DaVon Hamilton batted down a two-point conversion pass to help the Jacksonville Jaguars escape with a frenetic 30-29 overtime victory over the host Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
After Trevor Lawrence’s second rushing touchdown gave Jacksonville a 30-23 overtime lead with 3:24 left in the extra period, the Raiders responded with a 2-yard touchdown catch by Brock Bowers with 16 seconds left. They then elected to go for two and the win instead of a tie.
Hamilton’s deflection of a pass that appeared to be heading towards a wide-open Tyler Lockett helped the Jaguars (5-3) snap their two-game losing streak.
Lawrence threw for 220 yards and a pick. Parker Washington caught eight passes for 90 yards. Jacksonville’s ground game set the tone with 151 yards and three scores.
Geno Smith threw for 284 yards, a career-high-tying four touchdowns and one interception for Las Vegas (2-6). Bowers, the Raiders’ All-Pro tight end, returned in glorious form with a game-high 127 yards and a career-high three touchdown catches after missing the last three games with a knee injury.
Cam Little nailed a 48-yard field goal to send the game to overtime after a wild fourth quarter which saw four lead changes before his game-tying kick with 16 seconds left.
Jacksonville took the lead for the first time with 14:50 left on Lawrence’s first TD, a 7-yard scramble that made it 13-9. Las Vegas responded with an Ashton Jeanty 15-yard touchdown grab to retake the lead with 9:38 left.
The Jaguars bounced right back with a 1-yard Bhayshul Tuten run to claim a 20-16 lead with 4:06 left before the Raiders took the lead for the final time on Bowers’ second touchdown, a 27-yard catch and run with 1:52 left on the clock.
Jacksonville moved the ball 42 yards in 1:36 to set up Little’s third field goal, which sent the game to overtime.
After a sluggish start where neither team scored in the first five possessions and 29 minutes of play, the game quickly changed.
Starting with Bowers’ 9-yard, one-handed touchdown grab to give Las Vegas a 6-0 lead with 35 seconds left in the half, the teams combined to score on 11 of their final 13 possessions across regulation and OT.
Little made some history to close out the first half when he hit a 68-yard field goal as time expired, breaking Justin Tucker’s record (66 yards) for the longest field goal in NFL history.
–Field Level Media
