CINCINNATI - The Jacksonville Jaguars ended a seven-year winless stretch against the Cincinnati Bengals with a 22-17 victory at Paycor Stadium Sunday, snapping a four-game series losing streak on the strength of two Joe Burrow interceptions and a dominant defensive performance that held Cincinnati to just 23 rushing yards.

The win was the Jaguars’ first against the Bengals since 2019 and ended a streak in which Jacksonville went 0-3 against Cincinnati with Trevor Lawrence at quarterback - all three losses decided in the final 18 seconds or overtime. The Bengals had beaten the Jaguars 31-27 in Cincinnati in Week 2 last season, a game Jacksonville led until 18 seconds remained.

“It felt good,” Lawrence said. “If you look at all different games we’ve played, they all went about like today went. It was a big win for our team. It feels good to beat those guys, but it just feels good because it was the next one. It was good to get another win, keep it rolling to win a tough game in a tough environment.”

Cornerback Jourdan Lewis’ 45-yard interception return to the Bengals 18 set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence to wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., giving Jacksonville a 13-3 lead late in the second quarter. Linebacker Foyesade Oluokun then intercepted Burrow at the Jaguars 10 to preserve a 16-10 lead early in the fourth quarter - the team’s third red-zone interception in as many games. The Jaguars now have eight takeaways through four games this season after recording 31 all of last season.

“It’s an identity piece,” head coach Liam Coen said of the takeaways. “It’s a pillar of our defense. It’s something that they practice over and over and over again on a daily basis: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It’s every single day. The players take it personally. They take it seriously and they know it’s an edge for us. They know it’s something that can help us win football games and I’d like to believe it’s part of our DNA at this point.”

The game was marred by penalties on both sides. Jacksonville was flagged 13 times for 125 yards, with 10 penalties for 100 yards coming in the second half alone. Three scoring plays were wiped out in the first two quarters, including two touchdown runs by running back Bhayshul Tuten and an interception by cornerback Travis Hunter. Cincinnati was penalized 11 times for 108 yards. “It was pretty insane, just the whole day,” Lawrence said. “Both teams, it was insane how many penalties were out there. There’s stuff we have to clean up. We have to be sharper. But for us to just keep playing the next play on both sides of the ball, I think this was a good example of that.”

Second-year cornerback Travis Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, played every defensive snap with starters Montaric Brown and Christian Braswell sidelined by hamstring and knee injuries, respectively. Hunter finished with two passes defensed and four tackles, with a first-half interception negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty on defensive tackle Arik Armstead. “He played his ass off today,” Coen said. “He had the pick that gets called back. He had a ton of PBUs. He had a huge tackle. I just thought Trav balled today.”

Thomas caught two passes for 17 yards, including the 7-yard scoring grab with 1:23 remaining in the first half. Coen pushed back on any suggestion Thomas had been underused. “Everybody’s going to try to continue to create a narrative any time it isn’t Star Day for somebody,” Coen said. “All he continues to do is stay the course and he showed up in a major way for us today.” Lawrence echoed that confidence: “I have so much faith in that guy. There’s so much more still that he brings to the table that we have to bring out.”

Jacksonville returns home for its Week 5 game, looking to build on a 22-17 road win that moved the team to 3-1 on the season.