Jacksonville Jaguars Overcome 27-Point Deficit, Stun Los Angeles Chargers

Wildcard Weekend delivered yet another classic. The Los Angeles Chargers humiliated themselves in epic fashion on Saturday night, jumping out to a 27-0 lead mid-way through the second quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars before eventually losing 31-30 on a game-winning 36-yard field goal as time expired. It was the third largest comeback in postseason history.

FINAL - Jaguars 31, Chargers 30 📉

Trailing 27-0 with 3:18 remaining in the 2nd quarter, the @Jaguars had just a 1.2% chance of winning. The Jaguars' late-game comeback goes down as the 5th-most improbable of the season.#LACvsJAX | Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/K1Thyc6OqI
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) January 15, 2023

It was a tale of two halves for Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The former first-overall pick played an absolutely miserable first two quarters, tossing four interceptions and putting his team in what seemed like an insurmountable hole. But no lead is safe in today's NFL. The Chargers defense lilted after setting up their huge lead, missing tackles, leaving wide receivers wide open, and surrending easy score after easy score. Lawrence ended his day netting only 263 yards on 49 dropbacks, but he perservered. It certainly wasn't pretty, but Jaguars fans will remember the night for the rest of their lives.

The Chargers defense will take a beating for the letdown, but they did their job: they delivered five takeaways and many, many short fields. A timid, plodding Chargers offense carries a huge portion of blame. The Chargers sported a preposterous +5 turnover margin, but averaged a mere 4.6 yards per play over 69 snaps and totalled only 18 first downs. Quarterback Justin Herbert dinked and dunked to 253 net passing yards on 46 dropbacks, constantly throwing short of the sticks and settling for short passes all too often. He will be spared scrutiny because he avoided the turnovers that typically define disastrous performances, but it was a thoroughly underwhelming postseason debut for the 2020 NFL Draft's sixth overall pick.

Looking ahead to the Divisional Round, the Jaguars can look forward to a matchup with either the Buffalo Bills, the Cincinnati Bengals, or the Baltimore Ravens. It all depends on Sunday's games. Stay tuned.