A six-pack of thoughts about the 3-1 Jacksonville Jaguars:
1. Survive the road, get on plane
When your opponent loses their best receiver, you need to win that game regardless of how it looks. Once the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase (concussion) departed after linebacker Ventrell Miller’s hit, the Jaguars needed to seize on the opportunity in Cincinnati unlike they did in September 2025 after quarterback Joe Burrow was injured.
The Jaguars led 13-3 at Denver in Week 2 and lost 20-13.
Against the Bengals, the Jaguars led 13-3 at halftime, 16-10 with three minutes left in the third quarter and 22-10 with 6:35 remaining and held on, 22-17.
Any road win in the NFL is a good win, especially within the conference (the Jaguars now hold the head-to-head tiebreakers against New England
and Cincinnati) and against a franchise quarterback.
The Jaguars are 7-3 on the road under coach Liam Coen, an even more-impressive achievement considering some of the team’s road records in the last 15 years — 0-8 three times (2014, 2020-21), 1-8 one time (2024) and 1-7 four times (2011-12, 2015-16).
2. Career day for Brenton Strange
Jaguars tight end Brenton Strange set a career high with 95 yards receiving and his seven catches were second-most (11 vs. the New York Jets in 2024).
Strange had four catches for 40 yards (one touchdown) in Weeks 1-2, but 10 for 127 in Weeks 3-4. He should have had a 46-yard touchdown catch against the Bengals in the fourth quarter, but quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s throw was one of his most inaccurate of the season.
Among Strange’s key catches: Twenty-three yards to convert a third-and-18 from the Jaguars’ 11, 14 yards on third-and-20 to get into Cam Little’s field goal range (good from 55 yards), 16 yards on second-and-4 (Chris Rodriguez, Jr. scored on the next play), 15 yards on third-and-8 with 2:28 left (forced Cincinnati to use its final two timeouts.
3. Topping the turnover differential chart
Last year, the Jaguars had 31 takeaways (second-most behind Chicago’s 33) and a plus-13 turnover differential (third-best behind Houston’s plus-17 and Chicago’s plus-22).
Through the games on Oct. 4, the Jaguars have eight takeaways (second-best behind Las Vegas’ nine) and are first in differential (plus-6).
Among the important takeaways …
Week 1 vs. Cleveland: Interception (linebacker Foye Oluokun) on play from the Jaguars’ 28.
Week 2 at Denver: Interception (cornerback Jourdan Lewis) in end zone.
Week 3 vs. New England: Fumble recovery (defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton) on play from the Jaguars’ 35 and Interception (cornerback Travis Hunter) in end zone.
Week 4 at Cincinnati: Interceptions (Lewis and Oluokun) on plays from the Jaguars’ 45- and 10-yard lines, respectively.
4. Tuten, Rodriguez pop run game
Through three games, the Jaguars’ longest rushing attempt was 16 yards and they had only three “explosive” carries (gain of at least 12 yards). The run game was chugging along OK, but they were waiting for the big one to pop.
It did against Cincinnati.
In addition to Tuten’s 15-yard carry, he had a 20-yard gain and Rodriguez scored a 25-yard touchdown.
The Jaguars needed those three explosives, because their other 21 attempts (not including two kneel-downs to end the game) gained only 53 yards (2.8 average).
The Jaguars are 11th in rushing yards per game (117.3) and 16th in yards per attempt (4.2).
Tuten had 17 carries for the second consecutive game (career high).
5. No rush, all pass for Bengals
The Bengals had 23 yards rushing and 414 yards passing, earning them two mentions in the Jaguars’ single-game record book.
The rushing yards were the fifth fewest (regular season and playoffs) allowed by a Jaguars defense behind 10 (Kansas City 2007), 14 (Arizona in 2013 and Detroit in 2016) and 21 (Miami in 1999 playoffs) yards.
The passing yards were the fifth-most allowed (regular season and playoffs) allowed by a Jaguars behind 504 (Houston 2012), 462 (Pittsburgh in the 2017 playoffs), 449 (Detroit 2024) and 435 (New Orleans 2007). The Jaguars beat the Steelers in that playoff game.
Cincinnati had one carry of at least four yards. According to Elias Sports, it was the second time in Jaguars history they achieved that (the aforementioned 2007 Kansas City game).
According to the NFL, the 11 catches apiece by receiver Tee Higgins and running back Chase Brown marked the fourth time in league history that receiver/running back teammates had at least 11 catches. The first three were Keyshawn Johnson/Warrick Dunn (Tampa Bay in 2001), Randy Moss/Moe Williams (Minnesota, 2003) and Keenan Allen/Austin Ekeler (Chargers in 2020).
6. The AFC South goes through Jacksonville.
The Jaguars play only four more games (Indianapolis, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Washington) here in town, but you know what I’m getting at: The division is in this team’s hands.
Indianapolis is 2-2 after beating Washington and its third-string quarterback in London, but who wouldn’t take the Jaguars and their rush defense against Jonathan Taylor?
Houston is 0-4 and only one team (1992 Chargers) in the 16- or 17-game era has made the playoffs after such a start. The Texans are 0-3 at home, 28th in pass defense (sixth last year), tied for 26th in points allowed (second last year) and 30th in rushing (22nd last year). Anybody else waiting for the finger pointing to start?
Tennessee is 0-4 and has scored 55 points. Total. Enough said.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays ("First Coast Football Friday" 4-7 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Brenton Strange's career-best yardage day, rush defense highlight Jags win
