Cincinnati’s Jake Browning threw for 354 yards and a touchdown Monday as the Bengals grabbed a 34-31 overtime win over Jacksonville, who lost quarterback Trevor Lawrence to injury.
Browning, making just his second NFL start, also ran for a touchdown for the Bengals, who improved to 6-6 for the season when Evan McPherson booted a 48-yard field goal to win it.
The defeat was devastating for the Jaguars, who fell to 8-4 and saw the driving force of their season, Lawrence, go down.
Jaguars tackle Walker Little inadvertently stepped on Lawrence’s ankle as the quarterback was going down under a sack late in the fourth quarter.
Lawrence tried to rise but couldn’t, beating the turf and throwing his helmet in frustration before he was eventually able to stand and walk gingerly to the locker room with the help of medical staff.
After the game he was seen on crutches with a protective boot. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said that the severity of the injury was not yet known.
Before he was hurt Lawrence completed 22 of 29 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a TD.
Browning, who got the starting nod after star Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury last month, completed 32 of 37 passes, piloting a 42-yard drive capped by McPherson’s winning field goal.
C.J. Beathard came on in place of Lawrence and completed nine of 10 passes for 63 yards.
The Jags were down 31-28 when Beathard directed a 53-yard drive capped by Brandon McManus’s 40-yard field goal that tied it with less than 30 seconds in regulation.
Jacksonville had the ball first in overtime but their drive stalled, setting the stage for Cincinnati’s final push.
Ja’Marr Chase caught 11 passes for 149 yards, including a 76-yard touchdown that put Cincinnati up 21-14 early in the third quarter.
Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns – both in the second quarter.
“We definitely had to earn it,” Browning said.
“I needed even some overtime to get it done, but I thought we played a complete game on offense. Defense came up with the stops we needed.”
