Bengals & Browning Tame Jags in Win

Date: December 6, 2023

Writer: Anthony Iles

The Cincinnati Bengals (5-6) traveled to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars (8-3) for Monday night football. Bengals have not won an away Monday night football game since 1990. For this game the Jags were playing to extend their 1st place lead in the AFC South as the Bengals were playing to edge one game closer to the Browns and Steelers in a tight AFC North race.

During the 1st quarter the Bengals came out showing they would run the ball consistently and throw short range passes to move down the field. They were feeling out the Jags defense to see how they would attack Browning as well as the receivers as Higgins was back in the lineup. The Bengals moved the ball ok but could not move it in chunks. The Jaguars went down the field on their first drive and got a TD. The Bengals then missed a field goal that hit the crossbar.

The 2nd quarter is when the momentum changed as the Bengals dialed in the full playbook on offense. The defense pressured QB Lawrence all day trying to make him to force tough throws. Bengals came out and Browning unleashed with the WR and running game. Bengals scored 2 TDs to the Jags 1 making it a 14-14 halftime score.

In the 3rd quarter both offenses did not disappoint as the Bengals scored a TD and the Jags did as well. Also, a very poor play call had WR Boyd throw a reverse pass across the field the was intercepted by Jags Josh Allen (former UK Wildcat) for a TD. The Bengals were then down a TD because of that play. The Bengals didn’t point fingers but instead stayed together and fought hard.

In the 4th quarter the Bengals got the Jags to punt and the the Bengals scored a TD. The Jags got the ball and were moving it into field goal range when QB Lawrence had his ankle stepped on by a teammate and then Lawrence landed awkwardly on it forcing him to be taking out of the game. It is reported a high ankle sprain as he will miss some time. Jags missed a FG attempt giving the Bengals the ball in a tie game. Bengals were able to get down the field and make a FG going up by 3. The Jaguars got the ball and moved down the field and made a 53 yard FG to send the game into OT.

In OT the Jags won the toss and got the ball first. The Jags had the ball for 10 plays but Bengals defense held strong to force them to punt. Bengals got the ball and ran 12 plays and got in FG range. Money Mac came into the game and nailed the game winner!!!

Bengals are now 6-6 and in the thick of the Wild Card playoff hunt as the 3 teams in the Wild Card spots at the moment are the Browns (7-5), Steelers (7-5), and Colts (7-5). The Bengals play Colts this upcoming Sunday at home and they still get to play the Steelers and Browns one more time each before the regular season ends. Bengals control their destiny. With 5 games remaining the Bengals face the Colts, Vikings, Steelers, Chiefs, and Browns.

The Jags fall to 8-4 but still in 1st place of the AFC South by 1 game. With Lawrence out at least 2 games the question will be can they get the wins over Browns and Ravens? After that they face the Buccaneers, Panthers, and Titans.

Bengals set some records during this game:

Browning threw 32-37 for 354 yards and a touchdown. The 86.5% completion rate is the highest all-time in a QB’s first or second career start. The 86.5% completion rate is also the 5th highest completion percentage in team history.

Jamar Chase became the second player in NFL history to have 1,000 receiving yards in his first 3 seasons.

Joe Mixon surpassed 6,000 yards which places him 3rd in team history. He is now 3rd in team history with 46 rushing TD’s.

Tyler Boyd is now 5th all-time in Bengals history with 501 career catches.

Next game is Sunday December 10th at 1:00 PM, Paycor Stadium vs Colts (7-5).

Who Dey!!!!!