Things looked normal for once for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the end it was the same result for the seventh straight time for the Jaguars as they fall 24-21 to the Buffalo Bills.
Jaguars and Bills were tied 14-14 with under 3 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter.
Jaguars receiver Donte Moncrief had what was initially ruled a 30-yard TD reception at the left pylon. He was on the ground battling for control of the ball with Levi Wallace when a Jaguars player struck Bills safety Micah Hyde from behind.
Players then began shoving each other, with Lawson going after Jaguars running back Carlos Hyde. That’s when Leonard Fournette ran across the field to target Lawson.
They exchanged punches in the left corner of the end zone on the Bills side of the field before eventually being separated.
The game went south for Jacksonville from there.
“I take full responsibility for that,” Fournette said. “We lost the game. We should’ve won this game hands down.”
They might have with the way Fournette was running. He scored twice and had 95 yards rushing before he was thrown out in the third quarter. Lawson was also disqualified.
“I have to be a professional. I mean, you can’t have that,” Fournette said.
The Jaguars (3-8) dropped their seventh consecutive game in their longest losing streak since a nine-game slide in 2016, which led directly to Gus Bradley being replaced by current coach Doug Marrone.
“Wins, losses, penalties, things like that, they all reflect on me,” Marrone said. “So I guess if you want me to say I have to do a better job, then I do. I just wish I could stop it before it starts.”
Buffalo won the game proving they are a team moving in the opposite direction from the Jaguars, led by rookie quarterback Josh Allen who Jaguars corner Jalen Ramsey had critical words to say before Allen began the season.
Ramsey raised eyebrows in August when he referred to Allen as “trash” in an interview with GQ magazine. Ramsey was beaten by Allen on a 32-yard reception by Kelvin Benjamin on Buffalo’s first touchdown drive. Ramsey was also penalized for a facemask while tackling Benjamin.
“I won’t say an empty feeling. I don’t know how to describe it,” Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey said. “It (stinks) losing over and over and over again.”
Allen was far from trash, he finished 8 of 19 for 160 yards and also had a team-high 99 yards rushing. His touchdown pass to Foster was the longest completion for the Bills since Tyrod Taylor hit Marquise Goodwin for an 84-yard TD in Buffalo’s 2016 home-opening loss to the New York Jets.
A day later, the Jaguars fired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett; coach Doug Marrone says QB coach Scott Milanovich will call plays for the rest of the season. The Jaguars are bench QB Blake Bortles for Cody Kessler beginning with Sunday’s game against Indianapolis. And Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette has been suspended without pay for Sunday’s game against Indianapolis for violations of unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness rules in Sunday’s game against the Bills.
The Jaguars started the season 3-1, including a victory over the New England Patriots, but have fallen to 3-8 and are in last place in the AFC South a season after reaching the AFC Championship Game.
Jaguars play host to a hot Indianapolis Colts team next, the Bills visit the Miami Dolphins next
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