All was well enough for the Jacksonville Jaguars offense at intermission.<\/p>\n
A pair of first-half touchdowns and a field goal had the Jags enjoying an 11-point halftime lead.<\/p>\n
Then the second half commenced, and they went nowhere, sputtering and slogging along until Derek Carr and the New Orleans Saints had found life and a tie ballgame.<\/p>\n
With the Jaguars having become a toothless prowl, quarterback Trevor Lawrence was just looking for a spark. He found Christian Kirk — and 44 yards later Jacksonville had the touchdown that would hold for the game-winner in a 31-24 victory over the Saints on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
“Just wanted to find a completion and get us going,” Lawrence said after the game. “Worst case, let’s get some points, let’s get a field goal. The game was tied at that point. And then when I threw it, I thought it was gonna be maybe a 10-yard gain. I knew he had 20 (\ufeffPete Werner\ufeff) on the angle, but then he took it to the house. That was a great play by him to finish it and see that opportunity and go get it.”<\/p>\n
Kirk’s small pickup on a crosser over the middle turned into a game-changing and game-winning blur. Kirk, who had a team highs of six receptions and 90 yards, dusted Tyrann Mathieu, then turned the corner on Werner, sprinted past another Saint and stiff-armed Jordan Howden as his fleet feet and some stellar downfield blocking ushered him into the end zone.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think I ran that fast since like college,” said Kirk, a 2018 NFL Draft second-round selection of the Arizona Cardinals out of Texans A&M. “That was some vintage stuff, I guess. I’m glad I was able to do it in that moment.”<\/p>\n
That moment occurred with 3:08 remaining in the game, which was tied at 24 after the Saints had rallied back from trailing 17-6 at the half and 24-9 in the third quarter following a Foye Oluokun interception return for a touchdown.<\/p>\n
Kirk, like the rest of the Jaguars offense, had gone cold in the second half. He had five catches for 46 yards through the first 30 minutes and went without a catch in the third quarter and for the first 11 minutes and change of the fourth.<\/p>\n
Oluokun had been the Jaguars’ second-half offense. Other than his pick-six, Jacksonville produced three punts, a turnover on downs and a meager 76 yards before Lawrence found Kirk and Kirk found first gear.<\/p>\n
“We definitely got to be better in the second half,” Kirk said. “Coming out and not going three-and-out and we hit that lull that we’ve been seeing that past couple of weeks, so I know that’s going to be a point of emphasis for us just finding ways to not find ourselves in these situations, especially when you had a lead like we did. When you get into a lull like that you give good teams an opportunity to comeback. That stuff will get us beat ultimately, so I’m glad we were able to make a play when it mattered, but we definitely have some room for improvement.”<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the Jaguars weren’t beaten on Thursday. They won their fourth in a row to start the season at 5-2 — a feat the club hasn’t accomplished since 2007. Those four wins have come in a span of 19 days, with the first two in back-to-back London games. Without a bye week after their overseas trip, Jacksonville responded with a win over the Indianapolis Colts and four days later fended off the Saints.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it made sense that the offense scuttled in the second half.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Lawrence shrugged off an ailing knee and Kirk provided the game’s biggest highlight when the Jaguars needed it most.<\/p>\n
Per Next Gen Stats, Kirk’s 44-yard grab saw him gain 27 yards over expected and hit a top speed of 19.76 MPH.<\/p>\n
“Trevor did a great job of stepping up in the pocket, giving me an opportunity to catch and run,” Kirk said.<\/p>\n
Lawrence saw it a bit different in the credit department. Said the QB: “He kind of did all the work there.”<\/p>\n