Jaguars’ Christian Kirk on game-winning touchdown vs. Saints: ‘I don’t think I’ve run that fast since college’

The Jacksonville Jaguars appeared to have their Week 7 matchup with the New Orleans Saints on cruise control, up 24-9 entering the fourth quarter on “Thursday Night Football.” However, the Saints rallied all the way back to tie the game with 6:38 after a Taysom Hill one-yard rushing touchdown and a toe-tapping touchdown by Michael Thomas, followed by a two-point conversion from Alvin Kamara. The Jaguars ended up surviving for their fourth consecutive victory, 31-24, thanks to wide receiver Christian Kirk, whose four-year, $72 million contract in free agency during the 2022 offseason raised plenty of eyebrows. Kirk took a simple underneath route 44 yards for the game-winning touchdown. 

“I don’t think I’ve run that fast since like college,” Kirk,  a 26-year-old who was a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cardinals out of Texans A&M, said, via ESPN. “That was some vintage stuff, I guess. I’m glad I was able to do it in that moment.”  

According to Next Gen Stats, Kirk’s 44-yard catch-and-run touchdown hit a top speed of 19.76 MPH while gaining 27 yards over expectation. Forty-two of his 44 yards gained on the play occurred after the catch, and the Jaguars needed every one of them for their fourth victory in a row. Jacksonville is now three games above .500, with a 5-2 record, for the the first time since the end of the 2017 season, when they reached the AFC Championship Game.