Pack it Up: Jaguars Fall to Green Bay in Heartbreaking Fashion

The Jacksonville Jaguars had their fair share of doubters entering a Week 8 home matchup against the Green Bay Packers, and for good reason.

The Packers entered the game 5-2 and with a top-10 offense and defense the boot. Meanwhile, the Jaguars had their backs firmly against the wall, forced to scratch and claw to even get back into the mix of the 2024 season.

But the old issues that have haunted the Jaguars all season crept up again. Penalties at the worst times possible, turnovers, and a flurry of self-inflicted mistakes led to the Jaguars losing 30-27 to drop to 2-6.

To add insult to injury, the Jaguars had each of their starting receivers injured with Gabe Davis (shoulder), Brian Thomas Jr. (chest), and Christian Kirk (shoulder) all leaving the games with injuries. This doesn’t even factor in the Jaguars having left guard Ezra Cleveland leave with an ankle injury and starting cornerback Ronald Darby leave with an ankle injury.

After punting or turning the ball over on their first four drives, the Jaguars’ offense woke up before the end of the first half. Jacksonville took their first lead of the game with 5:10 left in the third quarter, the result of a 14-yard touchdown ti Thomas to cap off a 10-play, 93-yard drive.

Jacksonville’s offense finally found some life on their fifth drive of the day thanks to a 33-yard catch from Christian Kirk and a 12-yard Tank Bigsby run, setting up a six-yard Lawrence touchdown run and making it a 10-7 game with 2:37 left in the half.

It took awhile for each offense to get going, though, largely due to a mix of penalties and self-inflicted mistakes on both sides of the ball.

After each offense traded back-to-back punts, Jordan Love hit the first big play of the day with a 29-yard pass to Romeo Doubs and then another 18-yard gain to Doubs. Through the first quarter, the Jaguars were outgained 108-15.

Rookie cornerback Jarrian Jones ensured the Packers’ first big drive of the game would end without points after recording the first interception of his career in the red-zone. The interception was just the Jaguars’ second this year and their third defensive takeaway overall.

Just a few plays later, though, Trevor Lawrence was intercepted by Xavier McKinney on the Jaguars’ side of the field to set up a three-yard Josh Jacobs touchdown.

After the Jaguars’ third three-and-out in the first four drives, the Packers got on the board again with a Brandon McManus field goal thanks to a 67-yard catch-and-run by tight end Tucker Kraft.

After Thomas’ touchdown gave the Jaguars a 17-13 lead, the Packers offense was orchestrated by Malik Willis due to a groin injury to Love. Willis led the Packers to a scoring drive, highlighted by a 20-yard scramble and then a 38-yard touchdown run from Jacobs.

Jacksonville didn’t get much of a chance to respond, with Lawrence fumbling the ball at the Jaguars’ five-yard line several plays later to set up a Kraft touchdown and a 27-17 Packers lead.

One drive later, Lawrence threw a prayer downfield to Kirk on third-down that resulted in an incompletion and Kirk’s shoulder injury.

Jacksonville did make it a one-score game with 5:36 left thanks to a 47-yard field goal from Cam Little, making it 27-20 and giving the Jaguars a fighting chance. Three players later, Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen split a third-down sack to give the Jaguars the ball with 3:50 left.

Lawrence came out on fire, hitting Parker Washington, Brenton Strange, Evan Engram, and D’Ernest Johnson for big gains to drive to the Packers 19-yard line. Engram then made one of the biggest catches of his career with a leaping 19-yard grab over three Packers defenders to tie it at 27-27.

Moments later, though, the Jaguars hopes were vanquished by a 51-yard catch by Jayden Reed that set up a game-winning field goal from Brandon McManus, dropping the Jaguars at home.

The Jaguars will hit the road next week to play the Philadelphia Eagles.

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