It wasn’t a complete surprise that the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-20 in the playoff divisional round.
Surprisingly the Jaguars made it all the way to the playoffs. A year after Urban Meyer became the worst college-to-pro coach in pro football history, the Jags, now led by Coach of the Year candidate Doug Pederson, won the AFC South after everything Meyer did, then managed to find a The playoffs come after a 2-6 start in 2022. Then, Pedersen’s team got there by overcoming a 27-0 second-quarter deficit in a wild-card round against the Los Angeles Chargers. They ended up winning 31-30, the third-largest postseason comeback in NFL history.
The thing is, the Jaguars had a chance, and they almost came out of an upset at Arrowhead Stadium. Only a few plays got in the way. The Jaguars will spend the offseason thinking about the ramifications of those games, but they should also be thinking about how good of a comeback they have — and how well prepared they are for the 2023 season and beyond.
With that said, here are the twists and turns of the drama in the Chiefs’ favor.
Bad pass by Christian Kirk.
(Photo by Jason Hannah/Getty Images)
With the Jaguars trailing 17-7 with 2:34 left in the first half, Trevor Lawrence allowed receiver Christian Kirk to pass receiver Christian Kirk in the frontcourt with a beautiful long shot past two Kansas City defenders Pinned the ball upfield. Unfortunately, Kirk couldn’t bring it in.
Eight plays later, kicker Riley Patterson made a 41-yard field goal to make it 17-10, but that was a lot of meat left on the bone.
Harrison Barker’s mask tackle.
(Danny Medley – USA TODAY Sports)
Trailing 17-7 halfway through the fourth quarter, the Jaguars needed to respond to a touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Marquez Valdez-Scantlin. In the ensuing kickoff, returning player Jamal Agnew did almost everything alone. Agnew returned three kickoffs for 131 yards for an average of 43.7 yards per return, a small but crucial tackle that carried the ball for 97 yards.
Sadly for Agnew, he’s one kicker’s mask away from postseason immortality. Harrison Butker had more than enough in the last millisecond.
Unfortunately for Agnew, life is about to get worse.
Jamal Agnew concedes.
(Danny Medley – USA TODAY Sports)
In the eight plays since Agnew came close to a touchdown, he hit another six and almost made it, but didn’t. Agnew had a chance to get into the end zone on a short pass from Lawrence, but he fumbled after he took control of the ball and played the football — so yeah, even with the NFL’s nebulous rules about what’s not and what’s not a trap, This is a trap.
If Agnew reaches the end zone, we’re talking about a 27-24 game with about five minutes left in the game. That might have calmed Lawrence’s final push against Jacksonville.
Ugh.
Trevor Lawrence’s interception.
(Danny Medley – USA TODAY Sports)
Jacksonville’s defense faltered all afternoon, but they held off Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco with 4:37 left and Kansas City made a three-and-a-point play from their own 12-yard line. Roy Robertson-Harris and Josh Allen stopped Pacheco in vain, and a Tommy Townshend punt gave Jacksonville excellent field position on their own 46-yard line.
After throwing the ball to Christian Kirk for four yards, Lawrence tried to be a little too cute under pressure, making a boundary pass he shouldn’t have made to Zay Jones, where cornerback Jalen Watson took the dagger.
Patterson did kick a 48-yard field goal with 30 seconds left to take the game to a touchdown, but the Panthers couldn’t catch their offside and that was it.
Doug Pederson is proud of his team, and so should be.
(Danny Medley – USA TODAY Sports)
“I just told them I was proud of the season they had together,” Pedersen said of his team after the loss. “Nobody expected our Jaguars to be in this football game. From the start of the season until today. I just told them I was so proud of them for sticking together all season — how they fought and fought through countless adversities.” Fighting. I’m proud of the way they’ve fought all season to get to this position. They fought for offsides in this game and then, we’ll see.
“We’re going to learn from it, we’re going to grow from it, and our expectation is to play these games every year. But it’s a good first year for all of us.”
That was it, though it didn’t end the way Pedersen or his team had hoped. You should expect to see these Jaguars back in the playoffs next year, and maybe next year, all those games that don’t go their way will work in their favor.
Story originally appeared on Touchdown Wire
