The Jacksonville Jaguars looked like they had blown this game.
On Sunday in London against the Philadelphia Eagles, a late missed extra point — hurt by an injury to their long snapper and a high snap on the key kick attempt — gave the Eagles the opportunity to take the lead on a Jake Elliott field goal with just eight seconds left.
The Eagles led 17-16, which looked like it would snap Philadelphia’s losing streak and give Jacksonville a tough loss.
After a game spent screaming about penalty flags, the Jags were just about done.
And then magic happened.
How Jaguars Beat Eagles in 8 Seconds
The Jaguars had no timeouts left. They had no margin for error.
The first thing that would matter was how the Eagles chose to execute the kickoff. Rather than going out of the end zone, they kicked short to force a Jacksonville return.
That proved to be a mistake. Ameer Abdullah was underneath the kick and was quickly cruising through the kick coverage team.
He brought it back 53 yards to the Philadelphia 39, and he was tackled just in time.
The clock initially went to zero seconds, but the officials correctly changed it to one second on the clock.
That set up Cam Little to kick. Little has one of the best legs in the NFL, but the Jaguars had a problem on this day. Their long snapper was sidelined, so defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton was doing the snapping. He had snapped high on all three previous attempts for Little in this game.
The Jags had no choice. They had to hope the operation would be good enough.
The snap was still a little high, but Little was true. His kick was right down the middle from 57 yards out.
The Jaguars 19, the Eagles 17.
What an absolutely wild ending and win.
How This Impacts AFC South Standings
The Jaguars entered the day at 3-1 and already up a game in the AFC South Division. They won it a year ago with a 13-4 record.
Now they’re 4-1, so they’ve guaranteed they’ll be atop the division when this week is over.
The team that was one game behind them was the Indianapolis Colts, who entered Sunday at 2-2. The Colts are playing in Pittsburgh, and only seconds after Little’s field goal ended that game, Indy allowed an 80-yard receiving TD to Jaylen Warren to give the Steelers an early 7-3 lead.
It’ll be pivotal for the Colts to find a way to win to keep pace.
But for now, the Jaguars will be leaders of their division for at least another week — thanks to an improbable ending that somehow happened in only eight seconds of the game clock.
How Jaguars Needed Just 8 Seconds To Beat Eagles 19-17 On Cam Little Field Goal