That the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-20 in the divisional round of the playoffs was not entirely surprising.
The surprising thing was that the Jaguars were in the playoffs at all. Just one 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, and then managed to find the postseason after a 2-6 start in 2022. Then, Pederson’s team got this far by overcoming a 27-0 second-quarter deficit in the wild-card round against the Los Angeles Chargers. Their eventual 31-30 win was the third-largest postseason comeback the NFL has ever seen.
Thing is, the Jaguars had their chances, and they almost pulled off the upset at Arrowhead Stadium. There were just a few plays that got in the way. The Jaguars will have the entire offseason to consider the ramifications of these plays, but they should also consider what a remarkable comeback they had — and how well they’re set up for the 2023 season and beyond.
That said, here are the plays that turned the tide in the Chiefs’ favor.
Christian Kirk's dropped pass.
With 2:34 left in the first half, and the Jaguars down 17-7, Trevor Lawrence had receiver Christian Kirk nailed downfield with a great deep throw over two Kansas City defenders. Unfortunately, Kirk couldn’t bring it in.
Le drop catastrophique de Christian Kirk… pic.twitter.com/czyHhsLaU7
— NFL ARENA (@NFL_Arena) January 21, 2023
Eight plays later, kicker Riley Patterson booted a 41-yard field goal to make the score 17-10, but that was a lot of meat left on the bone right there.
Harrison Butker's face mask tackle.
The Jags were down 17-7 halfway through the fourth quarter, and they needed to respond to Patrick Mahomes’ touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. On the subsequent kickoff, return man Jamal Agnew nearly did all by himself. Agnew, who returned three kickoffs in the game for 131 yards and a preposterous 43.7-yard average per return, was one small but crucial tackle from taking it 97 yards to the house.
Sadly for Agnew, he was one kicker’s face mask away from playoff immortality. Harrison Butker got just enough in the way at the very last millisecond.
The rarely seen face mask tackle by punter Harrison Butker to save a TD return. Chiefs Jags. pic.twitter.com/FEP3U2CLfR
— KaleyCo (@J_Kaley) January 22, 2023
Unfortunately for Agnew, his day was about to get a lot worse.
Jamal Agnew's fumble.
Eight plays after Agnew’s near-touchdown, he had another shot at six points that nearly worked out, but didn’t. Agnew had a chance to make the end zone on a short pass from Lawrence, but he fumbled the ball right after gaining control of the ball and making a football move — so yes, even under the NFL’s nebulous rules regarding what is and what it not a catch, this was a catch.
Another look at Jamal Agnew fumble
— Alex 👋 (@Dubs408) January 22, 2023
If Agnew gets to the end zone, we’re talking a 27-24 game with about five minutes left. Which might have made Lawrence a bit more calm on Jacksonville’s final drive.
Alas.
Trevor Lawrence's interception.
Jacksonville’s defense has been reeling all afternoon, but they made a massive stop of Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco with 4:37 left in the game, and Kansas City with third-and-1 at their own 12-yard line. Roy Robertson-Harris and Josh Allen stopped Pacheco for no gain, and Tommy Townshend’s punt gave Jacksonville outstanding field position at their own 46-yard line.
After a four-yard pass to Christian Kirk that put the ball at midfield, Lawrence tried to get a little too cute under pressure, made a boundary throw to Zay Jones that he shouldn’t have, and cornerback Jaylen Watson was there for the dagger.
OH MY GOODNESS @JAYLENWATSON12 pic.twitter.com/v4UrSL7CEK
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 22, 2023
Patterson did kick a 48-yard field goal with 30 seconds left to bring the game to within a touchdown, but the Jags couldn’t catch their onside kick, and that was that.
Doug Pederson is proud of his team, and he should be.
“I just told them I was proud of them for the season they put together,” Pederson said of his team after the loss. “Nobody expected us, the Jaguars, to be in this football game. From the beginning of the season to today. I just told them how proud I was of them for holding together all season long — how they battled and fought through a ton of adversity. I’m proud of the way they battled all season to get to this spot. They battled in this game to get to an onside kick, and then, we’ll see what happens.
“We’re going to learn from this, we’re going to grow from this, and our expectation is to be in these games every year. But this was a good first year for all of us.”
It was just that, though it didn’t end as Pederson or his team would have liked. You should expect to see these Jaguars back in the postseason next year, and maybe next year, all those plays that didn’t go their way will work in their favor.
