The Jacksonville Jaguars traveled to London this weekend with the hopes of bringing their season back to life. Instead, all they did was shovel more dirt onto it with a 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears
The theme of the game was self-inflicted mistakes by the Jaguars. On the opening drive of the first-half, Gabe Davis dropped a sure touchdown to force the Jaguars to settle for a field goal.
Then after a 24-yard gain on the first play of the second half, Evan Engram fumbled after a tackle by T.J. Edwards to set the Bears up in Jaguars territory.
Yet again, the Jaguars proved to be their biggest enemy. It is hard enough to beat your opponent in the NFL. It is even tougher when you have to beat your own team along the way.
Get the ball out of halftime with the game in reach? Fumble. Get back within two scores after an excellent drive? Defense falls apart. Offense needs a must-score drive? Interception gets thrown.
And what was perhaps most maddening about the Jaguars’ performance was the fact that they dominated the opening quarter before falling behind Chicago.
After allowing an opening-drive touchdown in the last four games, the Jaguars forced a three-and-out after a third-down sack of Caleb Williams by Roy Robertson-Harris. The defense stayed hot, too, forcing a second three-and-out on the following drive. Ultimately the Jaguars allowed just seven yards in the first quarter.
After 10 straight games without the Jaguars scoring on an opening drive (longest current streak in the NFL), the Jaguars marched down the field with big throws to Brian Thomas Jr., Engram, and a third-down conversion to Davis. Trevor Lawrence started the drive 4-of-4 for 41 yards, leading the Jaguars into Bears territory.
But the Jaguars once again got in their own way; with 3rd-and-inches at the Bears’ 18, Walker Little was flagged for a false start. Lawrence once again found his rhythm, however, with a 15-yard pass to Christian Kirk to keep the drive alive.
Another false start on Davis pushed back the drive however, and then a Davis drop in the end-zone forced the Jaguars to settle for a 30-yard field goal to go up 3-0. The Jaguars’ first opening-drive points of the year came on their longest drive of the year, but they still left some points on the field.
After the Jaguars dominated the first quarter in terms of plays, yards, and time of possession, the Bears’ offense finally got some momentum after a 12-yard run from D’Andre Swift and a 10-yard scramble from Williams.
Facing 3rd-and-6 in Jaguars territory, the Bears picked up their first third-down conversion of the game with a 17-yard catch by Roschon Johnson. On the next play, Williams connected with Cole Kmet on a 31-yard touchdown as Jaguars safety Andre Cisco failed to bring the tight end to the ground after the catch.
Jacksonville got some momentum back with a 41-yard return from budding star Tank Bigsby, but the Jaguars drive stalled out for the second time in a row and ended in a three-and-out. A few moments later, Williams found Rome Odunze for 28 yards to get the ball to the 50-yard line.
The Jaguars’ defense made a big play at the perfect time, though, with Andre Cisco intercepting a deep Williams intended for for D.J. Moore. The Jaguars offense once again went three-and-out, with the Jaguars failing to pick up a first down for the second drive in a row.
The Bears capitalized on the Jaguars’ inability to stay on the field, with Williams leading a two-minute drive into Jaguars territory before he found Kmet for another touchdown to make it a 14-3 game at halftime.
After the Engram fumble, Williams threw his third touchdown of the day on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen to give the Bears a 21-3 lead.
Jacksonville finally found the end-zone midway the third quarter after Lawrence and the offense put together their best drive of the day. The drive ended with a 21-yard touchdown to Davis, marking his first touchdown with the franchise after signing as a free agent.
The Jaguars’ defense seemingly got off the field on the following drive with a third-down sack by Travon Walker, but the sack was erased by a 12-men on the field penalty. On the next play, Ronald Darby was flagged for holding.
Jacksonville then forced another third-down stop but, yet again, Darby was flagged for holding and the Bears’ offense remained on the field to drive into the red-zone. Shortly after, Williams found Allen for his fourth passing touchdown of the day to make it 28-10 in the fourth quarter.
On the ensuing drive, Lawrence threw his third interception of the season and the Bears responded with a one-yard touchdown from Swift to make it 35-10. Lawrence eventually found Davis for his second touchdown of the day to make it 35-16, but it was too little, too late.
The Jaguars will now drop to 1-5 and remain in London to prepare for their Week 7 game against the New England Patriots.
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