The Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday pulled off a remarkable playoff comeback, fighting back from 27 points down to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30, while rookie quarterback Brock Purdy led the San Francisco 49ers past the Seattle Seahawks 41-23 in the NFL playoffs.
A last second, 36-yard field goal from Riley Patterson completed an astonishing turnaround from the Jaguars, who had trailed 27-0 late in the second quarter of the American Football Conference wildcard clash.
It was the third-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history and came after Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence endured a nightmare first half, throwing four interceptions.
Photo: AFP
“They couldn’t have written a better script,” Lawrence said. “We are never out of the fight.”
The game had all the hallmarks of a blowout as the Chargers took advantage of Jacksonville’s turnovers, with a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first quarter from Austin Ekeler.
Asante Samuel had grabbed three of the picks for the Chargers, who extended their advantage to 27-0 with Gerald Everett collecting a nine-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert and Cameron Dicker converting a 23-yard field goal.
Photo: AFP
“I was breaking. Not a good record in the first quarter. I had a couple of interceptions. We were not looking good offensively, but we just kept believing in one another,” Lawrence said.
The Jags gave themselves some hope just before the interval with Lawrence finding Evan Engram with a nine-yard touchdown pass, but there was no sign of what was to come.
Jacksonville began the second half with a 14-play, 89-yard drive that ended with Lawrence finding Marvin Jones in the corner of the end zone.
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY
After a Cameron Dicker 50-yard field goal for the Chargers, Lawrence threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Zay Jones.
With 5 minutes, 25 seconds left in the fourth, Lawrence connected with Christian Kirk and then reached across the line for a two-point conversion.
That left Jacksonville needing just a field goal to complete the stunning result and a 10-play, 61-yard drive left Patterson to convert from 36-yards and set off the wild celebrations.
San Francisco quarterback Purdy, who only took on the starting role last month after injury to Jimmy Garoppolo, became the first rookie quarterback with three touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown in a playoff game.
Putting any early nerves aside, Purdy threw for 332 yards and no interceptions, while running back Christian McCaffrey rushed for 119 yards.
The 49ers made a strong start, opening up a 10-0 lead when McCaffrey rushed three yards into the end zone to finish off a drive that had seen him produce a blistering 68-yard run.
Seattle responded early in the second quarter with Kenneth Walker III’s seven-yard rushing TD.
A 33-yard field goal from Robbie Gould for the 49ers made it 13-7, but Seattle put themselves in front when quarterback Geno Smith found D.K. Metcalf with a 50-yard scoring pass.
Another Gould field goal restored San Francisco’s advantage, but some ill-discipline from the normally rock solid Niners defense allowed the Seahawks to go in at halftime with a 17-16 lead.
However, San Francisco started the second half in emphatic fashion with a 13-play drive ending in a quarterback sneak from Purdy.
Seattle fell further behind when they left Deebo Samuel in acres of space to collect a pass from Purdy and burst down the left for a 74-yard touchdown.
When Smith was picked off by Deommodore Lenoir it was all over for a Seattle team who had snuck into the playoffs when the Green Bay Packers lost their final game of the regular season.
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