The Los Angeles Chargers were making their first appearance in the postseason since the 2018 season. The stage didn’t look too big for them despite multiple key parts of the team making their postseason debuts including head coach Brandon Staley and quarterback Justin Herbert.
For the first half of the game, everything was going the Chargers’ way. Trevor Lawrence had the worst half of his football life, throwing four interceptions. Three of them were by Asante Samuel Jr., who caught more passes than any Jacksonville Jaguars player did in the first half.
In addition to Lawrence’s struggles, the Chargers also took advantage of a special team miscue when a JK Scott punt hit one of the Jaguars’ players in the head. Amen Ogbongbemiga recovered the fumble, setting the Chargers up in prime field position.
That gave the Chargers a +5 turnover differential in the first half, which made them the third team to accomplish that feat in NFL playoff history since play-by-play data became available in 1991. The other teams to accomplish that feat were the Dallas Cowboys in 1992 and the St. Louis Rams in 2001.
Los Angeles took advantage, scoring the first 27 points of the game unanswered. However, they didn’t put Jacksonville away with a knockout blow as they kicked two field goals under 25 yards apiece. That left the door ajar, as the Jaguars built some positive momentum ahead of halftime going on a 47-yard touchdown drive for their first score of the game.
That momentum continued to snowball, eventually bowling over the Chargers. For how well they started the game, they finished it negatively. After scoring the first 27 points of the game, they were outscored 31-3 for the remainder of the game for one of the worst collapses in NFL playoff history.
The 27-point comeback is the largest blown lead in the Chargers and Jaguars’ franchise histories and the third largest in NFL playoff history. It was an epic meltdown by a Chargers franchise that just cannot ever get out of its own way and now begins preparations for what is going to be a very long offseason.
The Chargers have a very bright future, but this loss is going to be a tough pill to swallow. It would not be surprising if some major changes are made in the coming weeks during the offseason.
