There has never been a Jacksonville Jaguars game bookended by two crazier plays at the start and at the finish.
There may never be another one again.
The Jags' 19-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London began with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by rookie Josh Cameron that was nullified by a holding penalty (along with three other flags, a fight and two players ejected) and it ended with Cam Little's 57-yard walkoff field goal when holder Logan Cooke pulled down yet another high snap from backup long snapper DaVon Hamilton and got it down in time for Little to drill the ball through the uprights.
There was much to unpack in between, such as the Jaguars surviving 100 yards in penalties,
injuries to long snapper Ross Matiscik and left tackle Anton Harrison, Parker Washington's sensational one-handed touchdown reception on fourth-and-give to give the Jaguars their first lead and another stout performance against the run by the Jags defense.
But this first of two London games (the Jags face Houston on Oct. 18 at Wembley Stadium) will long be remembered for the kickoff return for a touchdown that wasn't and the winning field goal that won a game the Jags might not have deserved.
Except, in the NFL's bottom-line mentality, there's no such thing as apologizing for a victory.
First play took five minutes to sort out
The game almost resulted in Cameron living out a rookie dream. He gathered in Jake Elliott's kickoff at the 10-yard line, cut up the left side and used blocks by Abdullah, Quintin Morris and Jahlani Tavi to break into the clear, broke a tackle attempt by Smael Mondon, got another key block by Danny Striggow on Michael Carter, then dragged Kelee Ringo and Arnold Ebiketie into the end zone.
But Branson Combs was called for holding Philadelphia's Ty Robinson (who would have had a shot at Cameron), nullifying the play. Philadelphia was hit with an illegal formation penalty but the touchdown was still wiped out by the offsetting flags.
In the meantime, far from the point where Cameron broke into the clear, Jaguars' rookie Bryan Thomas Jr., was getting into a fracas with Eagles veteran Jeremiah Trotter, taking each other to the ground. The were both hit with offsetting flags but they were also both tossed out of the game.
The officiating crew took around five minutes to figure out the flags and ejections and Elliott kicked off again. This time, Abdullah got the ball and returned it 15 yards.
Eight seconds, one big return, two field goals
Fast forward 59 minutes and 52 seconds of clock time, during which the Jaguars have a 16-14 lead. That is, until Elliott booted a 48-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 17-16 lead.
The reason it was a go-ahead kick is that Little hooked the conversion after Washington's touchdown reception with 3:20 left in the game, after the second of three high snaps by Hamilton, the starting nose tackle. Starting long snapper Ross Matiscik, who had a streak of 795 successful snaps on punts and placement kicks in seven NFL seasons entering the game, hurt his shoulder on Cooke's first punt of the game and the Jaguars had to turn to Hamilton, who played one game when Matiscik was hurt last year, making four successful snaps in last year's 25-3 over Tennessee).
With eight seconds left, Elliott kicked the ball inbounds and did the smart thing on paper: He avoided Cameron and kicked to Abdullah at the Jaguars' 8.
What Elliott and the Eagles may not have known is that Abdullah, a 12-yard veteran, still has some gas in the tank.
Cutting behind a block by Morris on Ebiketie and Cameron on Ringo, Abdullah found a crease and sped upfield. He broke a tackle attempt by Elliott and was brought down from behind by Jonathan Jones at the Eagles' 39, a 53-yard return.
As soon as Abdullah hit the ground, he popped up and thrust a single finger into the air to single one second remaining. He later told Jaguars sideline reporter Bucky Brooks that he saw the scoreboard and knew he hit the ground with 2 seconds left.
Abdullah also said the kickoff return was similar to what special teams coordinator Heath Farwell called on the opening kick, and both began the same way, with a key block by Morris.
"We got the right return against the right coverage," Abdullah said.
Cam Little is perfect inside two minutes
That left it up to Little, Cooke and more importantly, Hamilton, to execute the game-winning play. After the Eagles called a timeout to give Little more time to think, Hamilton delivered another high snap, but not as high as on the previous conversion kick.
Cooke, at 6 feet 5 inches one of the tallest players on the team, pulled the ball down in time for Little to connect. The ball was a bit of a low draw but stayed within the uprights for Little's sixth lead-changing kick in the final two minutes in six attempts in his three-year NFL career, and his 16th of 50 or more yards, in 21 attempts.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Wild plays bookend Jacksonville Jaguars' victory over Philadelphia
