W2L4: How Bengals Beat The Heat, Jaguars and Start 2-0 For First Time Since 2018

Jaguars (1-0) at Bengals (1-0) Sunday, Sept. 14 at Paycor Stadium (FieldTurf CORE), 1 p.m. ET, TV: CBS-WKRC Ch. 12 (Cincinnati) Chris Lewis, Logan Ryan, Tiffany Blackmon. Radio: Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham. WEBN-FM (102.7 FM), ESPN1530

CINCINNATI – The Bengals look to check another unchecked box in the Zac Taylor era Sunday when they host Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2025 home opener at Paycor Stadium.

The Bengals have never opened a season 2-0 in the six previous seasons during the Zac Taylor era and in the five previous campaigns of Joe Burrow as the starting quarterback, going 0-6 in Week 2 since 2018.

But the Bengals have that chance this week, after posting a nail-biting 17-16 win over the Browns in Cleveland last week.

The weather will be an issue as temperatures are expected to soar into the low 80s, with it feeling much warmer on the turf.

“One o’clock, it’s gonna be really hot, preparing our guys for that, hydrating, (taking) DripDrop,” Taylor said. “That’s my focus right now.”

Last Sunday’s effort was spearheaded by the defense in the second half, as Cincinnati held the Browns scoreless on their final six possessions and had two interceptions in that stretch. The first pick came from safety Jordan Battle, who secured a ricocheted pass in the third quarter to set up a short field for the Bengals’ offense. Cincinnati capitalized seven plays later with an Evan McPherson field goal which gave the Bengals a one-point lead and proved to be the final points of the afternoon.

Battle, who is in his third pro season in 2025 and first as a full-time starting safety, finished with a career-high 12 tackles in
addition to the takeaway. The second interception occurred with 1:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Browns driving to potentially win the game, when CB DJ Turner II collected his first career pick in similar fashion to Battle. The play ended a drive that reached Cleveland’s 42-yard line, and allowed Bengals QB Joe Burrow and the offense to bleed most of the remaining clock. The victory was essentially sealed when P Ryan Rehkow delivered a 49-yard punt that was downed at the Browns’ one-yard line with under 20 seconds left.

Cincinnati’s defensive performance also included just 49 rushing yards allowed (2.0 per attempt) and two sacks. DT B.J. Hill contributed in both areas, notching his first sack of the year while also helping anchor the run defense alongside free agent acquisition T.J. Slaton Jr. The other sack went to DE Trey Hendrickson, who improved his league-leading tally to 36.0 sacks since the start of the 2023 season.

“Our guys did a great job finishing the game and closing it out,” said head coach Zac Taylor on the defense in the second half. “Getting the two turnovers, getting a turnover on downs on the fourth-and-five — just a lot of really good stuff to close out the game from our defense.”

On the other side of the ball, the Bengals’ offense was held to just 141 net yards on the day, but managed to build an early lead with two methodical TD drives in the first half.

The unit opened the game with a 12-play, 68-yard march capped off by HB Chase Brown’s five-yard rushing score, and then in the second quarter Burrow connected with recently acquired tight end Noah Fant for a one-yard passing TD. And although the Browns limited Burrow to 14 completions and 113 passing yards, the Bengals QB acknowledged the primary outcome for the day was a winning result, particularly after a 2024 season in which Cincinnati dropped seven games by a one-score margin.

“We found a way to win,” said Burrow. “We didn’t win any of these games last year, and so usually when you can win a game like this, that’s a recipe for success. It means you’re going to be a good team if you can find a lot of different ways to win, and we did today.”

Both Taylor and Burrow stated their expectation for the offense to regain its form from last season, when Cincinnati led the NFL in net passing yards per game (272.9) and ranked ninth in the NFL in total yards per game (365.5). The first opportunity to do so comes against a Jacksonville defense that allowed just 10 points in its season-opening win over Carolina.

Sunday’s contest marks the second installment of the Bengals’ “Open in Orange” tradition at Paycor Stadium. The celebration began last year in the home opener against New England, and features the team sporting its orange uniform while fans are encouraged to wear orange apparel as they get their first look at the Bengals in Cincinnati.

The Bengals can only hope the result is different than the 16-10 letdown loss to the Pats.

Here’s what to look for:

• When the Bengals have the ball:

After gaining just seven yards, one first down and scoring three points in the second half last Sunday on six possessions, the offense looks to rebound against the Jaguars. Jacksonville’s defense held the Carolina Panthers to 10 points and 255 yards last Sunday in a 26-10 win. Ja’Marr Chase had just two catches on five targets for 26 yards. Two-way first-round pick Travis Hunter could see more snaps on defense this week after playing just six of 64 defensive snaps last week. Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun had 10 tackles, one interception and one forced fumble. The Jaguars defensive front is another formidable one that the Bengals will have to account for, led by tackle Arik Armstead, and edges Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen. This could be another game to get Chase Brown involved early on the perimeter to stretch the Jaguars defense and test the Jaguars secondary.

• When the Jaguars have the ball:

After hearing endless questions in the preseason about their ability to stop anyone, the Bengals defense won the game last Sunday by holding the Browns to six points in the second half and not allowing any runs of more than five yards all day. The Browns averaged 2.0 yards a carry. The Jaguars come into the game with one of the most explosive backs in the game in Travis Etienne Jr., a teammate of Tee Higgins on the Clemson national championship team of 2018. Of course, the quarterback on that Clemson team was Trevor Lawrence, who will be calling the signals Sunday. Etienne went off for 143 yards on 16 carries last week, including a 71-yard touchdown run that set up a Jaguars touchdown right before the half. Lawrence was 19-of-31 for 178 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. The Bengals are 3-0 against Lawrence in head-to-head matchups, including a 34-31 overtime decision on Monday Night Football in 2023. How will Cam Taylor-Britt bounce back this week going up against the likes of Brian Thomas Jr., the 2024 first-round pick out of LSU? Then, of course, there’s Travis Hunter, the wide receiver. In his first NFL game last week, playing 42-of-66 snaps, he caught six passes on eight targets for 33 yards.

• Bottom Line:

The Bengals, offensively, will have to execute at a much higher level to defeat an up and coming Jacksonville team under first-year coach Liam Coen, someone Zac Taylor has great respect for and knowledge of from their days together with the Rams in 2018, when Taylor was the quarterbacks coach and Coen worked with the receivers. The Jags won their first game under the 39-year-old Coen last week against the Panthers. Sam Hubbard is the Ruler of the Jungle and this might a good day for his replacement Shemar Stewart to get his first NFL sack that he just missed last week in Cleveland. Putting pressure on Trevor Lawrence and repeating the run defense of last week would be a good place to start. The Bengals come away with a Hubbard “muscle flex” over the Jaguars, finding a way to get their offense in gear. Bengals check another box and beat the heat and the Jags.

Bengals 30, Jaguars 22