Miami (AFP) – Trevor Lawrence scrambled for an improbable game-winning touchdown with 23 seconds remaining as the Jacksonville Jaguars scored a dramatic 31-28 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday. Jaguars quarterback Lawrence’s winning touchdown crowned a superb individual performance that saw him make 18-of-25 passes for 221 yards with 10 carries for 54 yards, including two rushing touchdowns. The victory snapped an eight-game Jacksonville losing skid in contests against Kansas City dating to 2009.
“There’s things we can build on but we’re finding ways to win against a really good football team. That’s all you can ask for,” Lawrence said. “Just keep doing what we’re doing. Obviously our process is working. We’ve got to stick to it, come to work every day trying to get better. We’ve done a good job of that. There’s still so much more that we can improve on.”
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Jacksonville improved to 4-1 with a third consecutive triumph, matching Indianapolis for the AFC South division lead, while Kansas City slid to 2-3, one game behind Denver and the Los Angeles Chargers in the AFC West. The Chiefs seek their sixth Super Bowl appearance in seven seasons and fourth in a row while the Jaguars have never reached the Super Bowl.
Cam Little’s 52-yard field goal with 8:08 remaining gave Jacksonville a 24-21 lead, but Patrick Mahomes directed the Chiefs on an 86-yard drive to grab a 28-24 lead after a two-yard Kareem Hunt touchdown run with 1:45 to play. Lawrence, however, was not done. He moved the Jaguars to the Chiefs’ one-yard line on a pass interference penalty on Chamarri Conner, then scored on a wild play. Lawrence took the snap, fell over, rose, evaded two tacklers and dove into the end zone for the winning touchdown with 23 seconds remaining.
“Just panic. Sheer panic,” Lawrence said of the decisive play. “On the ground, we didn’t have any timeouts, got stepped on coming out. I was like, ‘I’ve just got to get up.’ I was going to throw it out of bounds and stop the clock and there was really no one around me, so went and made a play.”
– Chiefs ruled early – Mahomes, who threw for 318 yards, flipped a two-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce to open the scoring. Kansas City denied Lawrence on a one-yard leap for the goal line early in the second quarter and five plays later, Mahomes scored on a nine-yard touchdown run to cap a 97-yard drive for a 14-0 Chiefs lead.
The Jaguars responded with a 70-yard touchdown march ending on Lawrence’s three-yard pass to Parker Washington, and Lawrence’s 10-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter lifted Jacksonville level. Mahomes drove the Chiefs to the Jaguars’ three-yard line but threw an interception to Devin Lloyd, whose 99-yard touchdown return gave Jacksonville a 21-14 lead. Lloyd leads the NFL with four interceptions this season and the Jaguars lead the league in takeaways.
The Chiefs equalized at 21-21 after Lawrence was intercepted by Trent McDuffie and Hunt scored two plays later on a five-yard run.
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