Chiefs 27, Jaguars 20: Late Fumble Ends Jacksonville's Season in Divisional Round

The Jacksonville Jaguars' magical run has ended.

The Jaguars never went down without a fight, but on a cold January night in Kansas City, their luck finally ran out in a 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jacksonville had a chance to make it 27-24 with just a few minutes left in the game, but a Jamal Agnew fumble at the Chiefs' three-yard line led to the Jaguars seeing their season slip through their hands and right into the Chiefs' possession.

The Jaguars kicked a 48-yard field goal with 0:25 left to give them a chance for the onside kick, but there was never a doubt.

The Jaguars' season ends with 10 wins and nine losses and an AFC South title in Doug Pederson's first year at the helm.

The Jaguars went three-and-out on their first drive after Lawrence threw two incompletions: one a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage and a near-interception to Nick Bolton on third-down.

Kansas City responded with a surgical 12-play, 83-yard drive that ate up six minutes and ended in an eight-yard Travis Kelce touchdown from Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes targeted Kelce a staggering five times on the Chiefs' opening drive, with Kelce catching four of those passes for 35 yards and a touchdown to go up 7-0.

Star return man Jamal Agnew was able to bring life back onto Jacksonville's sideline, returning the kickoff 63 yards to Kansas City's 39-yard line. Then, a 19-yard run from second-year running back Travis Etienne on 3rd-and-1 down the ride sideline put the Jaguars in true scoring territory.

Two plays later, Lawrence found Christian Kirk for a 10-yard touchdown on a wheel route; the same play Lawrence didn't make in Week 1 vs. Washington, and a throw that tied the game up at 7-7.

Kansas City continued to flow their offense through Kelce, giving him seven first-quarter targets, but things began to get interesting near the end of the first quarter as Patrick Mahomes got up slow after a hit by Arden Key and Corey Peters.

Mahomes struggled to limp off the field but eventually came back in without missing a play and even throwing a pass after the injury. But the dynamic gunslinger was clearly a different player after the injury, short-arming a third-down pass before the Chiefs settled for a 50-yard field goal to retake a 10-7 lead.

After the Jaguars crossed midfield thanks to a 23-yard run from JaMycal Hasty and a 10-yard catch-and-run from Evan Engram, Jacksonville looked to be moving. But a tripping penalty on Walker Little and a Frank Clark sack against Little on back-to-back plays pushed the Jaguars into 3rd-and-forever, forcing a Logan Cooke punt.

The punt landed beautifully at the Chiefs' two-yard line, which is where Chiefs backup quarterback Chad Henne took over as Mahomes was sent to the locker room.

That was all that went well for the Jaguars on Henne's first drive, however. The 12-play, 98-yard touchdown drive that ended in a one-yard Kelce touchdown catch (his second of the half), saw the Jaguars give up big chunk gains on a roughing the passer penalty on Key and a 39-yard run by Isaiah Pacheco.

Henne went 5-of-7 for 23 yards on the drive, with the Chiefs dinking and dunking their way to seven points and a 17-7 lead. Missed opportunities were abundant, too, with Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun dropping a sure-interception of Henne on one of his first pass attempts.

Jacksonville was able to steal some points before the half on a 41-yard field goal by Riley Patterson, but it could have been much more. Early in the drive, Lawrence dropped back and uncorked a perfect 60-yard pass to Kirk, who let it go through his hands near the Chiefs' 10-yard line -- the second critical drop of the half for the Jaguars.

The Jaguars entered halftime down just 17-10, but it felt like a half that should have been significantly better than it was -- especially when Mahomes returned for the first drive of the second half.

Mahomes didn't look quite like himself on his first drive back in the game, short-arming a few passes before throwing incomplete on third down for the Chiefs' first punt of the day.

The Jaguars failed to take advantage, however, thanks to back-to-back misses on passing plays. On second down near midfield, the Jaguars blew protection and let Khalen Saunders go through the middle untouched to hit Lawrence, who then threw an incompletion on the following play which lead to the Jaguars' third punt of the game.

Saunders' hit on Lawrence looked even more egregious of a roughing penalty than the one Key was called for on an earlier touchdown drive, but the yellow flags stayed in the refs' pockets. This summed up the game, with the Chiefs' only twp penalties in the first three quarters being a five-yard penalty on an extra-point attempt and an offensive pass interference before a field goal.

Jacksonville was able to force another Chiefs punt on the next drive after stopping the Chiefs on 3rd-and-short, but it didn't matter for an offense that was stuck in neutral. After two screen plays resulted in minus-two yards, Lawrence just missed Kirk short on third down, leading to yet another punt for Jacksonville.

The Chiefs finally got out of their second-half lull with a 27-yard catch-and-run from Kelce, which eventually led to a 50-yard field goal to extend their lead to 20-10.

But the Jaguars weren't done. Not yet. Not after they came this far.

With the Jaguars needing a score to get back into the game, Lawrence and the Jaguars marched 75 yards on seven plays, scoring on a four-yard Etienne touchdown run after gains of 37 and 18 from Zay Jones and Kirk on back-to-back plays.

Despite being right back in the game at 20-17, the Jaguars' defense failed to get the Jaguars the ball back with a chance to take the lead as Mahomes carved the Jaguars up on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Agnew once again gave the Jaguars life, however, returning the kickoff 42 yards to the Jaguars' 45, just barely falling at a tackle attempt by the kicker. Gains of 16 and 18 by Zay Jones and Evan Engram pushed the Jaguars to the Chiefs' 21, where the Jaguars eventually found themselves with a must-have 3rd-and-10.

Lawrence, just like he had in other moments throughout the game, was able to evade Chris Jones in the pocket and rushed upfield for the first down and a gain of 12. But then, disaster struck.

With the Jaguars inching closer and closer to the end-zone, their luck finally ran out. After a series of near turnovers throughout the game, the Jaguars offense coughed it up at the three-yard line, with Jamal Agnew losing a fumble that gave the Chiefs time to kill the clock and escape with no points.

On the next drive, Lawrence threw his first turnover of the day on an attempted deep shot, with Chiefs' cornerback Jaylen Watson snatching it out of the air with one hand to end the Jaguars season after two turnovers in three plays.

Stats of the Game (1/21/23 @ the Chiefs) Via: @theryanmichael

Trevor Lawrence finished the game 24 of 39 (61.5%) for 217 yards (5.6 YPA), 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 243 total yards and a 74.4 passer rating.

Christian Kirk led the Jaguars in receptions (7) and touchdown receptions (1).

Zay Jones led the Jaguars with 83 receiving yards.

On the ground, the Jaguars averaged 7.6 YPC and Travis Etienne scored a rushing touchdown.

Foyesade Oluokun led the Jaguars with 14 total tackles, bringing his season total to 211 including the postseason.

Riley Patterson was 2 of 2 (100.0%) on field goal attempts, connecting on field goals of 41-yards and 48-yards.

Logan Cooke punted 4x for 191 yards, averaging 47.8 yards per-punt.