Ben baby
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Ben baby
ESPN staff writer
- Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Before ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News, where he covered college sports. He covers the Bengals daily for ESPN.com while also appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. He is a native of Grapevine, Texas and holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Texas. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
Michael DiRocco
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Michael DiRocco
ESPN staff writer
- Michael DiRocco is an NFL reporter for ESPN. DiRocco covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for ESPN.com and the Florida Times-Union for over a decade. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner. You can follow DiRocco on Twitter at @ESPNdirocco.
December 4, 2023, 11:55 p.m. ET
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars fell to the Cincinnati Bengals 34-31 on “Monday Night Football” in a game in which quarterback Trevor Lawrence left in the fourth quarter with a right ankle injury.
Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning, filling in for the injured Joe Burrow, did his best Burrow impression in Jacksonville, giving Cincinnati a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter. But the Jags stormed back with two touchdowns, the second set up by Josh Allen’s interception of a pass from Tyler Boyd, to take the lead.
Browning responded with a short TD to tie the score at 28-28, then commanded a late field goal drive, one possession after Lawrence went down and was taken to the locker room. Jaguars backup CJ Beathard responded with a field goal of his own, sending the game into overtime, where Bengals kicker Evan McPherson won the game from 48 yards.
With the loss, Jacksonville moves to 8-4 on the season, while the Bengals improve to 6-6 – and 1-1 with Burrow out for the season with a right wrist injury.
Cincinnati Bengals
Jake Browning did it.
In his second career start – in a primetime game against a division-leading AFC team – the Bengals’ backup quarterback put in a performance that will give the team hope to compete for a playoff spot.
Browning completed 32 of 37 passes for 354 yards and two touchdowns – one passing, one rushing. Two of those incompletions were drops by his wide receivers. If Cincinnati can repeat this performance, they have a chance to make the playoffs for the third straight year. Of Cincinnati’s five remaining opponents, only the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting quarterback is healthy.
Bold prediction: Rookie running back Chase Brown will see more carries for the rest of the season. Cincinnati wanted to see how the fifth-round pick would perform on the floor before placing him on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. In his second game back, Brown saw work early and often. And he showed why he could be a big-play running back that Cincinnati has lacked in recent years. Brown’s 31-yard carry in the third quarter was the team’s longest pass from scrimmage this season. To put that in perspective, Joe Mixon had 35 yards on his first 10 carries. The remaining five games of the regular season could give the Bengals an in-depth look at whether Brown could be a long-term starter.
Stunning next-gen stats: Browning’s completion rate above expectations in the first three quarters was an astounding 16.3%, according to NFL Next Gen, which ranked 12th out of 386 for a quarterback in the first three quarters of a game this season. And it wasn’t just a lot of short throws that led to this number. Of his first 20 completions, five were for 10 or more air yards, according to NFL Next Gen.
Next game: vs. Indianapolis Colts (1 p.m. ET, Sunday, December 10)
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars lost to Cincinnati in overtime, but suffered perhaps an even worse defeat when Lawrence suffered a sprained right ankle late in the fourth quarter.
Lawrence was injured when left tackle Walker Little was pushed back and stepped on Lawrence’s right ankle. His leg appeared to be trapped underneath him as he fell to the ground and he needed help getting to the locker room.
If Lawrence is out, the team will turn to Beathard, who hasn’t played in a game with the San Francisco 49ers since Week 16 of 2021. Beathard had only thrown 17 passes in his two-plus seasons with the Jaguars, but he led them into position for a game-winning field goal with 26 seconds left in regulation. The Jaguars play the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens in the next two weeks.
Key game: Rookie wide receiver Parker Washington turned an interception into a touchdown on a third-and-9 play from the Cincinnati 14-yard line. Bengals safety Dax Hill got both hands on Trevor Lawrence’s pass to Washington in the back of the end zone but couldn’t hold on to the ball. Washington grabbed the deflection for its first NFL touchdown. Instead of trailing 21-14 and the Bengals riding a wave of momentum, the game ended 21-14.
Key Piece, Part II: That play proved even more important after linebacker Josh Allen intercepted Tyler Boyd’s pass attempt on a trick play to running back Joe Mixon on the Bengals’ first offensive snap after Washington’s touchdown catch. That gave the Jaguars the ball at the 9-yard line, and Lawrence’s 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal gave the Jaguars a 28-21 lead – a 14-point blow in 2:13.
Biggest gap in the game plan: The Jaguars thought they could put pressure on Bengals quarterback Jake Browning in his second career start, and they did so with a fourth-down play to stop Cincinnati’s first drive. For the first half, however, that was pretty much it. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Jaguars were pressured on 14.3% of the Bengals’ dropbacks in the first half (including Ja’Marr Chase’s one attempt). Browning completed 17 of 19 passes for 178 yards in the first half and had 260 yards (and just three incompletions) entering the fourth quarter.
Next game: at the Cleveland Browns (1 p.m. ET, Sunday, December 10)