There really is something magical brewing down in Jacksonville. The Jaguars pulled off the 3rd largest comeback in NFL history as they came back from down 27-0 to win their first playoff game in 6 years 31-30, sending them into the Divisional Round.
That’s how you start off a new era of playoff football in Jacksonville.
From having one of the all-time worst first half performances by any team in NFL playoff history to then following it up with one of the greatest second half performances in NFL playoff history, Trevor Lawrence, Doug Pederson, and the rest of the Jags franchise should be applauding themselves for their determination and fight.
There hasn’t been a Jaguars team in franchise history to show the character this Jags team has as they not only climbed out of a 27-point deficit in this game, but they also overcame a 3-7 start to the season to even be in the playoffs. Doug Pederson really has brought his Philly’s teams swagger and grit into his Jags, which is something the organization has needed.
Yet, I can’t help but say the Chargers once again proved that they are the most cursed organization in the NFL.
Despite being gifted 4 1st half picks from Trevor Lawarence (3 of them went to Asante Samuel Jr.) and 5 Jaguars turnovers in general, the Chargers still somehow ended up getting blown out 24-3 in the final two quarters.
Justin Herbert had decent game with 25/43 completions for 273 yards and 1 TD, while Gerald Evertt (6 REC, 109 yards, 1 TD) and Keenan Allen (6 REC, 61 yards) also stepped up in the passing game with each having 6 receptions and over 60+ receiving yards.
However, to only score 3 points in 30 minutes of playoff football (and 0 in the 4th quarter) is not only embarrassing, but it is flat out disrespectful and intolerable to the Chargers fans and the organization as a whole. There’s no justifiable reason why Austin Ekeler (13 CAR, 35 yards, 2 TDs), who was killing the Jags in the 1st half with 2 TDS, ended this game with only 13 carries and the entire running game finished with just 67 yards.
The Chargers were WINNING BY 27 POINTS!
Why didn’t someone on the Chargers offense realize that they needed to just run out the clock? Going 3-and-out over and over again with three straight run plays would literally have been more successful in draining the clock than what the Chargers did yesterday. I really didn’t want to make this comparison, but this kind of choke job by Herbert is exactly what Philip Rivers would have done when he was wearing the Bolt.
Yes, the Jags defense played fantastic in the 2nd half as they finished the game with 71 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 TFL, 7 PD, and 10 QB hits, with Josh Allen (8 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 4 QB hits), Foyesade Oluokun (13 tackles, 1 QB hit), and Roy Robertson-Harris (7 tackles, 1 sack, 4 TFL, 2 PD, 2 QB hits) being in particularly impressive, but even that’s not an excuse.
If you are Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense, you can’t say the Jags defense was brilliant and unplayable when you put up 27 straight points on them in the 1st half. You have to win that game no matter what.
Still, I’m not going to blame Herbert completely as the lion’s share of the blame has to fall on Brandon ‘the Buffon’ Staley and his defense. WHAT WAS THAT?!?!
I don’t think I’ve seen a collapse worse than what happened to the Chargers defense last night since the Hindenburg came crashing down to Earth in a ball of flame. How can a defense go from picking off a quarterback 4 TIMES in a single half and practically shutting the opposing offense out (the Jags only scored 7 points) to then give up 4 straight TD passes (one came at the very end of the 1st half) and blow a 27-point cushion?
Despite being a college quarterback (yeah, Staley’s coaching resume makes no sense), Staley’s area of expertise is coaching DEFENSE! This is an all-time embarrassing collapse of epic proportions!
You can’t have Pro-Bowl caliber players like Joey Bosa (who should be ashamed of himself for his performance last night with just 1 tackle), Khalil Mack (3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit), Derwin James (9 tackles,), Asante Samuel Jr. (3 tackles, 6 PD, 3 INTs), Drue Tranquill (5 tackles, 1 PD), and Kyle Van Noy (3 tackles 1 PD) to only get outscored 31-3 in the final 31ish minutes of the game and expect to keep your job.
I don’t care what the Chargers do in the offseason in terms of the roster, but they better fire Staley as soon as their team plane lands in Los Angeles. The way he’s cost the Chargers a playoff spot last season and a spot in the Divisional round this year is disgraceful.
As for the Jaguars, how about Trevor Lawrence and Doug Pederson? These two have one of the best HC-QB partnerships in the league today as even though Lawrence had an all-time awful 1st half, Pederson still relied on him to carry the Jags to victory. And that’s exactly what he did with 28/47 completions for 288 yards, 4 TDs, and 4 INTS, helping set up a game winning 36-yard field goal to send the Jags to the Divisional Round.
Though, I should note, Doug Pederson’s 4th and 1 play call that directly set up the game winning field goal was a work of genius.
Lining up 3 RBs in the backfield as a row of fullbacks to mimic a QB sneak to only have Lawrence give the ball to the outer most back to pick up 20+ yards and the 1st down was a brilliant play call by a mastermind head coach. Like I said in an earlier post, Pederson deserves to the Head Coach of the Year award.
Unfortunately for Jags fans, this win now means they likely have to face off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead in the next round. Yeah, fun matchup.
But that shouldn’t take away the joy all Jags fans deserve from that comeback win as they have earned it by putting up with years of horrible football teams.
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