Trevor Lawrence Bounces Back From First-Half Adversity to Win First NFL Playoff Game

Former Clemson quarterback overcomes four first-half interceptions and throws four touchdowns to lead Jacksonville Jaguars to an improbable 31-30 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night.

© Corey Perrine / USA TODAY NETWORK

From four interceptions in the first half to three touchdown passes in the second half, former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence helped engineer the third-largest comeback in NFL playoff history on Saturday night. 

The Jacksonville Jaguars overcame a 27-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 to give Lawrence and teammate and former Clemson star running back Travis Etienne their first pro postseason victory. 

“You couldn’t write a better script to win a game like that tonight, so it makes it more special, but don’t want to do that again," Lawrence said after the game. 

The second-year QB finished with one of the wildest stat lines you'll see: 28-of-47 passing, 288 passing yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. 

He called the first half when he single-handily helped the opponent build a massive lead, "definitely the worst half of my football life, a lot of people's football life too."

Lawrence, who started the game 4-of-16 passing, threw interceptions on the first two drives of the game for the Jaguars, another later in the first quarter and a fourth to begin the second quarter. It appeared after the Chargers went up 27-0 and kicked a field goal at 4:28 left in the half that the game was over. 

Not so fast. 

"Those guys beside me and the ones on the other side of the ball never lost faith in me," Lawrence said. "That's one thing that makes it easier when you got guys that believe in you no matter what the circumstances are."

Lawrence was able to lead a TD drive right before the half that was critical. He found Evan Engram in the end zone on a 9-yard scoring play to give the Jags some life. Then they came out in the second half, got a stop defensively and went on a 14-play, 89-yard drive that ended with a 6-yard TD pass from Lawrence to Marvin Jones. 

After the Chargers answered with a field goal, their only score of the second half, Lawrence found Zay Jones on a 39-yard scoring strike. The two-point conversion failed but the lead was cut to 30-20 heading into the fourth quarter. 

That's when Lawrence made one of his best throws of the night to find an open Marvin Jones in the end zone for a 9-yard TD pass. After the Chargers were assessed an unsportsmanlike penalty on Joey Bosa, the ball was moved to the 1-yard line, and Jags head coach Doug Pederson opted to send Lawrence over the top for a 2-point conversion that cut the lead to two points. 

The Jacksonville defense got another stop, and Lawrence led the team 61 yards down the field and in position for the game-winning field goal as time expired. It was set up by a 25-yard run on fourth-and-1 by Etienne. 

"When you believe and everybody believes, it's cool what you can accomplish," Lawrence said. "Tonight was one of those games."

Lawrence has played big games his entire life. At Clemson, he led the Tigers to the 2018 national championship in his freshman season and had the program in the College Football Playoff each of his three years on campus.  

He has quite the Rolodex of big wins, and now he's got an NFL playoff victory added to the mix.

"It's up there," Lawrence said. "It's a special one. It's definitely one I'll never forget. There's something about this team, the way we've been able to stick together." 

The Jaguars, who are listed at +2500 to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel Sportsbook, advance to the divisional round, where they'll likely play at AFC top-seed Kansas City, depending on Sunday's results. 

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