Jake Browning is elevated to the status of hero.
Joe Burrow sustained a season-ending wrist injury two weeks ago, forcing the former University of Washington star into action. Browning didn’t look great, but he showed indications of improvement in last week’s defeat to Pittsburgh. Browning came into her own on Monday night.
He completed 32 of 37 throws for 354 yards and one touchdown—a 76-yard connection to Ja’Marr Chase early in the third quarter to give the Bengals a 21-14 lead—and played like a 10-year starter. Browning ran Zac Taylor’s attack very well, minimizing risk and throwing on-target throws to eight different receivers on the night.
He didn’t trip and lost 354 yards throwing. Browning deserved every completion he made, as well as the Bengals ‘ shock victory, Browning’s first as a starter since his days as a Husky. If anybody deserves a game ball, it’s the quarterback who was written off before Monday night.
The Jaguars suffered at least one defeat.
Jacksonville was caught in an unanticipated dogfight Monday night, unable to halt the run and unable to upset Browning. Instead of cruising to victory against a Bengals club without Burrows, the Jaguars had to scratch and claw just to remain in the game.
During the skirmish, the worst happened: Trevor Lawrence left with an ankle injury serious enough that the star quarterback needed help to make his way to the locker room. C.J. Beathard did well enough to get the Jaguars into field goal range, but the air was taken out of EverBank Stadium as soon as Lawrence fell down.
Now, while they recover from the pain of a prime-time defeat, Jags supporters will have to wait to discover how bad Lawrence’s ankle injury is, and if they’ll be forced to live out their worst fear of ending the season without their franchise quarterback.
Bengals’ victory over Jaguars on Monday night
Zac Taylor devises a masterpiece.
Taylor went into Week 13 knowing he couldn’t expect Browning to jog onto the field and transform into Burrows, and he coached accordingly. Taylor did an excellent job of playing to his quarterback’s strengths, favoring a run early to soften Jacksonville’s pass rush and allow Browning to function.
As the run progressed, the play-action pass emerged as a realistic option, well suited to Browning’s abilities. Taylor repeatedly instructed Browning to roll out of run fakes and locate open receivers moving to the right, which opened up a Bengals offense that was most anticipated to slug it out. That balance aided Browning’s confidence and allowed him to settle in, allowing the Bengals to target their great receivers downfield while also including some punishing Joe Mixon runs.
Taylor slipped a skeleton key into the lock, turned it, and unveiled the full capabilities of his offense when Browning dropped a throw and lofted a strike to Chase early in the third quarter for a score. Jacksonville was forced to scramble for solutions, and even when the Jaguars punished Taylor for being too sweet with his play-calling by intercepting a Tyler Boyd pass, the Bengals didn’t collapse. If anybody wants confirmation of Taylor’s coaching skills, footage from Monday night should suffice.
Jacksonville creates havoc in the AFC South.
The Jaguars had a great chance to keep their lead in the unexpectedly competitive division by defeating a Bengals club that was without its franchise quarterback on Monday night. Instead, they opened the door for the Texans and Colts to re-enter the fight for the AFC South title.
Jacksonville’s division lead was reduced to one game after their Week 13 defeat, with five games remaining. Suddenly, the AFC South is an interesting division with a collection of scrappy clubs that might yield a variety of outcomes, particularly if Lawrence is out for a prolonged amount of time. There is still plenty to work out, but Jacksonville may be regretting this defeat by the end of the season.
Bengals discover hope.
Cincinnati’s hopes of making the playoffs were virtually dashed when Burrow sustained a season-ending injury and the Ravens raced away with a two-touchdown victory two weeks ago.
When the Bengals were defeated at home by the Steelers last week, supporters had little reason to expect them to rescue the 2023 season. But Browning’s outstanding performance has given them cause to hope they can contend in every remaining game, and maybe even sneak into an AFC battle that has become closer to the wild-card rankings.
There’s no guarantee Browning can repeat his performance on a weekly basis, but the Bengals only needed confirmation he could do it once. They’ll approach Week 14 full of confidence, which might be a frightening reality for anyone coming up against them, including a rival wild-card contender in Indianapolis next week.
Next Gen Stats of the Game:
Jake Browning completed every one of his seven throw attempts beyond 10 air yards on Monday night (7 of 7 for 170 yards and one score), the most downfield completions without an incompletion in the past two seasons.
NFL Research:
Jake Browning is the 10th player in Super Bowl history to throw for 350 yards or more with a completion percentage of at least 85% in a regular-season game.
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