The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off the seemingly impossible Saturday, erasing a 27-0 deficit to win 31-30 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
It was the third largest comeback in NFL postseason history and made the Jaguars to first team ever to finish with the worst record in the NFL and win a playoff game the following season.
Everything went wrong for the Jaguars early, and the Chargers never turned the ball over in the second half to give Jacksonville an easy road back into the game.
The Jaguars earned it by forcing punts on defense, and driving the field on offense.
Here are five studs and two duds from the Jaguars’ unlikely victory:
Dud - First half Trevor Lawrence
There are nightmarish starts to games and then there’s whatever the hell happened to Lawrence in the first half.
No player in NFL history had ever finished the first quarter of a playoff game with three interceptions before Saturday. Then Lawrence added one more in the second quarter for good measure.
At the two-minute warning before halftime, Lawrence had a passer rating of 0.0.
While he kept the Jaguars alive with a touchdown pass to Evan Engram late in the second quarter, it was only enough to cut the Chargers’ lead to 20.
Stud - Second half Trevor Lawrence
Lawrence was a whole new player in the second half.
He completed 18 of his 23 passes after halftime for 211 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. That’s a 144.5 passer rating over the last 30 minutes.
Even Tom Brady is 0-6 in his career when he’s thrown four interceptions in a game. Lawrence never flinched, composed himself, and led one of the biggest comebacks in NFL history.
The Jaguars can’t afford to keep having turnover-filled disastrous starts, but a lot was revealed about Lawrence’s character and resiliency in the second half Saturday night.
Stud - Roy Robertson-Harris
Chargers coach Brandon Staley is getting a lot of heat for not running the ball much in the second half. But the Jaguars defensive line deserves a lot of credit for that.
The Chargers were probably hesitant to hand the ball off to Austin Ekeler because just about every time they did, a Jaguars defensive lineman was in the backfield to meet him.
None moreso than Roy Robertson-Harris, who had four tackles for loss, a sack, and two tipped passes Saturday. The Chargers couldn’t keep Robertson-Harris out of the backfield at all.
Stud - Walker Little
The highly-touted duo of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa didn’t do much Saturday.
Mack got to Lawrence once, but that was mostly a coverage sack. Bosa’s biggest contribution to the night were a couple temper tantrums that drew personal foul penalties.
Protecting the blindside of Lawrence was Walker Little, who has been excellent since taking over for Cam Robinson at left tackle.
Walker Little final drive…
That's a 1-on-1 whooping against Khalil Mack 3 plays in a row with the season on the line pic.twitter.com/tYv6zgNOjn
— Ben Fennell (@BenFennell_NFL) January 15, 2023
Little allowed zero pressures on the night, according to Pro Football Focus.
Dud - Logan Cooke
The Jaguars punter had a fantastic regular season, setting a franchise record in yards per punt with a 49.3-yard average.
That wasn’t what Jacksonville got on Saturday night, though.
His first punt was just 32 yards and set up the Chargers near midfield. The longest of the night from Cooke was 46 yards.
It wasn’t a disastrous showing from Cooke, but the Jaguars have come to expect more from their typically fantastic punter.
Stud - Josh Allen
Earlier this week, Jaguars coaches had a lot of praise for Allen after he elevated his play in the last month of the regular season.
That play carried into the playoffs Saturday night when he was a terror for the Chargers.
Allen was credited with three of the Jaguars’ seven hits on Justin Herbert, and — for the fifth time in seven games — he recorded a sack.
He was the highest graded Jaguars player on PFF against the Chargers and Allen is finally back to looking like a player who gives opposing offenses headaches.
Stud - Evan Engram
At this point, there’s really no debate: the Jaguars can’t let Engram leave Duval.
The former Giants first-rounder joined the team on a one-year deal and put together the best tight end season in Jaguars history. Last night, he added another touchdowns and 93 yards on seven receptions.
When the Jaguars receivers are struggling to get open, it’s never a bad idea to dump the ball off to Engram and watch him steamroll through defenders.
The Evan Engram usage in the second half was *chefs kiss* pic.twitter.com/59dFpVX3JX
— JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) January 15, 2023
Whether it’s a hefty extension or even the franchise tag, there doesn’t seem to be any doubt whether Engram will be staying in Jacksonville or not.
