Jaguars' Miracle Comeback Bid Falls Short in Doug Pederson's Eagles Homecoming

The Jacksonville Jaguars fell apart in the final stretch of Sunday's 28-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Nov 3, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) signals to his team during the third quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars knew the stakes of their Week 9 tilt vs. the Philadelphia Eagles.

They also knew the facts surrounding the contest. The Eagles were a surging team that had finally hit their stride, while the Jaguars were entering the game facing a myriad of injuries on the offensive side of the ball.

For the Jaguars to perform the herculean task of taking down a dominant Eagles team, it would take limiting the avoidable mistakes that have plagued the team all season.

That, of course, didn't happen with the Jaguars entering halftime trailing 16-0 and with only 32 yards and one first-down to their name.

This all previewed what was to come, with the Jaguars ultimately 28-23, It was a mix of everything that led to the Jaguars' second loss in a row, dropping them to 2-7. They struggled to run the ball, the receivers had multiple drops and the defense continued to struggle as a tackling unit.

One thing that can't be taken away from the Jaguars is their effort and fight. Despite the costly errors from time to time, the Jaguars scratched and clawed all the way until the final two minutes when Jake Elliott missed a 57-yard field goal to give the Jaguars the ball back with 2:11 left and trailing 28-23.

A pass-interference call and a 22-yard gain from activated practice squad receiver Austin Trammell put them at the Eagles' 13-yard line, but the Jaguars fell apart on the final player as Trevor Lawrence was intercepted by Nakobe Dean.

The Jaguars quickly fell into a 7-0 hole due to a predictable and disastrous self-inflicted mistake, which was directly caused by the Jaguars' injury issues at wide receiver. After the Jaguars forced an early punt on the Eagles' first drive, Trammell fumbled the game's opening punt at the team's own 20-yard line.

The only reason Trammell was on the field in such a key spot, of course, was because the Jaguars lost Christian Kirk to a collarbone injury. With incumbent returner Devin Duvernay also hurt, the Jaguars would have had Parker Washington returning punts.

Shortly after, the Eagles scored their first points in the first quarter all year with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to Saquon Barkley. Barkley wasn't done there, either, setting up an Eagles field goal and 10-0 lead with one of the most athletic plays in recent memory.

SAQUON BARKLEY IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.

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— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024

Barkley, of course, didn't stop terrorizing the Jaguars there. After a Trevor Lawrence pass was bobbled by Travis Etienne and intercepted by the Eagles, Barkley scored his second touchdown of the day with a 19-yard score on a 3rd-and-17 red-zone rush.

Jacksonville's offense continued to struggle in the second half, while the Eagles scored their third rushing touchdown of the day with an 18-yard rushing touchdown from Hurts to go up 22-0 early in the third quarter.

The Jaguars didn't record their second first down of the day until 9:14 left in the third quarter via a 16-yard run by Etienne that was quickly followed by an 18-yard gain from Lawrence to Trammell. After Lawrence converted 3rd-and-12 with a completion to Washington, the Jaguars found themselves at the Eagles' 15-yard line.

Jacksonville eventually hit paydirt for the first time on a quarterback sneak from Lawrence, capping off a 61-yard drive that saw the Jaguars pick up five first downs. Thanks to a two-point conversion from Brian Thomas Jr., the Jaguars cut the lead to 22-8.

On the Eagles' next offense play, a Barkley fumble was scooped up by Travon Walker and the former No. 1 pick took it back 35 yards for his first career touchdown. After Lawrence hooked up with Evan Engram for the two-point conversion, the Eagles lead was cut to 22-16 in a matter of minutes.

The Jaguars got a big stop on the next drive by forcing a turnover on downs, but an incomplete pass to Washington on 3rd-and-3 forced a Jaguars punt and gave the Eagles renewed life.

The Eagles responded with two critical throws to DeVonta Smith, with one coming on 3rd-and-6 and one resulting in a 46-yard gain to put the Eagles in field goal territory. Smith then caught a 25-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-16.

Jacksonville fought back on the following drive, with Lawrence overcoming a third-down sack and hitting Brian Thomas Jr. on a 4th-and-13 to keep the drive alive. After a big completion to Engram on the next play, Lawrence notched his second rushing touchdown of the day to make it 28-23 with 4:04 left.

The 2-7 Jaguars will host the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10.

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