From the opening kickoff to the last, almost nothing went according to plan for the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
An opening kickoff return touchdown was erased by penalties. Jacksonville lost its long snapper in the first quarter, committed 13 penalties for the second consecutive week and was stopped twice at the Philadelphia one-yard line. However, the Jaguars somehow still found a way to leave Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a 19-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Jaguars traveled across the pond for the first of two games in London. Sunday marked Jacksonville’s 15th game in London, the most by any franchise.
The Jaguars looked to win their third straight game against a Philadelphia Eagles team that was reeling with injuries. Jacksonville appeared to start off strong as Josh Cameron returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, but the score was erased by a holding call and offsetting penalties during a play that resulted in two ejections.
Penalties have been a problem for the Jaguars, who committed 13 for 100 yards for the second consecutive week. Jacksonville became the first team since the 2011 Seattle Seahawks to win consecutive games despite committing at least 13 penalties in both.
Jacksonville committed three of those penalties on its first offensive drive, getting driven back all the way to second-and-40.
After punting the ball away, the Jaguars’ defense got a fourth down stop that set the offense up in good field position. It took just three plays before Trevor Lawrence connected with Parker Washington for a 51-yard touchdown.
Lawrence and Washington have shown great chemistry throughout the year, and Sunday was no different. Washington had six receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns on the day.
After the second drive, the Jaguars didn’t score again until midway through the third quarter. Jacksonville passed on potential field-goal attempts after all-pro long snapper Ross Matiscik suffered a shoulder injury in the first quarter. Defensive tackle Davon Hamilton was thrust into emergency long-snapping duties for the remainder of the game.
After the Washington touchdown, both teams exchanged punts before the Eagles orchestrated a 13-play drive that took over seven minutes off the clock, ending with Will Shipley’s first career regular-season touchdown on a two-yard run.
The Jaguars’ offense stalled out again, thanks to a stellar first half from Jalen Carter, who recorded two sacks, forced two fumbles, and had three tackles for loss. Carter also logged three pressures against Lawrence in the half.
Jacksonville was forced to punt, leading to Jalen Hurts connecting with Darius Cooper for a 62-yard touchdown pass. The score gave Philadelphia a 14-7 lead.
With a chance to score in a two-minute situation to close the half, the Jaguars drove down the field before eventually getting stopped by Philadelphia at the one-yard line four consecutive plays.
The most notable play of the goal-line set was Brian Thomas Jr. logging another drop, this time in the end zone on a pass that could have tied the game before halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Jaguars’ defense forced a three-and-out, and Jacksonville responded with an 11-play, 69-yard drive that led to a 34-yard field goal from Cam Little with 7:15 remaining in the third quarter. The drive again stalled from penalties after Jacksonville reached Philadelphia territory.
That kick represented the last bit of scoring until the 3:26 mark of the fourth quarter, when Lawrence connected with Washington for a 27-yard touchdown pass on a pivotal fourth-and-five.
The one-handed touchdown came after the Eagles’ defense produced a second goal-line stand on the prior drive. Jacksonville reached the Eagles’ one-yard line twice Sunday and came away with zero points on both possessions.
However, the Lawrence-to-Washington touchdown gave Jacksonville a 16-14 lead. Little missed the extra point after a high snap from Hamilton disrupted the operation.
The Jaguars got a quick three-and-out and regained possession with 2:14 remaining with a chance to ice the game. Jacksonville was only able to muster eight yards on the drive and punted the ball back to Philadelphia with 1:46 remaining after burning just 28 seconds off the clock.
Philadelphia marched into field-goal range, and Jake Elliott kicked a 48-yard go-ahead field goal with just eight seconds remaining in the game.
With eight seconds left, Ameer Abdullah returned the ensuing kickoff 53-yards to the Philadelphia 39-yard line with one second remaining, with the potential to attempt a game-winning field goal.
The 12-year veteran later said, “I just so happened to be able to meet my eyes with the clock and I saw it was just tick from three seconds to two seconds,” Abdullah said. “I just wanted to cover the ball, get down, and luckily we were touched down.”
Abdullah got down with one second still on the clock. The Jaguars had no choice but to trust their emergency long snapper as they attempted a 57-yard field goal.
Hamilton delivered the snap, Logan Cooke got the hold down and Little drilled the 57-yard kick as time expired, giving Jacksonville a 19-17 victory.
Little’s kick extended the Jaguars’ winning streak to three games and moved Jacksonville to 4-1.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will be the home team next Sunday against their division rival Houston Texans. The game will be at Wembley Stadium in London and will kick off at 9:30 A.M. ET. The game can be watched on NFL Network.
