The Kansas City Chiefs had a chance to earn their third straight win and establish themselves as co-leaders in the AFC West, but the Jacksonville Jaguars had other ideas, edging out the Chiefs, 31-28.
The game featured a wild final scoring play by the Jags in which quarterback Trevor Lawrence tripped, fell and stumbled while getting up after being stepped on by his left guard before finishing out the twisted one-yard run. The victory helped the 4-1 Jags keep pace with the surprising Indianapolis Colts atop the AFC South.
The game played out as a tough battle between contenders. The Chiefs raced out to an early two-touchdown lead on a short touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to tight end Travis Kelce, followed by a nine-yard run by Mahomes, who remains the Chiefs improbable rushing leader after five games.
But Jacksonville slowly mounted a comeback. Led by Lawrence, they cut the halftime margin to 14-7 with a three-yard touchdown pass to receiver Parker Washington, and the Jaguars quarterback tied the game in the third quarter with a ten-yard run of his own.
The next score came courtesy of Jacksonville cornerback Devin Lloyd, who showed why he was named Defensive Player of the Month for September with a 99-yard pick-six off Mahomes.
The Chiefs tied the game at 21 when running back Kareem Hunt ran it in from six yards out after a controversial interception by Trent McDuffie as the officials missed a seemingly obvious pass interference by Chiefs safety Jaden Hicks. Hunt’s TD set the stage for the back-and-fourth, fourth-quarter finish.
Mahomes countered a Jacksonville field goal with an 86-yard drive that Hunt finished off from two yards out to put Kansas City ahead, 28-24. But Lawrence celebrated his 26th birthday with an impressive final drive that featured a 33-yard strike to receiver Brian Thomas Jr., along with another big throw to receiver Dyami Brown.
A crucial interference penalty by safety Chamarri Conner negated an interception by cornerback Bryan Cook, setting up Lawrence for his stumbling, bumbling one-yard run.
The game ended up being a mano a mano match between Mahomes and Lawrence. Mahomes ended up with 318 yards passing and a touchdown throw while going 29 for 41, and he added 60 yards rushing. Lawrence, meanwhile, went 18 of 25 for 221 yards with 54 yards rushing. Lawrence scored twice on the ground, Mahomes once, and both quarterbacks threw interceptions.
Both made big mistakes as well. Lawrence’s final run made up for an earlier goal-line fumble, while the Mahomes pick-six gave Jacksonville the edge late in the third.
“We like to make things very interesting,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen said to ESPN after the game. “But the resiliency is really what I think this team has."
Jacksonville rookie Travis Hunter also made his biggest impact so far as a receiver. The two-way player had a 44-yard reception in the third quarter, along with an impressive 12-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter as he showed some serious moves.
The final run by Lawrence definitely didn’t go over well with the Chiefs, and it left star defensive end Chris Jones lamenting the team’s ability to close out this game.
“We’ve got to finish that play," Jones said. "It was a fluke play for him to be able to break that many tackles. I put it on us as a defense. We’ve got to finish. We’ve got to bring him down right there.”