NFL

'You couldn't write a crazier script' - Lawrence after overcoming four first-half picks for comeback win

By Sports Desk January 15, 2023

Former NFL Draft number one pick Trevor Lawrence says "you couldn’t write a crazier script" after overcoming four first-half interceptions to lead the Jacksonville Jaguars to the third biggest comeback in NFL playoffs history.

The Jags trailed the Los Angeles Chargers 27-0 late in the first half with Lawrence having thrown four picks, three to Asante Samuel Jr alone.

But the 23-year-old quarterback produced a champion's response, throwing touchdown passes on four consecutive drives to drag the Jags back to 30-28, before Riley Patterson's field goal clinched victory as time expired.

Lawrence finished the game with 28-of-47 passing for 288 yards, joining Ben Roethlisberger as the second player to have four touchdowns and four interceptions in a playoff game.

"You couldn't write a crazier script," Lawrence told NBC. "We said in the locker room, it's kind of how our season's gone. We're never out of the fight."

Jacksonville had trailed by nine points or more in five games this season before rallying for victory.

The 27-point rally was also the third largest in NFL postseason history, the largest being the Buffalo Bills' 32-point comeback against the Houston Oilers in 1992.

"I am kind of speechless, honestly, just to see what belief can do - to see when a team believes in each other what you can accomplish," Lawrence said.

"Playoff game, down 27-0 and we come back and win. We are always counted out of these games, and we don't care. We love it."

Wide receiver Zay Jones, who scored one of the Jags' four TDs, hailed the 2021 NFL Draft top overall pick for staying composed after his four first-half picks.

"I think from playing football, watching football, I know a lot of quarterbacks would’ve folded in that situation that he went through," Jones told reporters.

"For him just to be as poised and composed as he was, it showed another side of who we have on this team. I mean, that guy right there, standing right there, that's a special man."

The defeat ended the Chargers' season with head coach Brandon Staley lamenting their second-half fade where they only scored one field goal after leading 27-7 at halftime.

"Anytime you're up 27-7 at halftime and you've got four takeaways, and you end up winning the takeaway margin (5-0), you know, it's gonna be a killer," Staley said.

"I'm hurting for everybody in that locker room… We just didn't finish the game."

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