Jacksonville Jaguars Bow Out Of Playoff Hunt, Fall To Cleveland

NFL News - January 3rd, 2010 - Written by John

Four weeks ago, Cleveland Browns do-it-all back Josh Cribbs stood gleaming in the middle of the field during a postgame interview with ESPN. Just minutes after his team pulled off the club's upset of the year against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he said it was his team's Christmas present to the fans.

And while it put the Steelers into a rut they are still trying to shake out of, it was a gift that kept on giving for the Browns. Since then, Cleveland won two more in a row, and followed it up with a 23-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2009 NFL Season finale. And like that, the Jaguars became the first team fighting for a wild card spot to be eliminated in a pressure-filled day.

Cribbs had a 14-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation and Jerome Harrison platooned him with 127 yards to give the team it's first four-game winning streak since re-joining the league in 1999. It was Harrison's third-straight 100-yard game after gaining a combined 434 yards of real estate over the two previous weeks.

But for the Jaguars, the past month has been the inverse of good fortune. They only needed to win two of their last four games to secure a spot in the playoffs, but instead lost four-in-a-row to bow out of the hunt humbly. They would've needed a lot of help anyway, but step one was certainly the most pivotal.

The first three losses were reasonable considering it was against the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots. But the finale was the toughest pill to swallow. Jacksonville surrendered 204 yards on the ground, and fell into a 20-3 hole in the third quarter, which spelled it's doom.

Harrison's lone touchdown took the game to that deficit, scampering for a six-yard score late in the third quarter.

The Jaguars made a valiant effort in the final quarter to get back when David Garrard hit Zach Miller for two touchdowns to cap long drives, but it was too little too late.

Maurice Jones-Drew was a relative non-factor for much of the game, getting an average of 5.1 yards per carry, yet only getting the ball 16 times. He was held under 100 yards for the second-straight game.

It was even more disappointing considering Cleveland starting quarterback Derek Anderson only had 86 yards passing and finished with a rating of 49.8.

Phil Dawson also had three field goals, all within 33 yards.