Jaguars overturn 27 point deficit, rookie Purdy stars for 49ers

The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off a remarkable playoff comeback, fighting back from 27 points down to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30  while rookie quarterback Brock Purdy led the San Francisco 49ers past the Seattle Seahawks 41-23 in the NFL playoffs on Saturday.

The Jaguars had trailed 27-0 in the second quarter, and were now down to 36 yards. Riley Patterson’s last-second field goal of 36 yards completed the remarkable turnaround.

It was the third biggest comeback in NFL playoffs history. It came after Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville quarterback, suffered a horrible first half that saw him throw four interceptions.

Lawrence stated that Lawrence couldn’t believe Lawrence had written such a great script. “We never lose the fight.”

The game was a complete blowout. Jacksonville had many turnovers and the Chargers capitalized with two touchdowns by Austin Ekeler in the first quarter.

Asante Samuel had seized three picks for the Chargers who increased their lead to 27-0. Gerald Everett collected a nine-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert while Cameron Dicker converted a 23-yard field goals.

Lawrence said, “It was breaking, not an impressive record in quarter one, I had a couple interceptions, we weren’t looking good offensively but it just kept believing in each other.”

Although the Jags had some hope with Evan Engram’s touchdown pass from Lawrence, just before the break, there was no indication of what was to follow.

Jacksonville started the second period with a 14 play, 89 yard drive. Lawrence found Marvin Jones in the corner.

After a Cameron Dicker 50 yard field goal, Lawrence passed a 39 yard touchdown to Zay Jones.

Lawrence reached the line to convert a two-point conversion at 5:25 in the fourth.

Jacksonville was left with only one goal, and Patterson converted from 36 yards to complete the amazing result.

Purdy lets nerves go –

Purdy of San Francisco, who was injured to Jimmy Garoppolo last month, took over the starting quarterback role. He became the first rookie quarterback to have three touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown in playoff games.

Purdy was able to throw for 332 yards with no interceptions and run back Christian McCaffrey for 119 yards.

McCaffrey ran three yards to the end zone from McCaffrey’s drive, which had seen him run a blistering 68 yard run.

Seattle responded quickly in the second quarter by scoring Kenneth Walker III’s seven yard rushing touchdown.

Robbie Gould’s 33-yard field goal for the 49ers made it 13-7. But Seattle took control when Geno Smith found D.K. Metcalf scoring a touchdown pass of 50 yards.

San Francisco gained another goal from Gould, but then the Seahawks took a 17-16 advantage with some poor defense by the Niners.

Smith was sliding, when Jimmie Ward inexplicably dived to a low tackle, resulting in a 15-yard penalty which led to Jason Myers’s 56-yard field goal.

San Francisco opened the second period in emphatic fashion, with a 13-play drive that culminated in a Purdy sneaker as a quarterback.

Charles Omenihu then sacked Smith, with Nick Bosa regaining the ball for a decisive turn.

Purdy connected to Jauan Jennings via a 33-yard pass. Then, Purdy found Elijah Mitchell using a short pass that the running back took into his end zone.

Purdy found George Kittle, a tight-end player, to convert the 49ers’ two-point conversion into 31-17.

Seattle fell further behind after Deebo Samuel was left in acres to catch a pass by Purdy. They then ran down the left for an easy touchdown of 74 yards.

Deommodore Lenoir took Smith out of play and that was it for Seattle’s team, who had made it to the playoffs after the Green Bay Packers dropped their last game.

sev/bb