JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence followed four interceptions with four touchdown passes – one of the most improbable turnarounds in NFL postseason history – and rallied the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 31-30 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night.
Lawrence engineered the winning drive, highlighted by Travis Etienne’s 25-yard run on a fourth-and-1 play, and put the Jaguars in position for Riley Patterson’s 36-yard field goal on the final play. It capped a 27-point comeback, the third largest in playoff history.
Patterson’s kick barely stayed inside the right upright and set off a raucous celebration for a franchise that had won just four games the previous two years.
This one was mostly a credit to Lawrence. He completed 28 of 47 passes for 288 yards, a shocker considering the way he started.
Lawrence was downright dreadful to begin Jacksonville’s first playoff game since losing in the 2017 AFC title game. He became the third quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw four interceptions in the first half of a playoff game, joining Detroit’s Gary Danielson and Denver’s Craig Morton.
The Jaguars became the first team in the Super Bowl era to win a playoff game with a turnover differential of minus-5 or worse. Teams with that margin had been 0-19.
Lawrence misfired early and often and started getting booed long before halftime. His confidence seemed shot. His swagger appeared gone. All the progress he made in his first season with Doug Pederson as head coach looked like it would be flushed.
But Lawrence never wavered. He connected with Evan Engram, Marvin Jones, Zay Jones and Christian Kirk for touchdowns that increasingly raised the team’s belief in its quarterback and its comeback.
Lawrence added one of the biggest plays when he jumped for a 2-point conversion with 5:25 remaining to make it 30-28 – and put the Jaguars in position to win with a field goal instead of tie.
Jacksonville’s defense responded by sacking Justin Herbert and then forcing a punt. Lawrence took over from there.
49ERS 41, SEAHAWKS 23: Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth score in his playoff debut, leading San Francisco (14-4) to a wild-card win over Seattle (9-9) in Santa Clara, California.
“We’ve got a goal of winning the whole thing,” Purdy said. “We’re in a tournament, so anything can happen. I’ve got such a great team, O-line, receivers, defense, across the whole board, man. It’s not a one-man show. I’m very blessed. Thankful to be here.”
Purdy picked up where he left off in the regular season for the 49ers and showed few signs of playoff jitters by winning his sixth straight start since replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo early in a Week 13 win over Miami.
The Niners advanced to the divisional round where they will host either Minnesota, Tampa Bay or Dallas next weekend.
“When we’re playing our best football, offense is doing our thing, defense is doing their thing, we’re a hard team to beat,” Purdy said. “We know that. We’ve got to just keep clicking on all cylinders.”
Purdy connected on a 3-yard pass to Christian McCaffrey in the first quarter, converted a 1-yard sneak in the third quarter and a 7-yard TD pass to Elijah Mitchell early in the fourth to make it 31-17.
The Niners broke it open when Deebo Samuel took a short pass from Purdy and raced in for a 74-yard score.
Purdy threw for 332 yards – the second most ever for a rookie in the playoffs to Russell Wilson’s 385 in a loss to Atlanta 10 years ago – and he became the first rookie QB ever to account for four TDs in a playoff game.
The Seahawks kept it close for most of three quarters before a strip sack by Charles Omenihu late in the third quarter spoiled a red zone drive.
Purdy then hit Jauan Jennings on a 33-yard pass to set up the TD pass to Mitchell that broke the game open. Purdy tied an NFL record for rookies set by Justin Herbert with his seventh straight game with multiple TD passes.
San Francisco piled on from there.
The loss brought a disappointing end to a surprising season for the Seahawks, who got into the playoffs on the final weekend in their first season after trading away Wilson.
Geno Smith stepped in admirably, throwing 30 TD passes in the regular season and keeping it close for a while in the playoff game thanks to a 50-yard TD pass to DK Metcalf in the first half.
Smith finished 25 for 35 for 253 yards, two TDs and one interception.
The Niners raced out to a 10-0 lead after two possessions getting a field goal on the opening drive and then a 3-yard pass from Purdy to McCaffrey following McCaffrey’s 68-yard run on the second possession.
But Seattle battled back with a 14-play drive capped by Kenneth Walker’s 7-yard run and the deep pass to Metcalf.
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