Trevor Lawrence tripped, got up, and scored a one-yard touchdown with 23 seconds left, turning a near mishap into a game-winning play as the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Kansas City Chiefs 31-28 on Monday night. The victory marked Jacksonville’s first win over Kansas City since 2009, ending an eight-game losing streak against the Chiefs.
Lawrence ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, balancing a performance that included two turnovers. On the go-ahead drive, he completed a 33-yard pass to Brian Thomas Jr. and connected with Dyami Brown for another key gain. A pass interference call on Chamarri Conner set up Lawrence’s improbable touchdown run.
Jacksonville right guard Patrick Mekari accidentally stepped on Lawrence’s foot, causing him to fall in the backfield. But Lawrence quickly recovered and sprinted into the end zone, helped by defenders who paused briefly. The Jaguars had good field position after Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s kickoff went out of bounds, starting Jacksonville’s drive at their own 40-yard line.
“Panic, just sheer panic,” Lawrence said. “We didn’t have any timeouts. I was going to throw it out of bounds, but there was no one around me, so I made a play. It takes all of us: defense and special teams had big moments.” Lawrence finished 18 of 25 for 221 yards, celebrating the win on his 26th birthday.
Patrick Mahomes threw two touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt ran for two more as Kansas City struggled to hold a lead. The Chiefs had won 23 straight games when leading by at least 14 points. Kansas City jumped to a 14-0 lead early, aided by a fumble by Lawrence at the goal line, but Jacksonville fought back to lead 21-14 in the third and 24-21 in the fourth before Mahomes rallied the Chiefs.
Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd, named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September, returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown—the longest interception return by a linebacker in NFL history. Lloyd intercepted a Mahomes pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster and sprinted down the sideline with help from a key block by Josh Hines-Allen, holding off Tyquan Thornton at the five-yard line.
Jacksonville was briefly set back when Lawrence threw an interception early in the fourth quarter, with a missed pass interference call against Jaden Hicks of the Chiefs. But Lawrence’s late heroics secured the win.
“Just keep doing what we’re doing,” Lawrence said. “Our process is working, but there’s still so much we can improve on.” The Jaguars improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Chiefs fall to 2-3.
