interceptions, 0 sacks and a passer rating of 109.0.

With 289 total yards, Lawrence (6,203) surpassed 6,000 for his NFL career and eclipsed Chad Henne (5,976) and Gardner Minshew (6,027) to move into 5th place in Jaguars franchise history.

Lawrence rushed for a career-high 54 yards and averaged a career-high 10.8 yards-per-carry.

With 0 interceptions, Lawrence notched the 14th game of his NFL career without an interception.

With 126 total yards (109 rushing, 17 receiving), Travis Etienne brought his season total to 854, a rate (94.9/game) that would equal 1,613 over a 17-game stretch.

With 76 receiving yards, Christian Kirk (574) eclipsed 500 receiving yards for the 5th time in his 5-year NFL career. Kirk caught 8 of 9 targets.

With 5 receptions, Marvin Jones (100) became the 26th player in Jaguars franchise history to eclipse 100 receptions.

Foyesade Oluokun led the defense with 9 total tackles, bringing his season total to 88, a rate (9.8/game) that would equal 166 over a 17-game stretch.

Photo: Alex Shepherd