Game Recap – Jacksonville Jaguars at Washington Commanders

September 12, 2022

by Noonefromtampa

Washington wins 28-22

First Half

Washington won the coin toss and deferred until the second half, which means the Commanders started on defense. The defense did not look good in the first series, getting called for two penalties (one declined) and allowing three plays of 15 or more yards, including a 25 yard pass to Christian Kirk, a 15-yard pass to Zay Jones, and a 22-yard run by J Robinson. Trevor Lawrence missed a wide-open Travis Etienne, who ran by Jamin Davis, so the Jaguars had to settle for a field goal.

On Washington’s first series of the game, Carson Wentz missed a wide-open Jahan Dotson but made up for the errant first throw with completions of 13 yards to Curtis Samuel, 22 yards to Amari Rogers and 26 yards to Antonio Gibson. Samuel caught a three yard touchdown pass from Wentz to give the Commanders a 7-3 lead.

On the next defensive series Phidarian Mathis suffered an apparent left knee injury and was carted off the field.  Then, Benjamin St-Juste blitzed, which led to an intentional grounding penalty on Lawrence. This created a third and long, on which Jonathan Allen sacked Lawrence. This is a huge difference over last year when the defense could not get off the field on third down.

Washington then went on another long offensive series of 16 plays and 54 yards, which took 7:31 off the clock. The drive started with a first down completion to Samuel. On the next play, Dotson lost ten yards on an end around play.  The offense was able to overcome that mistake thanks to a series of short runs and intermediate pass plays.  They were also aided by a roughing the passer penalty. Wentz hit Dotson on a seven-yard touchdown pass.

The Washington defense then held Jacksonville to a three and out on next series. Washington followed that up with their worst offensive series of the first half, a three and out in which Wes Schweitzer came out with a hamstring injury, Saahdiq Charles was at guard, and the player he was blocking knocked down the second down pass attempt.  Tress Way punted 42 yards to the Jaguars 29 yard line.

Jacksonville was able to put together a drive aided by two defensive penalties on Kendall Fuller which gave the Jaguars first downs. Etienne had couple big plays with a 12 yard run and a 23 yard pass but on on 4^th down he dropped a certain touchdown catch.

On their next series, Washington went on 59 yard drive behind runs from Gibson and catches by J.D. McKissic and Gibson, moving the ball to the Jaguars 39 yard line. However, Samuel fumbled the ball on a designed inside run.

Lawrence was able to drive the Jaguars with completions to Marvin Jones Jr, Zay Jones and Kirk. Etienne lost 5 vyards with a backward fumble out of bounds after a hard hit by Darrick Forrest.  Riley Patterson missed a 34 yard field goal with only seconds remaining on the clock, hitting the right upright. Washington decided to run out the clock.

Washington 14, Jacksonville 3

Second Half

The Commanders started with the ball on the first series but outside of a Gibson 11 yard run for a first down not much else went well. Wentz took an 8 yard sack and Washington only picked up 6 yards on third and twenty.

Jacksonville was able to score their first touchdown on the next series behind a 49 yard pass completion to Kirk followed up by a 13-yard completion also to Kirk. Lawrence hit James Robinson for a 3-yard touchdown pass. The Jaguars elected to attempt a 2 point conversion which failed.

On their next series, the Commanders picked up one first down before having to punt. Jacksonville was able to move the ball on a penalty filled series to pick up a 43 yard field goal. Forrest was called for unnecessary roughness on a helmet to helmet hit which appeared to be initiated by Jamal Agnew lowering his head. The drive stalled after a holding penalty on the Jaguars, and they were unable to convert on third down.

The wheels then fell of the proverbial bus. Wentz threw interceptions on back-to-back series which led to 10 points for the Jaguars. After staring down Dotson, Jaguars picked off the pass. That led to a 31 yard drive and a 45 yard field goal. The drive stalled after Lawrence picked up his second intentional grounding penalty which led to a 12 yard loss. On the next series, Wentz tried to throw an inside screen to Gibson, Travon Walker, the 2022 first overall pick, intercepted the pass. This led to an 11 yard touchdown run by Robinson on the next play for a 22-14 lead.

Unlike prior years, the Commanders found the fortitude and strength not to give up and instead fought their way back. On the next series Wentz hit Logan Thomas for a 27 yard pickup. Then, Terry McLaurin, who to this point had been held to one catch in the game, got behind two defenders for a 49 yard touchdown from Wentz. The two-point conversion was no good. After a 27 yard run by Etienne, Washington was able to hold the Jaguars thanks to a Daron Payne sack of Lawrence on third down to force a punt.

On the next series, Washington got the ball back on their own 10 yard line with around seven minutes left in the game. After starting out trading penalties, Washington was able to start moving the ball. Wentz was able to complete passes to several different players while Gibson and Samuel were able to pick up yards on the ground. On third and eight from the Jaguars 24 yard line, Wentz found Dotson in single coverage and hit him for a one-handed catch over the defense for a touchdown.

Darrick Forrest was able to intercept a Lawrence throw under pressure from Montez Sweat. The Jaguars then sealed their own fate by going offsides on Washington on third and two, enabling the Commanders to run out the clock.

Washington 28, Jaguars 22

Game Thoughts

Carson Wentz was up and down. He threw for 313 yards and 4 touchdowns but also threw two picks which led to 10 Jaguars points.

Darrick Forrest game up big in replacing the injured Kamren Curl. He had some big hits, two passes defended and an interception to help seal the game.

Jahan Dotson had two touchdowns in his first NFL game with 3 receptions on 5 targets for 40 yards.

Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen consistently put pressure on the quarterback up the middle and knocked down several passes.

Washington will need to reduce the mistakes to beat teams better than the Jaguars.