CINCINNATI — Jake Browning scored on a quarterback sneak with 18 seconds left to lead an improbable comeback as the Cincinnati Bengals rallied following the loss of quarterback Joe Burrow to a toe injury to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-27 on Sunday.
Browning’s score capped a 15-play, 92-yard drive to lead Cincinnati (2-0) to an unbeaten mark after two weeks for the first time since 2018. Browning finished 21 of 32 for 241 yards and two touchdowns, with three interceptions.
Ja’Marr Chase finished with 14 catches on 16 targets for 165 yards and a touchdown for the Bengals.
Trevor Lawrence completed 24 of 42 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions for the Jaguars (1-1). Cam Little converted a go-ahead 25-yard field goal with 11:43 to play after the Bengals had tied the score before Browning’s late heroics.
Burrow left with 8:36 remaining in the second quarter and did not return after suffering a toe injury on his left foot on an Arik Armstead sack. Burrow’s left cleat appeared to catch in the turf on the play.
Burrow sat at his locker with a walking boot on his left leg and left the locker room using crutches, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The team gave no official update on his status after the game, but early signs indicate Burrow could miss several weeks, the newspaper reported.
The Bengals later lost their first-round draft pick, Shemar Stewart, to a right leg injury when he limped off the field flexing his right knee midway through the fourth quarter.
The Bengals managed to rally behind Browning and erase a 17-10 halftime deficit and tie the game twice, 17-17 and 24-24.
Burrow was 7-of-13 for 76 yards and a touchdown pass to Chase before being forced from the game.
Jacksonville took the game’s opening drive and marched 69 yards in nine plays, capped by a Lawrence to Dyami Brown 9-yard touchdown pass. The Bengals went three-and-out on the next series, and the Jaguars were on the verge of taking a commanding two-touchdown lead before Lawrence was intercepted in the end zone.
The Bengals answered with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Burrow finding Chase on an in-slant for 4 yards and a touchdown.
The game was tied only briefly as the Jaguars drove 75 yards in eight plays, capped off by an 8-yard touchdown pass in the flat for Bhayshul Tuten.
The teams traded field goals late in the first half.
Browning tied the game with 11:05 left in the third, hitting Mitchell Tinsley from 13 yards out. After Lawrence regained the lead with an 11-yarder to Travis Etienne, Tee Higgins got loose for a 42-yard scoring catch, making it 24-all going into the fourth.
— Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
