If there’s any positive that Trevor Lawrence can take from the start of his NFL postseason debut on Saturday night, taking on the Los Angeles Chargers, it’s this. Looking forward to the rest of his playoff career, he left plenty of room for improvement. A game starting as poorly as Saturday’s did for Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars is essentially impossible.
In the first quarter of his playoff debut, Lawrence’s passes had as good a chance at being caught by one of the Chargers as they did one of his teammates. Lawrence finished the first quarter 3-for-12 for 27 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.
The first interception came on the second play of the game.
Not the start the Jags were looking for. pic.twitter.com/d9IDsV7D1E
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 15, 2023
Los Angeles quickly turned that interception into a touchdown. Lawrence and the Jags drove down the field and seemed poised to respond with a score of their own. But facing a fourth-and-seven, Jacksonville elected to go for it. That decision led to interception No. 2. The Chargers cashed that interception in with a field goal.
Late in the quarter, the Jags got the ball deep in their own territory. The nightmare continued. Lawrence threw his third pick of the night, the second to Asante Samuel Jr.
An absolute nightmare start for Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars.
Three INTs and a punt in their first four possessions. pic.twitter.com/vEWyuihWRB
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) January 15, 2023
That interception led to another Chargers touchdown, giving Los Angeles a 17-0 lead one quarter in.
The NFL world had a lot to say about Lawrence’s struggles.
NFL reporter Annie Agar tweeted a caption, “Trevor Lawrence throwing ints” with a photo of Vince Carter and the caption, I got one more in me.”
The Action Network said that “Trevor Lawrence is the first QB to throw 3 INT in the first quarter of a playoff game since 1991 (when play-by-play tracking began.”
The 33rd Team Twitter account, meanwhile noted that “Over his past nine games, Trevor Lawrence had thrown just two interceptions total He has three tonight. In the first quarter.”
Trevor Lawrence throwing ints pic.twitter.com/vobGm0l13f
— Annie Agar (@AnnieAgar) January 15, 2023
Trevor Lawrence is the first QB to throw 3 INT in the first quarter of a playoff game since 1991 (when play-by-play tracking began) 🤯
(h/t @JeffKerrCBS) pic.twitter.com/GteJ63aZWl
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) January 15, 2023
Over his past nine games, Trevor Lawrence had thrown just two interceptions total
He has three tonight. In the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/idLF3GBogW
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) January 15, 2023
The disaster continued into the second quarter.
The Chargers scored another touchdown, Lawrence threw his fourth interception (Samuel’s third of the night) and Jacksonville botched a punt return — which led to a Los Angeles field goal. The Jaguars scored a late touchdown, cutting their halftime deficit to 27-7 that realistically, could have been a lot worse.
