Jaguars stumble in 2nd half as fumble helps pave way to 20-17 loss at Miami

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Up by 10, on the road, late in the third quarter, with the football and driving deep into opponent territory. Everything was going Jacksonville’s way. All the Jaguars had to do was avoid the big mistake.

And then came the big mistake.

Jaguars running back Travis Etienne fumbled the ball away a step from the goal line late in the third quarter, Miami recovered in the end zone and the game immediately changed. Miami scored one play later on an 80-yard touchdown reception by Tyreek Hill, sparking a comeback, and the Dolphins went on to beat Jacksonville 20-17 in the opener for both teams on Sunday.

“Just kind of tale of two halves, really,” Jaguars coach Doug Pedersen said. “We made plays in the first half. They made plays in the second half. Credit them.”

Jacksonville led 17-7 at the half, with a field goal by Cam Little on the final play of the second quarter pushing the lead to double digits. The Jaguars had won 13 consecutive games when leading at the half and had gone 17-1 since the start of the 2017 season when leading by 10 or more points at halftime.

Everything looked great.

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Until it didn’t.

The Jaguars lost 16 fumbles in 2023, second most in the NFL behind only the New York Jets’ 18. None of that was Etienne’s fault; he hadn’t lost one since Dec. 18, 2022 — more than 300 carries before the one that got away Sunday.

There was nobody in front of Etienne, just the goal line and the potential for a three-score lead with 17 minutes remaining. Miami’s Jevon Holland came from Etienne’s left and punched the ball free just inside the Miami 2-yard line, and it skipped into the end zone.

“That had to be the play of the game,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said of Holland’s takeaway. “You’re talking about a gigantic flip in points and momentum. It was really cool to see a guy, when the opportunity came, he made his play and the team desperately needed it.”

Dolphins defensive back Kader Kohou recovered the fumble, a largely silent building had life again and Jason Sanders’ 52-yard field goal with no time remaining gave Miami its first — and only — lead of the day.

“I just told him keep his head up,” Pedersen said. “He’s a good player. We’re going to give him the football a lot this season. It’s Week 1. Learn from it.”

The takeaway was the break Miami needed on an exceptionally odd day for the Dolphins. The morning started with Hill getting detained by Miami-Dade police following a traffic stop near the stadium, so close to it that fans driving in were able to get video of a handcuffed Hill facedown on the roadway while officers restrained him.

But in the end, they were the happy ones. And it was the Jaguars wondering how they let Week 1 end with a loss.

“Just kind of gave it away,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “There’s going to be a lot to learn from. Week 1, it’s early. Got a lot of confidence in the group we have. We’ve got a really good team but we can’t give games away, especially against another good team — which is going to be every week. So, definitely disappointing.”

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