The Jacksonville Jaguars scored a wild go-ahead touchdown, while their defense prevented the Kansas City Chiefs from scoring with 23 seconds left in the game to hold on for a 31-28 win, giving them their first victory over the Chiefs since 2009. With that win, the Jags moved into a tie for first place in the AFC South with the Indianapolis Colts.
Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who turned 26 years old today, got back on his feet and ran into the end zone after being tripped by his own teammates to score a TD that put Jacksonville ahead by four points with less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Lawrence had 275 total yards, a passing touchdown, and two ground touchdowns in this game.
After three straight punts to kick things off, the Chiefs got on the board first. On a 3rd and 9, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw a deep pass off his back foot to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton for a 32-yard gain to give KC a 1st and goal at Jacksonville’s six yard line. That set up a two-yard TD pass to tight end Travis Kelce on third down for a 7-0 Chiefs lead. That was Kansas City’s first first-quarter touchdown of the season.
With a good kickoff return, Jacksonville got into Kansas City territory when tight end Brenton Strange took a screen pass 22 yards to the Chiefs’ 39. The Jags then got into the red zone when wideout Brian Thomas Jr. picked up 22 yards on a short pass play. On a 4th and goal from the one, Trevor Lawrence had the football knocked out of his hand as he attempted to go over the top of the pile for a touchdown. The ball fell into the hands of Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis for a turnover.
Even though they were backed up to their own three yard line, Kansas City had no problem finding the end zone. Running back Kareem Hunt broke off a 33-yard run before Tyquan Thornton picked up 34 yards on a deep pass. That led to a nine-yard touchdown run by Patrick Mahomes to cap off the 97-yard drive for a 14-0 advantage in favor of the Chiefs.
Eventually, Kansas City stopped Jacksonville’s offense on a 3rd and 15. However, the drive was kept alive by a defensive pass interference penalty. Two downs later, Trevor Lawrence rumbled for a 16-yard pickup on the ground to get into enemy territory. TLaw did it again, a little while later – this time for 14 yards – to get down to the Chiefs’ 15 yard line. That resulted in a three-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 14-7 with less than three minutes left in the first half. Jacksonville had three third-down conversions on that series.
The Chiefs and the Jaguars would both get the ball back one more time each before the break. Unfortunately for Kansas City, they were held to a three-and-out, giving Jacksonville a chance to score in 54 seconds. Though they picked up a first down, their drive was derailed by a holding penalty, so the Jaguars settled for a seven-point halftime deficit. This was the first time all season that Jacksonville trailed at the half.
Following a Chiefs three-and-out, rookie wide receiver and the number-two-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Travis Hunter, made an absolutely sensational 44-yard catch to move the Jags’ offense onto KC’s side of the field. That was the longest reception of Hunter’s young career. Thanks to that catch, Trevor Lawrence dashed into the end zone from ten yards out for his first rushing touchdown of the campaign to tie things up, 14-14. Hunter finished the game with a career-high 64 receiving yards on three catches.
The opportunistic Jaguars defense had its biggest play of the season late in the third quarter. At their own three yard line, Jaguars linebacker and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Devin Lloyd intercepted a Patrick Mahomes pass and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown (the longest defensive TD in Jacksonville Jaguars history) to give the Jags their first lead of the game, 21-14. Through five games, Devin Lloyd leads the league in interceptions with four on the season.
Kansas City forced its second turnover of the evening early in the fourth quarter when an overthrown Trevor Lawrence pass was intercepted by cornerback Trent McDuffie. Unfortunately for the Jaguars, there was a blatant defensive pass interference penalty that was missed on that play, giving the Chiefs possession of the ball in the red zone.
Kansas City only needed two plays to tie this game up. Following a Travis Kelce 15-yard reception, Kareem Hunt scampered into the end zone from five yards out for a 21-21 tie with 12:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Jags answered back with a scoring drive of their own. They picked up 20 yards in 4:12, which allowed them to kick a 52-yard field goal for a 24-21 lead with 8:08 left in the game.
Kansas City had no problem responding when the chips were down, as it so often does. The Chiefs picked up 62 yards in 6:02 to get to Jacksonville’s 24 yard line by the two-minute warning. After wide receiver Hollywood Brown made a toe-tapping 20-yard reception, Kareem Hunt pounded the ball into the end zone from two yards out for a 28-24 lead with 1:45 to go in the game. Patrick Mahomes accounted for 71 of the Chiefs’ 86 yards on that series.
The Jags got the ball back at their own 40 thanks to a kickoff out of bounds penalty. On a 3rd and 7, Brian Thomas Jr. made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch for 33 yards to get to KC’s 24. On the very next play, the Jags made it into the red zone with 48 seconds to go in the game. A defensive pass interference penalty in the end zone moved the ball to the one yard line with 30 ticks left on the clock. On the very next play, Trevor Lawrence was tripped while receiving the snap from the center, but he got up off the ground and scrambled into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown and a 31-28 lead with 23 seconds remaining in the game.
KC’s offense got the ball back on its own 17 yard line with three timeouts and 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Though they attempted a Hail Mary pass as time expired, the prayer went unanswered as the Jaguars would hold on for the victory.
That loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Chiefs. Currently, they sit in sole possession of third place in the AFC West ahead of only the Las Vegas Raiders.
*Author’s note: all information and statistics are tracked in real time and are provided by the game’s broadcaster, NFL.com, and ESPN.com*
