Upset in Cali: Jaguars Stun 49ers 26 to 21

The Jacksonville Jaguars defense was dominant. The special teams made multiple explosive plays. The Jacksonville offense dominated on the ground, while playing winning football. It wasn’t perfect, but

it was effective. Here’s everything you need to know from Jacksonville’s Week 4 26-21 road victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Live blog:

Catch up on all the big plays and best moments from tonight’s game in our live blog!

Pregame Notes:

The following 49ers did not play in this one: DL CJ West (hand), WR Jordan Watkins (calf), WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, RB Jordan James, and LB Nick Martin. Most notably, starting San Francisco CB Renardo Green was ruled inactive after being a Thursday limited participant and Friday DNP. Green initially suffered a neck issue from a week 3 hit on Zay Jones during their win over the Cardinals. 49ers WRs Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, and QB Brock Purdy were all active with San Francisco also getting free agent WR Demarcus Robinson back from his three-game suspension on Sunday.

For Jacksonville, starting WR Dyami Brown was ruled a gametime inactive after limited practices on Thursday and Friday due to a shoulder injury suffered against the Houston Texans. LB Yasir Abdullah was previously ruled out late in the week due to a hamstring injury, after popping up on the injury report with a Friday limited practice. OL Wyatt Milum was again inactive after a full week of limited practices, as he recovers from his training camp knee injury. Preseason standout, rookie DL BJ Greene also made his regular season, gameday roster debut on Sunday.

1st Quarter

San Francisco started the day on offense, quickly picking up an early play action first down on a pass to 49ers FB Kyle Juszczyk, followed by a third and 7 Christian McCaffrey 11-yard rush for a first down. However, the Jaguars’ defense held in the redzone, with DE Travon Walker pressuring Purdy on the incomplete third down attempt to force the field goal. 49ers K Eddy Pineiro made the 26-yard attempt to open the scoring, capping the 49ers’ 13-play, 57-yard. 6:27 drive with Jacksonville giving up 27-yards rushing on the drive. (Jaguars 0, 49ers 3)

Jacksonville’s opening series kicked off with a special teams mistake, as RB LeQuint Allen caught the kickoff that was heading out of bounds at the 7-yard line in error. However, the Jaguars offense quickly moved out of their redzone with a Brian Thomas Jr opening drive 14-yard catch, followed by an 11-yard Travis Etienne rush. The offense then picked up a fourth-and-one first down via a Trevor Lawrence QB sneak before eventually punting the ball away after a Brian Thomas third down reception was ruled incomplete, with Thomas unable to get the second foot down. Instead of attempting the 58-yard field goal, the team decided to punt, playing the field position game. However, Logan Cooke’s punt sailed, resulting in a touchback.

2nd Quarter

The Jaguars’ defense began their second series with a quick takeaway via LB Dennis Gardeck punching the ball lose from former Jacksonville TE Luke Farwell, which was recovered by S Andrew Wingard.

One play later, RB Travis Etienne met the rest of the offense in the endzone after an electric 48-yard touchdown rush. (Jaguars 7, 49ers 3)

Jacksonville’s defense then forced a second turnover within 5-plays as Christian McCaffrey bobbled the pass, as LB Devin Lloyd made a play, snatching the loose ball in the air for the interception.

Trevor Lawrence, after being pinned back in their own 6-yard line, hit Travis Hunter for a season long, 28-yard reception for the young rookie on third and 15, picking up the first down. RT Anton Harrison was notably injured on the play.

The Jacksonville offense, facing third-and-one, allowed the play clock to run to zero forcing a third-and-6. However, they then immediately burned a timeout after again allowing the play clock to run to 1-second before running a play. Nevertheless, Lawrence found Strange for an 11-yard gain, extending the drive. The tight end party continued with TE Hunter Long securing back-to-back catches of 11 and 4-yards, with the shorter a redzone touchdown. (Jaguars 14, 49ers 3)

The Jaguars defense then forced a quick three and out, as Dennis Gardeck and Jourdan Lewis made quick tackles for short gains on first and second down and Brock Purdy missing high on third down. After the Parker Washington fair catch of the 49ers punt, the Jacksonville offense took over at their own 30. However, Jacksonville also went three-and-out after Lawrence missed an open Strange high and on the back shoulder on third down, on a pass that was nearly intercepted by 49ers LB Fred Warner on the deflection. San Francisco, with 2:28 to go in the half, moved across the midfield after converting on third-and-10 with a Jake Tounges 14-yard catch, finding the hole in the Jacksonville zone. The Jacksonville defense again held within the redzone, forcing back-to-back endzone incompletions from the 5-yard line, with a 23-yard field goal. (Jaguars 14, 49ers 6)

RB Bhayshul Tuten then returned the following kickoff 54-yards, giving Jacksonville’s offense the ball in scoring range at the San Francisco 47. After driving into the 10-yard line with 15-seconds remaining, Jacksonville had an opportunity to take two shots in the endzone, with no timeouts left. However, Lawrence opted to throw a one-yard checkdown to Travis Etienne, resulting in a spike with two seconds to go in the half. Cam Little made the 26-yard attempt to wrap up the half. (Jaguars 17, 49ers 6)

Halftime Stats:

• Score: Jaguars 17, 49ers 6
• Time of possession: Jaguars 16:41, 49ers 13:19
• Sacks: N/A
• Turnovers forced: Jaguars 2, 49ers 0
• Rushing yards: Jaguars 99, 49ers 51
• Yards per rush: Jaguars 7.1, 49ers 3.9
• Passing yards: Jaguars 132, 49ers 135
• Passing yards per attempt: Jaguars 6.6, 49ers 6.4
• Total yards: Jaguars 231, 49ers 186
• First downs: Jaguars 13, 49ers 10
• Redzone: Jaguars 1-2 (50%), 49ers 0-2 (0%)
• Penalties: Jaguars 6 for 48-yards, 49ers 3 for 26-yards
• Points off turnovers: Jaguars 14, 49ers 0

3rd Quarter

The Jacksonville offense began the half out of sorts, with the offense facing an early third and two. The Jaguars rushed to the line of scrimmage late, snapping the ball with nearly no time on the play clock. With the timing of the blocking just slightly off, Travis Etienne ran into the back of the tight end, slowing his momentum, causing the rush to go for a gain of only one yard. Jacksonville then was flagged for another high leverage delay of game, this time on fourth and 1, forcing the punt.

San Francisco then put together their best drive of the game, with Ricky Pearsall on the sideline, in the blue tent. However, Foye Oluokun was also on the sideline during the end of the drive, in addition to Travon Walker, Eric Murray, and Antonio Johnson, who was injured on the drive. The 8-play, 73-yard, 4:04 drive was capped by a Christian McCaffrey screen for a touchdown. (Jaguars 17, 49ers 14)

The Jaguars offense punted the ball away on the following series, from midfield. However, after the touchback, Maason Smith tipped a first down Purdy pass attempt, intercepted by Devin Lloyd – his second of the game.

Brian Thomas Jr returned to the field on the following series, with Jacksonville just avoiding a turnover as Fred Warner punched the ball away from Travis Hunter after the catch. However, LeQuint Allen was there to recover the fumble allowing for a 44-yard Cam Little field goal. (Jaguars 20, 49ers 14)

The Jacksonville defense was then bailed out by a 49ers third down drop by Jauan Jennings, as he was wide open running across the Jaguars’ zone. The drop occurred after two run stops early in the drive. However, the Jacksonville offense never took the field, as Parker Washington refused to surrender the ball, instead returning it 87-yards for a punt return touchdown. Jacksonville missed the two-point conversion, however. (Jaguars 26, 49ers 14)

4th Quarter

The 49ers’ following drive moved inside of the Jacksonville 30-yard line before Devin Lloyd and the Jacksonville defense stopped San Francisco on a third and three rush. Down by 12, the 49ers opted to go for the touchdown opportunity, passing up on the field goal attempt. However, the fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete, with tight coverage from CB Tyson Campbell. The Jacksonville offense was unable to turn the turnover on downs into points, following up with a three-and-out as Tuten was stopped short on third and 1.

After the Logan Cooke punt fell out of bounds at the San Francisco 8-yard line, McCaffrey had one of his best plays of the day, securing a 29-yard catch and run to move San Francisco to midfield. After a 17-yard catch by Juszczyk, the 49ers caught the Jaguars defense with a timely tight end screen for a 21-yard touchdown. The 8-play, 92-yard, 4:16 drive cut the Jacksonville lead to five points with 7:41 remaining. (Jaguars 26, 49ers 21)

After a 49ers’ penalty on the kick return, the Jaguars drive began at their own 44-yard line. Facing a third-and-one, the offensive line, Hunter Long, and the running back assisted Trevor Lawrence in picking up the first down after the initial surge looked to be short.

Jacksonville’s following third down attempt was then short of the sticks, forcing a 47-yard Cam Little field goal. Little missed the kick wide right, giving the ball to San Francisco at their 37 with 3:32 and two timeouts. Arik Armstead shut down any hopes of a 49ers comeback, as he forced a sack fumble against his former team, recovered by Foye Oluokun. Jacksonville was able to run out the clock after a Hunter Long first down on third-and-five, with 2:36 remaining. As San Francisco had no timeouts remaining, Jacksonville’s victory was in the secured, with three kneel downs.

Best highlight:

It simply doesn’t get better than Arik Armstead calling game against his former team in their stadium.

Biggest play(s) of the game:

According to rbsdm.com, the biggest play of the game by Expected Points Added (EPA) was Parker Washington’s 87-yard punt return touchdown (+6.1 EPA).

Per rbsdm.com, the biggest play of the game by Win Probability was Armstead’s sack fumble of Brock Purdy (+21% win probability).

Key stats (traditional):

• QB Trevor Lawrence: 21/31 for 174-yards (5.6 YPA), 1 TD pass, 0 turnovers (92.7 passer rating)
• RB Travis Etienne Jr: 19 carries, 124-yards (6.5 YPC), 1 TD, 1 catch for 1-yard on 2 targets
• WR Brian Thomas J:r: 5 catches on 7 targets for 49-yards (9.8 YPR)
• WR Travis Hunter: 3 catches on 5 targets for 42-yards (14.0 YPR), 1 fumble (recovered)
• TE Brenton Strange: 6 catches on 7 targets for 45-yards (7.5 YPR)
• TE Hunter Long: 3 catches on 3 targets for 23-yards (7.7 YPR), 1 TD and a great slide to run the clock
• LB Devin Lloyd: 8 tackles (6 solo), 1 TFL, 2 passes defensed, 2 interceptions
• LB Dennis Gardeck: 3 tackles (3 solo), 1 fumble forced
• DT Arik Armstead: 2 tackles (2 solo), 1 sack, 1 fumble forced
• Fumbles recovered by LB Foye Oluokun, S Andrew Wingard, and RB LeQuint Allen

View the full box score here

Game balls:

• Special Teams: Parker Washington: 87-yard punt return (only return)
• Defense: LB Devin Lloyd: 8 tackles (6 solo), 1 TFL, 2 passes defensed, 2 interceptions
• Offense: 19 carries, 124-yards (6.5 YPC), 1 TD, 1 catch for 1-yard on 2 targets

PFF notables:

The team over at Pro Football Focus noted the following:

•  Parker Washington took over for Brown in both two- and three-receiver sets. This left Hunter running a route on 69.7% of the Jaguars’ pass plays, which was better than the previous two weeks. However, part of this was the Jaguars running fewer pass plays. Hunter has consistently played 37-42 snaps on offense throughout the season. He was targeted on 21.7% of his routes, which was right around his season average. On defense, Hunter only played nine snaps, as Montaric Brown took over as the primary third cornerback in nickel and dime defenses.
• LeQuint Allen played more offensive snaps than Bhayshul Tuten last week because the Jaguars ran an abnormally high number of plays on third downs or in two-minute drills. Also, Tuten wasn’t 100% healthy. This week, Tuten was back ahead, as the playing time largely resembled their Week 2 snaps.

Notable absences:

The following Jacksonville players did not participate in Sunday’s matchup due to noted injuries throughout the week:

• WR Dyami Brown (shoulder)
• OL Wyatt Milum (knee)
• LB Yasir Abdullah (hamstring)

Healthy Scratches:

• RB Cody Schrader
• DT Khalen Saunders Sr.
• DL Danny Striggow
• S Kahlef Hailassie

The following players left Sunday’s game due to injury:

• RT Anton Harrison (elbow)
• DE Travon Walker (wrist)
• S Eric Murray (neck)
• WR Brian Thomas Jr (wrist) – returned

Full highlights:

• You can watch the top plays of the Week 4 matchup on the NFL’s YouTube channel here.

Post-game notables:

1. This Jaguars defense is truly dominant

As coach Coen mentioned in his postgame media availability, Sunday was the Jaguars’ fourth straight game with three turnovers. They entered the week leading the league in turnovers and four on Sunday will likely result in the same entering Monday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs. This defense held Christian McCaffrey to 2.9-yards per carry, forced four turnovers plus a turnover on downs. They picked up the offense when they needed to reset and allowed the team to win the important points off turnovers category (17-0).

2. Special teams comes through in a big way

Jacksonville’s special teams started off shaky with a punt return downed in the endzone and a kickoff caught while heading out of bounds. However, the return units picked up in a huge way afterwards with Bhayshul Tuten’s 54-yard kick return led to 3-points before halftime and Parker Washington’s 87-yard punt return added another 6. 9 points directly from special teams play in a 5-point win speaks volumes. It wasn’t perfect, with a Ray Lane kick catch interference and a second missed Cam Little field goal among the other notables, but that’s winning special teams play, when points are put on the board.

3. Situational awareness may still need improvement

While the day was less than perfect, it did end in victory. Notably, the Jaguars struggled with third down penalties:

• Tyson Campbel illegal contact
• 3rd and 1 delay of game (also wasted a timeout following the delay of game)
• 4th and 1 Walker Little false start, that was also a delay of game
• 3rd down Robert Hainsey false start

In total, Jacksonville again struggled with penalties, albeit in a winning effort. 12 penalties for 90-yards are tough to overcome. The Jaguars did just that on Sunday. Enjoy your Victory Monday, Duval.

As a note, there will be no Jaguars, 49ers rewatch observations this week due to a conflict. The re-watch series will continue on Tuesday following Monday Night Football. What are your thoughts from tonight’s game, Jaguars fans? Who surprised you most or disappointed you with their play tonight? Let us know in the comments.