For anyone still keeping score on the NFL‘s London experiment, this was one for the file marked useful evidence. Through 44 completed regular-season games in London, the average margin of victory is 12.75 points. More than half of those games have been one-score affairs, but there had only been one tie and two one-point games. Jacksonville‘s 19-17 win over Philadelphia now belongs close to that end of the list: not quite the closest London game ever, but close enough to remind everyone that the International Series can still produce something more than travel logistics, novelty jerseys and mid-morning television.
An opening kickoff unlike any other
This one began with confusion and ended with nerve. The Jaguars appeared to score on the opening kickoff when rookie Josh Cameron returned the ball 90 yards, only for the touchdown to be erased by penalties. By the time the officials had finished sorting through the flags, Jacksonville‘s Bryan Thomas Jr. and Philadelphia‘s Jeremiah Trotter Jr. had both been ejected after a fight away from the return. It took nearly five minutes to get through the first play. That was a pretty good warning that the afternoon was not going to be tidy.
Jacksonville still struck first. Trevor Lawrence found Parker Washington on a 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown midway through the first quarter, and the Jaguars led 7-0. Washington would finish with six catches for 124 yards and both Jacksonville touchdowns, the kind of receiving line that made his name the one that mattered most before Cam Little took over the headline.
Photo: Chris Kim/Philadelphia Eagles
Eagles overcome injuries to take control
Philadelphia, though, came to London undermanned rather than uninterested. Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith were already out, Lane Johnson’s retirement still hung over the offensive line, and the Eagles would lose more bodies as the day went on. Will Shipley left with a foot injury, Michael Carter II with an abdomen injury and Jalyx Hunt with knee and ankle injuries. Still, for a half, the Eagles looked as if they might steal the thing through defense and one or two offensive punches.
Shipley tied the game on a 2-yard run in the second quarter, finishing a 13-play, 64-yard drive that produced the first first-half touchdown allowed by Jacksonville‘s defense this season. Then Jalen Hurts hit Darius Cooper for a 62-yard touchdown, Cooper’s fourth receiving touchdown of the season and the longest Hurts touchdown pass since last October. Philadelphia led 14-7 at halftime despite rushing for almost nothing and despite living on a very narrow offensive diet.
Carter leads a battered defense
The real reason Philadelphia had control was Jalen Carter. Playing with a fractured wrist, Carter produced two strip sacks of Lawrence and was the most disruptive player on the field. The Eagles did not recover either fumble, which mattered, but Carter repeatedly knocked Jacksonville off schedule. Zack Baun added a fourth-and-goal stop on Bhayshul Tuten from the 1-yard line at the end of the first half, and Quinyon Mitchell later picked off Lawrence for his first regular-season interception. If Philadelphia needed proof that Vic Fangio’s defense can still carry a battered team, it got plenty of it.
But the Eagles also ran into the uncomfortable math of the afternoon. Jacksonville outgained Philadelphia 408-232, including a staggering 102-22 edge on the ground. The Eagles averaged just 1.2 yards per rush. Hurts finished 21 of 40 for 220 yards and one touchdown, but Philadelphia had only 17 first downs and went 6-for-15 on third down. The Jaguars were messier, with 13 penalties for 100 yards, but they were also more explosive, averaging 6.0 yards per play.
Photo: Drew Hallowell
Jacksonville fights back
The third quarter began the Jacksonville correction. Little hit from 34 yards after an 11-play, 69-yard drive to make it 14-10. The Jaguars repeatedly threatened to take the lead before getting in their own way. They went 0-for-3 in the red zone and 0-for-3 in goal-to-go situations, which is normally how teams lose games like this. Delay penalties, high snaps and missed chances kept Philadelphia alive.
The long-snapping problem became its own subplot. Ross Matiscik was injured early, forcing defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton into emergency duty. The snaps were high, and one of them contributed to Little missing the extra point after Washington’s spectacular 27-yard touchdown catch with 3:20 left in the fourth quarter. That miss left Jacksonville ahead only 16-14, and it opened the door for the Eagles to take the lead.
Eight seconds of absolute chaos
Hurts did just enough. Starting at their own 38 with 1:35 to play, the Eagles moved into field-goal range through completions to Dontayvion Wicks, Dallas Goedert and Makai Lemon. Jake Elliott hit from 48 yards with eight seconds left, giving Philadelphia a 17-16 lead and what should have been a way out of London with an ugly but useful win.
Then came the kind of ending that turns coaches pale. Elliott kicked inbounds. Ameer Abdullah, still plenty dangerous, took it at the Jacksonville 8 and returned it 53 yards to the Philadelphia 39. He got down with one second left. After a Philadelphia timeout, Hamilton’s snap was high again but playable. Logan Cooke pulled it down, and Little drilled a 57-yard field goal as time expired.
Photo: Drew Hallowell
Two teams, two very different endings
For Jacksonville, it was not pretty. It was not clean. It was not even always sensible. But it was a win, and at 4-1 the Jaguars can live with the postgame corrections. Lawrence finished 24 of 39 for 331 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Tuten hammered out 72 yards on 22 carries. Brenton Strange added seven catches for 68 yards. The Jaguars have bigger ambitions than merely being London‘s familiar team, and games like this are the kind contenders usually have to learn how to survive.
For Philadelphia, it was crueler. The Eagles are 2-3, have lost three straight, and have now found several ways to make competitive games feel like indictments. The defense played well enough to win. The offense had the ball late and produced a go-ahead kick. But one kickoff, one return and one enormous field goal changed the whole tone of the trip.
London has seen a 27-27 tie, a pair of one-point finishes and a 38-point Patriots blowout. This one goes into the ledger as a two-point Jaguars win, but that undersells the emotional swing. For 59 minutes and 52 seconds, it was a strange, choppy game between one team trying to prove it belongs near the top of the AFC and another trying to hold itself together. The final eight seconds made it something else entirely.
Scoring summary
First quarter
5:26 – Jaguars: Parker Washington 51-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence (Cam Little kick), 7-0.
Second quarter
8:46 – Eagles: Will Shipley 2-yard run (Jake Elliott kick), 7-7.
5:31 – Eagles: Darius Cooper 62-yard pass from Jalen Hurts (Elliott kick), 14-7.
Third quarter
7:11 – Jaguars: Little 34-yard field goal, 14-10.
Fourth quarter
3:20 – Jaguars: Washington 27-yard pass from Lawrence (kick failed), 16-14.
0:08 – Eagles: Elliott 48-yard field goal, 17-16.
0:00 – Jaguars: Little 57-yard field goal, 19-17.
Stat leaders
Jacksonville – Trevor Lawrence 24-of-39, 331 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; Bhayshul Tuten 22 carries, 72 yards; Parker Washington 6 receptions, 124 yards, 2 TD; Brenton Strange 7 receptions, 68 yards; Cam Little 2-of-2 field goals, including 57-yard game-winner.
Philadelphia – Jalen Hurts 21-of-40, 220 yards, 1 TD; Darius Cooper 2 receptions, 71 yards, 1 TD; Dontayvion Wicks 5 receptions, 63 yards; Dallas Goedert 6 receptions, 38 yards; Jalen Carter 2 strip sacks; Quinyon Mitchell 1 interception.
Attendance: 61,322. Game time: 3:42.