Cam Little’s long-range accuracy and two takeaways lift Jaguars past Bengals 22-17

Little’s leg set the tone, and Lawrence kept the edge

Jacksonville’s first points arrived on a reminder that range changes games. Little opened the scoring with a 55-yard field goal with 2:18 left in the first quarter, and he never missed all afternoon. By the end, the Jaguars had 10 points from their kicker alone, a total that matched Cincinnati’s entire output until deep into the third quarter.

The first half belonged to Jacksonville’s balance. After Evan McPherson answered with a 29-yard field goal early in the second quarter, Little restored the lead from 28 yards out with 4:16 remaining. Lawrence then finished the half’s only touchdown drive in the final two minutes, finding Brian Thomas Jr. from seven yards for a 13-3 advantage at the break.

That sequence fit Lawrence’s day. He completed 18 of 23 passes for 227 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions, and Jacksonville did not give the ball away once. Brenton Strange was his busiest target, turning eight looks into seven catches for 95 yards, while Thomas converted one of only two targets into the game’s first touchdown. Jacksonville never posted a huge yardage total, but it made efficient use of what it had.

Cincinnati piled up yards but could not erase the mistakes

The Bengals had too much production through the air to disappear quietly. Burrow threw for 428 yards on 39 completions, and Tee Higgins led the way with 11 catches for 157 yards. Dohnte Meyers added 82 receiving yards, Chase Brown caught 11 passes for 71, and Mike Gesicki supplied Cincinnati’s first touchdown on a 15-yard catch with 8:44 left in the third quarter that cut the margin to 13-10.

The problem for Cincinnati was that the game never turned into a clean passing showcase. Jacksonville answered that third-quarter touchdown with Little’s third field goal, this one from 54 yards, pushing the lead back to six. Later, Chris Rodriguez Jr. broke loose for a 25-yard touchdown run with 6:35 remaining in the fourth quarter. The failed two-point try kept the score at 22-10, but the play still gave Jacksonville the breathing room it had been chasing.

Burrow’s one-yard rushing touchdown with 3:28 left made the finish closer, yet the larger picture did not change. Cincinnati finished with 437 total yards, 26 first downs and more than 30 minutes of possession, but it also managed only 23 rushing yards on 15 attempts. In a one-score game, that imbalance mattered. The Bengals asked Burrow to carry nearly everything, and two interceptions undercut a day that otherwise looked prolific.

Our take

This result was a case study in which numbers decide a game and which numbers merely decorate it. Cincinnati won total yards, first downs and time of possession. Jacksonville won turnovers 2-0, rushing yards 111-23 and field-goal reliability 3-for-3. Those categories tell a cleaner story of why the Jaguars walked out ahead.

Jacksonville’s defence deserves particular credit for preventing Burrow’s volume from becoming a winning formula. Jourdan Lewis and Foyesade Oluokun produced the interceptions, while Arik Armstead and Danny Striggow accounted for the two sacks. The Jaguars also broke up eight passes. Even with Higgins and others posting major receiving totals, Jacksonville found enough disruptive plays to keep Cincinnati from turning all that movement into enough points.

For the Bengals, the path to improvement is visible without guessing at scheme. A team that throws for 428 yards should not also finish with just 17 points and 23 rushing yards. More balance would ease the burden, but the immediate issue was efficiency in the biggest moments: protect the ball, get more from the ground game and avoid wasting an afternoon in which Higgins, Gesicki and Burrow all produced. For Jacksonville, the opposite lesson applies. The penalties were costly at 13 for 125 yards, yet the Jaguars showed that clean quarterback play, timely defence and a dependable kicker can still win a road game even when the box score looks tilted the other way.

Scoring moments

1. Period 1 · 2:18

   Cam Little 55 Yd Field Goal

2. Period 2 · 10:03

   Evan McPherson 29 Yd Field Goal

3. Period 2 · 4:16

   Cam Little 28 Yd Field Goal

4. Period 2 · 1:23

   Brian Thomas Jr. 7 Yd pass from Trevor Lawrence (Cam Little Kick)

5. Period 3 · 8:44

   Mike Gesicki 15 Yd pass from Joe Burrow (Evan McPherson Kick)

6. Period 3 · 3:00

   Cam Little 54 Yd Field Goal

7. Period 4 · 6:35

   Chris Rodriguez Jr. 25 Yd Rush (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)

8. Period 4 · 3:28

   Joe Burrow 1 Yd Rush (Evan McPherson Kick)