Jacksonville Jaguars @ Cincinnati Bengals
Final Score: Bengals 31, Jaguars 27
Writer: Matt Bevins (MattBQBList on Reddit)
We had a battle of the big cats in Cincinatti this week, as the Jaguars came out of Week one a bit shocked at the ease of the matchup against the Panthers. Whereas the Jaguars eased into week 2, breezing like Trevor Lawrence’s hair, the Bengals squeezed their way into a closing elevator door, only beating out the Browns by a single point. In this week’s game, the Bengals eeked out the win, but it wasn’t without cost. Not even halfway through the game, Joe Burrow was taken down on a play, and a lineman gave a bit of a roll to his leg. Before the end of the game, Burrow was seen on a single-leg scooter, and before the late-window games had ended, we found out Burrow had turf toe that could keep him out for a minimum of a few weeks, potentially more if it required surgery. Both teams ended up throwing punches back and forth throughout the fourth quarter, with backup in the wings, Jake Browning helping pull them out of danger with a win. Let’s dive in!
Three Up
- Jake Browning- This one hurts to write, as I’ve been a Joe Burrow enthusiast for quite some time and love the play and energy he brings to life. A true mensch of a person, Burrow gives you exciting play, is a great field coach, and then helps make others’ lives better off the field. Unfortunately for him, the loss of Burrow will likely put Browning behind the wheel for at least another month. Browning comes from a Vikings draft in 2019 and has now lived in Cincy irrelevance since 2021. It remains to be seen just how much Browning can save this team while Burrow is on the mend, but he’ll have all the chances in the world, and coming in off the bench cold, he performed admirably. He’s worth a stash and grab for Burrow owners and late-round QB drafters to see what he can do in the upcoming weeks.
- Ja’Marr Chase- Ja’Marr Chase really doesn’t need an introduction, as arguably the #1 wide receiver in all drafts, and returning from last year after being the best offensive weapon in the league. This more so tethers itself to the fact that Chase may not lose much volume and looks with Browning behind center as he would with Burrow. There’s no reason to think that Browning is even half of what Burrow is for this offense, but Chase will get the looks to make himself relevant and the ability to save some balls that are less on target than they would be with Joe Sheisty.
- Travis Etienne- The Jaguars have never seemed to be the biggest fans of Travis Etienne, continually attempting to find his usurper via the draft. Just two years ago, they brought James Robinson in, and the flash-in-the-pan Robinson was almost enough to have Etienne head out of Jacksonville, borrowing a paper bag from an upset fan for anonymity. It continues, where they drafted Tank Bigsby and Bhayshul Tuten. It may not matter whatsoever, though. Etienne had just short of 150 yards rushing in Week 1, and just shy of 100 all-purpose yards in Week 2. His stock is only going up.
Two Down
- Ancillary Bengals offensive players- The offense looked like it was continuing to click when Burrow was gone the entire second half in Jacksonville, but that could be partly on the knowledge of Browning, who has been in the system since 2021. It could also be the fact that the Jaguars didn’t come into the game watching any game film of Browning. Whatever it may be, the road will inevitably be bumpier with better defensive scheming and more game planning. The Chases (Brown and Ja’Marr) will get their fill, but how much time and energy will this offense use in attempting to build the rest of the offense instead of making the playbook as easy as possible for Browning to succeed?
- Brian Thomas Jr. – It’s only week 2, but the expectations for Brian Thomas may need to be reevaluated, as we look at him as someone who cannot reel in passes with as much ease as other top-10 wide receivers in the league. Thomas saw 67 of the 71 snaps that the Jaguars had, and wasn’t able to convert for over 50 yards receiving, and even ended up stone-handing a pass that should’ve been an easy completion. This team has a lot of offensive weapons suddenly, and Thomas may start to see fewer chances.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Quarterback
Trevor Lawrence: 24/42, 271 Yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs | 2 carries, 4 yards
Trevor Lawrence has had his fair share of opportunities, so it’s still shocking to say that in just a half of football off the bench cold, Jake Browning may have potentially looked like a more pro-ready quarterback than Lawrence. Lawrence has the luxury of a loaded offensive setup, but the fact of the matter is this team still cannot find its way out of difficult matchups with wins. Lawrence made some really pro-caliber plays in this matchup, finding Dyami Brown in the first quarter with a nice back-of-the-end-zone slant route, and it remains to be seen if this offense can meld around the potential, but it keeps looking like Lawrence may not be the person for it. Lawrence made some solid throws, but was also relatively carefree with the ball, and overthrew a pass to the middle of the field, overthrowing his receiver by a good 3- to 5-yard window. The passes get out, but even nonrushed, it looks like a lot of receivers making plays are happening here more than anything else.
Running Backs
Travis Etienne: 14 carries, 71 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards, 1 TD
Bhayshul Tuten: 8 carries, 42 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 32 yards, 1 TD
LeQuint Allen: 2 carries, 13 yards
The running back room got a little more clarity this week, as the Eagles made a trade for Tank Bigsby. Travis Etienne has had many chances to take this backfield over and run with it (pun intended), but he really hasn’t. That is, until the past two weeks. Years removed from James Robinson, Bigsby, and another two backs brought in this week, Etienne came in hot off a 143-yard output last week and went back to work for nearly 90 all-purpose yards. The Bengals’ defense had a hard time stopping proverbial nose bleeds and allowed all running backs to carry for over 6 yards per carry. Etienne continues to shine on both passing and rushing plays, and has made himself the centerpiece of this offense, even with Brian Thomas cementing himself firmly in the top-10 drafted WR space. There is some intriguing output coming from Bhayshul Tuten, the elusive speedster, who found himself paydirt and averaged 6 yards per touch. Etienne will remain RB1 unless something changes, but Tuten could see himself as a nice change of pace back for an offense that needs to show more consistency.
Travis Etienne Jr. gives the Jags the lead!JAXvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+http://watch.nfl.com
Anything that was plaguing Etienne may be gone for now, as Tuten didn’t even see half of the snaps that Etienne did. Look at this shifty little scamper on a short dump-down pass. To the house! Not to be outdone, let’s end the running back pool with a nice Tuten tuddy.
Bhayshul Tuten scores his first NFL TD!JAXvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+http://watch.nfl.com
Wide Receiver
Dyami Brown: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD | 1 carry, 9 yards
Parker Washington: 5 targets, 5 receptions, 76 yards
Brian Thomas: 12 targets, 4 receptions, 49 yards
Travis Hunter: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 22 yards
The offense in Jacksonville has been scoring anemically for quite some time, but we’re almost at the point now where there are too many mouths to feed, and the spoons are running out. While their WR1, Brian Thomas — fresh off an amazing rookie season — went quietly into the night, only catching 33% of his targets, it didn’t matter all that much to the overall production. Dyami Brown danced away for a dandy touchdown, and Etienne and Tuten both ended up seeing receiving touchdowns as well. Thomas can unlock a defense and break them like a Ja’Marr Chase, but he ultimately caused more harm than good, potentially being out of place on a zippy interception, and dropping an easy chain-mover of a pass. It’s not to say that Brown or Parker Washington are in the same hemisphere of talent that Thomas is, but they’re going to start soaking in more targets as the season goes on, especially if they’re converting them at a much higher clip than Thomas is.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
Joe Burrow: 7/13, 76 yards, 1 TD
Jake Browning: 21/32, 241 Yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs | 1 rush,1 yard
This team got a huge kick in the mouth when Joe Burrow ended up on the ground before the end of the first half, and ended up limping off into the locker room. Before the game ended, we heard he was seen leaving the game on a one-legged scooter. Before the afternoon games had ended, we had heard he had a potentially worrisome case of turf toe that would likely keep him out for at least a month, hugely dependent on surgery if recovery doesn’t go well. While Burrow had a relatively unceremonious first half, it remains to be seen how well Jake Browning will look when teams have a week to scheme for him over an unexpected cold plunge of an entry, like Sunday. Browning, at times, showed some poise and skillful playmaking, looking for his top targets in Chase and Chase Brown, but ultimately, it was his three interceptions that kept the Jaguars from packing out their team buses and leaving the facility early.
With Burrow in the lineup, he is going to keep this team on track for a playoff run, potentially a Super Bowl run, so they will not press him to come back quickly if Browning keeps them above water or around a .500 record. Browning has seen himself in this quarterback room since 2021, so he has a reasonably good grasp on Zac Taylor‘s offense, but I wouldn’t expect much heavy lifting aside from feeding Chase as is needed. We saw some solid playmaking from Tee Higgins as well, but it seems likely this team will make it a very manageable playbook while Burrow is on the mend.
Running Back
Chase Brown: 16 carries, 47 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards
Chase Brown just had to wait out Joe Mixon, but this running back room is all his, a year removed from Zac Moss around, making everyone uncomfortable. Brown was decent enough Sunday, not losing much of his stake on the role, but his output was uninspiring due to his low yards per carry, as well as a game plan that mostly resigned the Bengals to playing against the clock or against the opponent, attempting to catch up or barely stay up at almost every point of this game. Brown has shown his ability to take over games and score touchdowns at an electrifying rate, but this was not that sort of game. Rest assured, however, as Brown saw 48 snaps to Samaje Perine‘s20, and Perine didn’t even get a carry out of a single one of those. With that in mind, it’s easy to anticipate that when the Bengals are down near the goal line, Brown will continue to see the spoils.
What we can continue to monitor and slightly worry about will be the weeks remaining until Burrow is back. If Browning has to pass more to keep them in the game, the running game will suffer.
Wide Receiver
Ja’Marr Chase: 16 targets, 14 receptions, 165 yards, 1 TD
Tee Higgins: 8 targets, 3 receptions, 56 yards, 1 TD
Mike Gesicki: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 18 yards
Noah Fant: 4 targets,3 receptions, 28 yards
Mitchell Tinsley: 1 target, 1 reception, 13 yards, 1 TD
The Bengals ended up forced into an all-out passing attack to attempt to keep the Jaguars at bay, and this resulted in three picks, as well as some huge target numbers for Chase. One of the best offensive players in the league, Chase only sat for three of the 69 snaps that the team took, and ended up being targeted on almost a fifth of the plays that were made under center. The team will continue to focus early and often on Chase, and his touchdown play was even partially called ahead of time by the booth crew. Chase makes sure that almost all of his targets end up converted into catches, but he also had his touchdown shares broken into by Tee Higgins and … Mitchell Tinsley? Come on, Zac, let’s not do that all over again.
This team will continue to find itself in shootouts until Burrow returns, and there isn’t much to be worried about here, as Chase and Higgins will continue to dominate target share, and both will be in the top 15 of wide receivers by end of season, and almost every week of the fantasy season as well.