JACKSONVILLE — It was the type of night time the place Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence may fall down, journey, stand up and nonetheless run in for the successful landing with 23 seconds left to beat the Chiefs.
The type of night time the place a tipped cross may bounce off the palms of three totally different Chiefs defenders and fall incomplete, permitting the Jaguars to start an extended comeback. The type of night time the place a goal-line throw from Patrick Mahomes turns right into a 99-yard interception return by Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd.
And it was the type of night time the place Kansas Metropolis dedicated 13 penalties for 109 yards — the staff’s highest totals since 2019 and 2018, respectively — because the Chiefs took a 31-28 loss to the Jaguars to fall to 2-3 this season.
“We gave this sport away,” stated defensive deal with Chris Jones, who watched as Lawrence scored the ultimate landing. “So many errors by us. So many issues we may have completed in another way … I put it on us as a protection. We’ve got to complete. We’ve got to carry him down on that.”
The Chiefs (2-3) have now misplaced to a few strong groups within the Chargers (3-2), Eagles (4-1) and Jaguars (4-1). However Kansas Metropolis was the kings of one-score video games final season, going 12-0 in such contests on the way in which to a Tremendous Bowl, and this 12 months’s staff is now 0-3 in such video games, on the opposite finish of the identical slender margin.
“Clearly, it sucks,” Mahomes stated. “You let a sport slip away, Credit score to them. They performed arduous your entire sport. They closed it out on the finish, and it sucks everytime you get a lead like that and you are not capable of maintain it the remainder of the sport.”
Early on, it appeared a straightforward night time for the Chiefs, as Mahomes threw a 2-yard landing to tight finish Travis Kelce, then ran 9 yards for a rating of his personal and a 14-0 lead. Early within the second quarter, the Jaguars went for it on fourth-and-goal on the 1, and Lawrence leaped and reached the ball out, solely to have it poked out by linebacker Nick Bolton, inches wanting a landing.
In the identical finish zone, the sport slipped by way of the Chiefs’ palms, as a Lawrence cross bounced off his receiver, caromed excessive off nook Trent McDuffie, then was bobbled by Bolton and Drue Tranquill earlier than falling to the bottom, Tranquill laying face down for a second in disbelief.
In the identical finish zone, after the Jaguars had tied the sport at 14-14, the Chiefs had been on the 3-yard line when Mahomes threw a cross that was picked off by Lloyd — his NFL-best fourth choose in 5 video games — and returned 99 yards for a landing. Kansas Metropolis would rally again for a 28-24 lead on two Kareem Hunt touchdowns, so one final defensive cease would seal a troublesome highway win.
However Harrison Butker’s kickoff went out of bounds, letting the Jaguars begin on the 40. A defensive cross interference penalty in the long run zone negated a Chiefs interception and set the Jaguars up on the 1. From there, Lawrence stumbled and fell within the backfield, tripped as he tried to stand up, and nonetheless was capable of gather himself and dive into the tip zone for the go-ahead landing.
“It type of talks about our complete total season,” Mahomes stated of the self-inflicted nature of Sunday’s loss. “We’ve got the blokes, and we have executed at sure components of the sport, appeared actually good, after which we crush ourselves with penalties and errors and interceptions or fumbles, no matter that’s. We have type of completed that to ourselves all 12 months lengthy. On this league, it is so shut that these change video games. We have to be higher. We have misplaced too many video games already.”
Kansas Metropolis does not have time to lick their wounds, as they need to flip round and put together for a sport Sunday night time in opposition to Detroit, 4-1 and the highest-scoring staff within the league.
Additional proof that it simply wasn’t the Chiefs’ day — Lawrence’s game-winning landing got here within the remaining hour of his twenty sixth birthday, a day after Kelce turned 36. Requested to speak to reporters at his locker after the loss, Kelce declined.
“At this time is not the day,” he stated. “They only ruined my birthday.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports activities. He beforehand spent a decade masking the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Occasions and The Athletic. You possibly can observe him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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