Jacksonville Jaguars Get Another Comeback Win

NFL News - November 22nd, 2009 - Written by John

There was no kneeling this time. The Jacksonville Jaguars saw the end zone, and went for it. Thanks to another thrilling drive at the end of the fourth quarter, Mike Sims-Walker was on the receiving end of a three-yard touchdown pass from David Garrard with 56 seconds remaining to give the Jaguars another heart-pounding win, 18-15 over the Buffalo Bills.

On 3rd-and-goal, Sims-Walker lined up wide left and did an out route to the back corner of the end zone, and Garrard hit him just as he approaced the boundary. Garrard then punched in the two-point conversion to give Jacksonville the lead by three, still four points short of covering the spread.

Running back Maurice Jones-Drew had been lightly toasted over the week for kneeling at the goal line when he could have scored the go-ahead touchdown against the New York Jets. He later told reporters that head coach Jack Del Rio instructed him to fall down to allow the clock to run down to nothing, allowing Josh Scobee to kick the game-winner as time ran out. The move paid off like it was planned, but some questioned the decision to forfeit guaranteed points and risk a botched snap, fumble or blocked kick.

Not this time. The Jaguars were trailing by five with three minutes left, and couldn't afford to settle for a field goal. Garrard marched his team down with passes to Sims-Walker over the middle and down the sideline to Torry Holt to cross the 50. Then Sims-Walker caught a short slant pass over the middle, bullied his way over two defenders to put the ball inside the 20. With first-and-goal coming, Jacksonville tried to pound it in with Jones-Drew, but were stuffed, leading to the pass attempt.

Garrard finished with 215 yards and the lone touchdown, while Sims-Walker had 91 yards on eight catches, primarily coming on that last drive.

It spoiled a day in which Buffalo's Terrell Owens finally broke out like the organization expected him to. With Ryan Fitzpatrick under center as part of Perry Fewell's new regime, the Bills reached 300 yards of total offense for the first time since September, and Owens recorded season-highs in catches (9) and yards (197), including a monster 98-yard bomb for a touchdown in the third quarter.

He caught a 20-yard pass in Buffalo's last ditch effort to at least kick a field goal to send it into overtime, but on fourth-and-10, Fitzpatrick's hurried pass over the middle was tipped by Owens and Intercepted by Anthony Smith to end the game. Fitzpatrick was hurried by a blitzing Reggie Nelson on the backside.

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