The Jacksonville Jaguars' Cinderella season came to an end on Saturday, as the Kansas City Chiefs clinched a 27-20 win in the AFC divisional round.
The Jaguars did not hold a lead at any point in the contest, but they did manage to make it quite interesting against the reigning AFC West champions. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence anchored four scoring drives in the game, including one in the early stages of the fourth quarter that culminated in a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Travis Etienne Jr.
In the end, a pair of turnovers from the Jaguars later in the fourth quarter helped the Chiefs secure a spot in the AFC title game for the fifth consecutive season.
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson touched base with his team after the game, and he had one notable message to share with the entire squad.
“Our expectation is to be in these games every year,” Pederson said during his postgame press conference. “That's our expectation. This was a good, good first year for all of us. … We're all hurting cause of the loss. This is the final game of this year. That's the hard thing, but like I told the guys, these are the games that we're going to learn from, and we're going to be better because of. I told them, ‘Plan on every year, let's be in these meaningful games of the season.'
“We want to be one of the four, five, six teams in the AFC [playoffs] every year.”
For Lawrence, he is confident that the Jaguars will “be back.”
“It's hard to feel that part of it right now because you put so much into it, you dedicate everything you have — the whole building — for six months to get these opportunities,” Lawrence said after the game. “Nobody thought we were going to be here. We had our shot. That's what hurts.
“We'll be back. I'm confident in that.”
The Jaguars turned their campaign around with a five-game winning streak in the second half of the regular season. They ultimately won the AFC South following their Week 18 home victory against the Tennessee Titans.
The Jaguars sure have plenty to look forward to next season. Lawrence will feature in his third year in the NFL, and Jacksonville’s front seven unit will look to build on its promising 2022 campaign.
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