Trevor Lawrence doesn’t walk around with a chip on his shoulder.
He isn’t fuelled by a burning desire to prove everyone else wrong, and he said as much in a pre-draft interview with Sports Illustrated in the spring of 2021.
But, come on. What he did Saturday night had to feel pretty darn gratifying.
Making his postseason debut, the second-year quarterback had as ugly of a first half as one could imagine — going 10-for-24 with four interceptions — while the Jaguars drowned in a 27-0 deficit. Then he flipped the script, leading the charge in the largest comebacks in NFL postseason history.
Fortunately for Lawrence, his first impression in postseason play wasn’t a lasting one.
The Jaguars scored on all four of their second-half possessions — including three touchdown passes from Lawrence — clawing their way to a sixth-consecutive victory. Lawrence had almost as many first-half interceptions (four) as he had second-half incompletions (five).
Saturday’s epic finish in Duval County got us off to a great start to the Wild Card weekend. Here are the rest of your takeaways from the two-game slate:
Bosa’s blunders
When a team blows a 27-point lead, there are plenty of directions in which to point a finger of blame. On an individual level, though, no one is more deserving of some judgemental side-eye than Joey Bosa.
A quick box score scan would only tell you that Bosa logged a single tackle against the Jaguars. But the story of his night came with a pair of bone-headed blunders when the ball wasn’t in play.
Midway through the third quarter, the Chargers sacked Lawrence on a third and seven to force a field goal attempt. Er, that’s what would’ve happened had Bosa not lined up offside. With new life, the Jaguars scored a touchdown four plays later.
Fast forward to the final five-and-a-half minutes of the game, when Lawrence connected with Christian Kirk for a touchdown. Afterward, Bosa appeared to be upset about a potential false start that wasn’t called on a Jaguars lineman, and he two-hand slammed his helmet in rage.
Bosa was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which allowed Jacksonville to move the ball to the one-yard line for a two-point try — giving Lawrence the appropriate proximity to reach the ball across for a conversion.
Again, the Chargers’ collapse was not short on screwups (including Cameron Dicker’s 40-yard missed field goal).
But Bosa deserves a “C’Mon, Man!” segment all to himself.
Deebo the dominator
So, that ankle seems to be holding up OK, eh?
Deebo Samuel, who missed Weeks 15-17 with a sprained ankle, was back in wrecking ball mode for San Francisco on Saturday. He gobbled up 165 scrimmage yards, including a 74-yard house call that put the game away.
Samuel caught the ball in space and gingerly weaved upfield with blockers in front. Once the end zone was in sight, he activated his afterburners.
He wasn’t just running fast, though. He was running angry.
Earlier in the game, Seattle safety Jonathan Abram decided to test Samuel’s ankle by giving it a late twist after making a tackle.
Samuel was slow to get up, later saying that he “almost lost (his) temper” and needed a beat to stay composed. Then he dished his payback by finding paydirt.
The return of a full-bore Samuel is huge, and it aligns with San Francisco’s theme as a squad peaking at the right time.
According to Fox, the 49ers are the 13th team in the Super Bowl era to enter the playoffs on a winning streak of 10-plus games, and they’ll try to be the fourth team to ride that wave to a Super Bowl win (the most example is the 2003 Patriots).
Samuel, who now has 685 scrimmage yards in seven career playoff games, certainly helps in that quest.
Seattle’s swift spiral
Everything was going swimmingly for the Seahawks — until it wasn’t.
Walking to the locker room at halftime, Seattle had committed neither a penalty nor a turnover. Geno Smith was pitching a near-perfect game, completing nine of 10 passes and staking his team to an unexpected lead.
Stitching together 30 minutes of good football is nice. But sometimes it only takes 30 seconds for the seams to burst.
In its first possession of the second half, Seattle chipped and chunked its way into the red zone. Then a destructive four-play sequence unfolded: one-yard rush attempt, penalty, incomplete pass … sack fumble.
As the ball slipped from Smith’s fingers, so did the game. The Seahawks had a three-and-out and an interception on their two ensuing possessions, while San Fran scored on three in a row.
The talent gap between these teams should’ve been obvious from the start. Seattle could stay in the game if it stayed mistake-free, but the first real slip-up put the team in a spiral.
On a brighter note, do you know who’s trending up? That journeyman quarterback that many expected to hold a clipboard for Drew Lock this year.
Smith, a free agent who picked a great time to have a 30-touchdown season, is reportedly expected to return to Seattle on either the franchise tag or a new deal. For a guy who’s made roughly $17.5M in a 10-year career, his next signature will be a pricey one.
Between Smith’s resurgence and Seattle’s ownership of the fifth-overall draft pick (thanks, Russell Wilson), there are reasons to have your chin up if you reside in the Pacific Northwest.
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