If you didn’t set your alarm this morning, you might have missed the most exciting finale to the NFL season so far.
The Philadelphia Eagles lost 19-17 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, with a fourth quarter filled with twists and turns worthy of a Nate Shyamalan movie.
The first three quarters were already filled with drama: three fourth-down stops, multiple fumbles and an interception. Philadelphia ultimately led 14-10 in the final 15 minutes.
On its third play of the fourth quarter, Jacksonville looked poised to take the lead, driving all the way to the 1-yard line. Then chaos happens.
Instead of converting the ball from three feet out, the Jaguars took three penalties and ultimately faced a fourth-and-goal from the fifth. They couldn’t convert — just the second time in the game that the Jaguars fumbled downfield with the ball out of reach.
Jacksonville’s defense quickly forced three and outs. On the Jaguars’ next possession, the offense was once again on fourth down, this time when Trevor Lawrence connected with Parker Washington for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Washington made a game-winning one-handed catch to give Jacksonville the lead. But the Jaguars, who were without their starting long snapper due to injury, missed the extra point after a high snap spoiled the game.
The Eagles dropped back and punted on their next possession, giving Jacksonville the ball at the two-minute warning. However, the Jaguars went three-and-out and Philadelphia still had a timeout remaining due to an incomplete pass.
Jalen Hurts then led a nine-play, 32-yard drive that ended with a 48-yard field goal by Jake Elliott. With eight seconds left, Philadelphia led 17-16.
Avid NFL fans will remember a similar situation from Week 4, when the Dallas Cowboys tied the Baltimore Ravens at 31 with seven seconds left. Dallas took the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone, allowing the Ravens to run a field goal and get into field goal range to win the game.
The Eagles were likely aware of the situation and, knowing that Jacksonville had no timeouts, decided to play on.
But Ameer Abdullah returned the kickoff 53 yards to the Philadelphia 39-yard line and was intercepted with one second left. That set up a 57-yard field goal on the final play of the game, with kicker Cam Little scoring the game-winning field goal after another high field goal attempt.
It was an absolutely shocking loss for a Philadelphia team that had a 99.9 percent chance of winning after leading by a goal, according to ESPN Analytics. The Eagles — already dealing with injuries and the sudden retirement of star tackle Lane Johnson — have now lost consecutive games in which they led in the final two minutes.
Philadelphia lost 2-3. Jacksonville, meanwhile, improved to 4-1.