Cam Little made history, and the Jaguars returned from the bye week with a gritty overtime win on Sunday.
How’s that for a start to the second half of the season?
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Jacksonville had a strong second half and won it in overtime, a 30-29 victory over the Raiders that ended a two-game losing streak and got things back on track for a team that desperately needed it.
Head coach Liam Coen said all week that Jacksonville used the bye to recalibrate things, and a tough win was proof that some of those changes worked. It wasn’t easy. The Jaguars got down to the 1-yard line in overtime and needed all four plays to get in, with Trevor Lawrence lunging over the top of the pile with the ball crossing the goal line.
“But man, I’m very proud of the way he responded, the way that he played, especially later on, when the game really was on the line, critical third down conversions, had the draw that he walks in on,” Coen said of Lawrence. “I mean, he competed his tail off, very proud of him.”
The drive chewed up nearly seven minutes of clock. But it was far from over.
Geno Smith hit Brock Bowers on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left in overtime and Las Vegas opted to go for the two-point try to win it. Smith rolled out to his left and had Tyler Lockett open in the back of the end zone, but DaVon Hamilton swatted the pass down to deny the Raiders.
Lost in the frantic finish was the NFL history by Little. He nailed a 68-yard field goal at the end of the first half, eclipsing Justin Tucker’s previous mark of 66 yards, set in 2021. The win pushes Jacksonville to 5-3, with a trip to Houston (3-5) up next.
“At halftime, obviously the kick ignited us, as I mentioned,” Coen said. “But nobody was flinching. Nobody was freaking out. There weren’t guys looking down, even throughout, right, it was a back and forth entire second half. These guys just kept battling, kept battling, making plays, and the D-Ham with a huge play at the end of the game.”
Injuries piling up for Jaguars
It hasn’t helped as the Jaguars continue to lose players to injury. Receivers Dyami Brown and Brian Thomas Jr. both left with injuries, as did tight end Hunter Long. Jacksonville lost two-way star Travis Hunter to a knee injury last week and put him on injured reserve. Brown (concussion) didn’t return. Long and Thomas both did, although Parker Washington was Lawrence’s favorite target. He led the team with 90 yards on eight catches. Guard Ezra Cleveland also left the game injured and didn’t return.
Slow start, fast finish
Down 20-16 after a Bhayshul Tuten touchdown run, Smith and the Raiders came charging back in the final quarter. Smith hit all five of his passes on the ensuing drive, three of those to Bowers. On that final toss, Smith found Bowers over the middle and watched his tight end get a block and streak into the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown and a 23-20 lead with two minutes to play.
That left enough time for Lawrence and the Jaguars to get down the field and knot things up, which they did on a 48-yarder to knot things at 23-all. Holder Logan Cooke corralled a low snap and Little banged it through with 16 seconds to play.
Jacksonville’s go-ahead drive in OT was set up by an excellent kickoff return by Austin Trammell, a 54-yard play that put the Jaguars on plus side of the field in a hurry. Lawrence and the ground game carried the offense the rest of the way before his 1-yard touchdown over the pile.
That left Las Vegas with enough time to settle the score, and they nearly did. A kickoff return went back to the Jacksonville 45, and the Raiders marched all the way to the end zone. Smith’s fourth touchdown pass of the day, and third one to Bowers, went for a 2-yard score. Pete Carroll played for the win, but Jacksonville’s defense had just enough left to clinch it.
“Yeah. I didn’t know who batted it. I was looking and it looked like the first part of Geno’s read wasn’t open, so saw him kind of reset, and then I’m trying to see who’s over there, and then I just see the ball disappear,” Lawrence said. “And it’s a good feeling, especially the way the second half was, you go down and score, then obviously they kind of went down, and our defense had to make a big play. I mean, that’s cool.”
Lawrence, who was battling a sickness going into the game, finished 23 of 34 for 220 yards and an ill-advised interception in the end zone that took points off the board. But he had two rushing touchdowns and wasn’t sacked. Travis Etienne had 84 yards on 22 carries to lead the ground game.
Defense has its moments
The defense shook off a disappointing performance in its last game against the Rams to turn in a solid showing against Las Vegas. The Raiders got in the end zone for the only time right before the half, stringing together a 95-yard touchdown drive, capped by a beautiful one-handed grab by Bowers with 39 seconds to play for a 6-0 lead.
Las Vegas got the ball first to start the second half, but Buster Brown jumped the route and made a lunging interception of Geno Smith just three plays into the third quarter. Jacksonville turned that takeaway, its 15th of the season and first since Week 5 against the Chiefs, into a 33-yard field goal by Little to knot things at 6-all.
Those same nagging issues
Lawrence led Jacksonville on an excellent drive late in the opening quarter, taking the Jaguars from their own 17 down to the Raiders 2. But he was picked off in the end zone on a terrible decision to end Jacksonville’s best chance at a touchdown in the first half.
Penalties continue to chip away at Jacksonville’s success.
Lawrence hit Hunter Long over the middle on play that picked up 24 yards. But Patrick Mekari was called for holding to wipe out the gain. On that same drive, Jacksonville got down to the Las Vegas 36, only to have back-to-back illegal motion calls ruin the drive and force a punt. Jacksonville lost edge Travon Walker in the third quarter after he was ejected for throwing a punch.
Coen has preached religiously about eliminating mistakes like penalties and drops. Jacksonville was flagged eight times in the game.
The pass rush has been anemic, but it had two sacks on Sunday, including 1.5 by Josh Hines-Allen.
Little joins record books
Little had struggled mightily this season, with Coen constantly having to say that he still had faith in his second-year kicker from Arkansas. Little missed field goal tries in games against the Rams and Seahawks and also missed a PAT for the first time in his adult kicking life. Little had been perfect in high school, college and the NFL before a shank against the Rams.
He’d flashed his monster leg before, drilling a 70-yard field goal in the preseason against the Steelers. But his kick to get Jacksonville on the scoreboard against Las Vegas put him in the record books.
“We’re playing indoors, and we’re on natural grass. You kick it long enough and you kick it straight enough, it’s going to go in,” Little said. “And so, me and Logan [Cooke] kind of had like a one-on-one right before the kick, and I said, ‘I’m going to hit this ball as hard as I can.’ Usually when I tell myself that, I find success. So, going out there and just let it loose.”
After Lawrence hit Parker Washington for an 18-yard pass with 4 seconds to play and no timeouts, he quickly got the team to the line and clocked the ball. Coen trotted Little out for the tape measure attempt.
It was clear as soon as it left Little’s foot that it was accurate, and the ball made it over the post with room to spare. He added kicks of 33 and 48 yards in the game to bounce back after a difficult October.
“That was what ignited us, I think. They missed the extra point on their touchdown. We get it in field goal range, or we get it in somewhat range. And for a guy that we have not lost confidence in, everybody’s been trying to get us to lose confidence in him, I know that for sure, and we have never lost confidence in him,” Coen said. “And he went on the bye, got away from it, and set an NFL record on his first kick back. So and then makes, obviously, multiple critical kicks throughout the game to keep the thing going. Couldn’t be more proud of him and this whole team.”