Mac Jones threw two touchdown passes on Sunday and the Jacksonville Jaguars earned a season-series sweep of the visiting Tennessee Titans with a 20-13 victory.
Jones connected on 15 of 22 passes for 174 yards, finding Parker Washington and rookie Brian Thomas Jr. for scores, as Jacksonville (4-12) left Tennessee (3-13) behind in the AFC South cellar. Cam Little booted field goals of 48 and 44 yards.
Mason Rudolph hit on 19 of 31 pass attempts for 193 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Titans, who dropped their fifth consecutive game. Tyjae Spears rushed for 95 yards on 20 carries, taking on lead running back duties in place of Tony Pollard (flu/ankle).
Jones’ 11-yard scoring strike to Thomas with 7:05 left in the game gave the Jaguars a 20-10 lead, but Tennessee responded with Matthew Wright’s 28-yard field goal at the 2:02 mark of the fourth quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, the Titans had a chance to force overtime and reached the Jacksonville 26. But Rudolph’s fourth-down pass intended for Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was knocked down at the goal line with nine seconds left.
The pregame storyline centered around which team could benefit most from a loss. Both entered Sunday one game behind the New York Giants for the potential No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft.
Jacksonville initiated scoring on the game’s opening drive, needing to move only 38 yards in nine plays to set up Little for his first field goal at the 10:46 mark of the first quarter. The Jaguars got into the end zone for the first time with 8:59 left in the first half on Jones’ 2-yard touchdown pass to Washington, coming five plays after Rudolph tossed a tipped-ball interception.
Little’s second field goal upped the margin to 13-0 with 2:02 remaining before Tennessee pieced together a two-minute drive that set up Wright for a 39-yard field goal as time expired, making it 13-3 at halftime.
The Titans started the second half with their best drive of the game, chewing up 85 yards and 8:09. Rudolph ended the march when he hit Nick Vannett with an 8-yard scoring strike to cut Tennessee’s deficit to 13-10.
–Field Level Media
