There are three teams in the NFL that are 0-3 to start the 2024 season. Two of them are in the AFC South. The Tennessee Titans moved to 0-3 after their loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and the Jacksonville Jaguars joined the club Monday night as they lost to the Buffalo Bills 47-10 at Highmark Stadium.
Josh Allen and the Bills set the tone early, scoring touchdowns on all five first-half possessions. Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars were able to lead a scoring drive on their second possession, making a 41-yard field goal, but those three points would be the only ones Jacksonville would score in the first half.
Buffalo, on the other hand, scored 34 points in the first half.
"The reality of it is this is who we are," head coach Doug Pederson said. "We're not a very good football team. We have to get it fixed, we have to come up with some answers and we have to do it in a hurry."
The Jaguars didn't register a sack or a takeaway Monday night, and have yet to force a single turnover this season. The Bills had one interception – courtesy of safety Damar Hamlin (the first of his career) – and five sacks. They had a combined six tackles for a loss, eight passes defensed and nine quarterback hits.
Lawrence completed 21 of 38 passes for 178 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked four times. In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Mac Jones came in and completed five of eight passes for 22 yards and was sacked once. The strip sack turned the ball back over to the Bills, who then proceeded to score their sixth and final touchdown of the night.
"I'm not playing as good as I can play – just point blank," Lawrence said. "This was a game where the defense needed us to make some plays to get some momentum, to settle in and keep the ball, to put some points on the board, to give them a little breather. That really hurt us. we have to make the plays. It's that simple. This game is hard, but it's not that hard. We made it look really, really hard today."
The Bills' offense had a dominant performance, as Allen completed 23 of 30 passes for 263 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 8.8 yards per attempt. At halftime, Allen had already completed 22 of 28 passes for 247 yards. The Bills combined to rush for 122 yards on 29 carries, with 81 of those yards and 18 of those carries coming in the second half. Buffalo played in such a methodical and effective manner throughout the game that Jacksonville never had a chance to break their momentum, and the Jaguars' third-quarter touchdown was already too little, too late.
The Jaguars next travel to NRG Stadium to face the Houston Texans on Sunday.
