Jaguars vs. Bengals final score: Jacksonville falls apart after halftime

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 33-25 on Sunday afternoon. It took a bit for the Jaguars to find their stride, but for the first time all season Jacksonville took a lead, 13-10, into halftime and it appeared as if momentum was going their direction. A handful of big injuries to an already banged up defense and some costly penalties however, saw the Jaguars fall apart in the second half.

The Bengals offense, which had allowed 14 sacks through the first three games of the season, easily moved up and down the field on the Jacksonville defense. The Jaguars struggled to get pressure on Burrow, who easily picked them apart even on the few times he was under duress. Not only did Burrow pick them apart in the air, the Jaguars defense that was allegedly “built to stop the run” made Joe Mixon look like the best back in the NFL.

The team lost C.J. Henderson, Myles Jack and D.J. Hayden at one point on the defensive side, which pressed even more inexperience in the lineup, but the lack of a pass rush and poor showings by the likes of Andrew Wingard, the aforementioned Hayden and middle linebacker Joe Schobert didn’t help matters.

The Jaguars offense couldn’t get out of first gear in the second half, being outscored 17-0 before finally picking up a field goal in the late third quarter and pulling within 8 points, but at the point the Bengals forced the team to be one dimensional and they could just pin their ears back and not allow the Jaguars to lean on undrafted rookie running back James Robinson, who had another excellent game, and put the weight on a struggling defense to make a stop.

The Jaguars sit at 1-3 through the first four games with a struggling Houston Texans on the horizon.