Entering their Week 5 London game, the Jaguars and Eagles were in polar opposite situations.
Jacksonville was searching for a third straight win and a 4-1 start to its season while an injury-plagued Philadelphia team looked to stop a two-game skid. But with the Eagles missing running backs Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby along with receivers Devonta Smith and Hollywood Brown, Philly wasn’t able to get its offense rolling in the second half.
Behind an improbable 57-yard game-winning field goal, the Jaguars (4-1) took down the Eagles (2-3) 19-17 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday. It was the second week in a row Philadelphia allowed a fourth-quarter comeback.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence finished with 331 yards and two touchdowns on 24-of-39 passing, while Parker Washington continued to pace the receiving corps with six catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
The game began with fireworks as rookie Josh Cameron housed the opening kickoff return, but a scuffle between rookie Bryan Thomas Jr. and Philadelphia’s Jeremiah Trotter Jr. led to two ejections and a rekick. It would have been the NFL’s first kickoff return touchdown of the season.
Instead, a holding penalty on rookie Emmanuel Pregnon and a forced fumble by Jalen Carter pushed Jacksonville into a second-and-40. The Jags were later forced to punt, but their defense stood tall early as Jacksonville stuffed Philadelphia running back Will Shipley on a 4th-and-1 rushing attempt.
The Jaguars quickly capitalized on that momentum, with Lawrence finding Washington for a 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown to open the scoring. Washington caught the ball right at the line of scrimmage, and great perimeter blocking allowed him to find the end zone with ease. He only needed to break one tackle down the right sideline as he put the Jags ahead 7-0.
Jacksonville’s defense continued to stop the run and limit receivers early, forcing a Philadelphia three-and-out behind great coverage from defensive back Jarrian Jones. Philly had just 21 yards of offense through two drives, but it finally found its footing on its next two.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts led a 13-play, 64-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run by Shipley to tie the game at 7-7, and the Jacksonville defense allowed a 62-yard touchdown strike from Hurts to Darius Cooper to give the Eagles their first lead of the game, 14-7.
The Jaguars attempted to rebound with a 17-play, 68-yard drive before the half but couldn’t find the end zone. Chris Rodriguez Jr. fumbled at the goal line, but with no clear evidence of a Philadelphia recovery, Jacksonville kept the football. Instead of capitalizing on that call, the Jags tossed to Bhayshul Tuten for a loss of six on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, ending the half with the Eagles leading 14-7.
Both teams struggled to get the ground game going, combining for 49 rushing yards in the first half. The Jaguars had 33, and Philadelphia had just 16.
Jacksonville snapped right back into form in the second half, forcing a three-and-out on Philly’s opening sequence and driving downfield themselves. The Jags’ 11-play, 69-yard scoring drive was headlined by third-down catches of 32 and 12 yards by rookie receiver Josh Cameron and tight end Brenton Strange, respectively, but multiple penalties were too much for Jacksonville to overcome. Playing from behind the sticks, the Jags were forced to settle for a 34-yard Cam Little field goal.
Strong coverage by two-way player Travis Hunter forced a turnover on fourth-and-3 the following sequence, but Lawrence threw his third interception of the season. It nearly turned disastrous for Jacksonville as Dontayvion Wicks was wide open down the left sideline, but Hurts just overthrew his receiver, forcing the Eagles to punt.
Jacksonville had a shot at a lead-changing touchdown in the fourth quarter, pushing all the way down to the 1-yard line. Instead, multiple delay-of-game penalties backed the Jags out of scoring range and a fourth-down incompletion resulted in a turnover on downs. But with the Philadelphia offense backed into its own end zone, the Jaguars came away with a three-and-out that got the ball back into the hands of Lawrence with just under six minutes remaining.
On a fourth-and-5 with just over three minutes to play, Lawrence found Washington for a 27-yard score. Washington made a twisting one-handed catch to give Jacksonville a 16-14 lead.
Philly kicked what seemed to be a game-winning field goal with eight seconds remaining, but running back Ameer Abdullah logged an electric 53-yard kickoff return to put the Jaguars into Little’s range with one second remaining.
Next week, the Jaguars will remain in London to face the Houston Texans at Wembley Stadium at 9:30 am ET on Sunday.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a senior sports journalism student in his sixth semester at The Alligator. He is currently a sports editor and football beat reporter for the Gators and the Jaguars. He previously served as a men's tennis and sports enterprise reporter, and he is pursuing a public relations minor.
