4th quarter big plays save the Jacksonville Jaguars Part III
The Oakland Raiders had started off brilliantly against the Jacksonville Jaguars but the Jaguars started to put up a fight half way through the 3rd quarter. A 74 yard touchdown run by Jacksonville’s Rashad Jennings had closed the gap between the
Raiders and the Jaguars. Kassim Osgood forced a fumble out of Jacoby Ford and gave the Jaguars a chance to save the game.
The turnover put the Jaguars on Oakland’s 22 yard line with almost six and a half minutes remaining in the second quarter. Jacksonville’s quarterback David Garrard led the drive and started with a 9 yard pass to running back Maurice Drew-Jones. This was
Drew-Jones’ sixth consecutive 100 yard game. Along with 101 yards rushing, Drew-Jones also received 19 yards from Garrard.
Garrard was sacked in the end zone on 2nd and goal but the drive was still alive. On the 3rd and goal Garrard finished it off with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Mike Sims-Walker. Mike ran into the end zone and cut left to receive the
pass from Garrard. He leaped in the air to catch the ball and score the touchdown. With the extra point Jacksonville got into the lead for the first time in the game.
The Jaguars regained possession of the ball before the 4th quarter began. In the last few minutes of the quarter Jacksonville started from their 38 and moved up to Oakland’s 37. Garrard did a little running of his own to keep the drive moving
forward with a 24 yard rush on the right to take the Jaguars inside the red zone. A penalty pushed them back but the drive could still be salvaged. Drew-Jones and Rashad Jennings rushed 9 yards to take the Jaguars to the 2 yard line. On 3rd and
goal Drew-Jones was stopped a yard short of touchdown. The Jaguars were in the lead and the pressure was off so instead of going all or nothing for the touchdown, Jacksonville attempted the field goal. The attempt was good and took the Jaguars to 31 points
against 24.
Oakland caught a break in their next offensive drive. Quarterback Jason Campbell was sacked on Oakland’s 19 and the fumbled the ball. Terrance Knighton recovered the ball for the Jaguars and carried it into the end zone but the touchdown was nullified by
a personal foul on Knighton and the Raiders moved 15 yards up. The sack hurt Campbell but not seriously. Back up Kyle Boller replaced Campbell. He threw 3 passes in the game, one for 20 yards. He was intercepted on his third attempt from Jacksonville’s 31
which ended the drive for the Raiders.
Raiders quickly took back possession and Campbell was back in the game. He rallied the Raiders from the 17 yard line and took the raiders up to Jacksonville’s 41 yard line in 5 plays. Darren McFadden rushed five more yards. McFadden had been impressive throughout
the game. He had already scored two touchdowns in the game and made his presence felt both as a rusher and a receiver. On 2nd and 5 McFadden broke through the line of scrimmage and slipped through Jacksonville’s defence. Free Safety Don Carey caught
up with the runner but he was stiff armed by McFadden as he got through to the end zone for touchdown.
The Raiders and the Jaguars now both had 31 points. With two minutes remaining Jacksonville had to do something quick if they wanted to avoid going into overtime with the Raiders and that is exactly what they did. Deji Kareem returned Sebastian Janikowski’s
65 yards kick for 65 yards and took the Jaguars to Oakland’s 30 yard line. On 1st and 10 McFadden came through for the Jaguars and scored his third and game winning touchdown. McFadden found an opening in the Oakland’s defence and pushed right through
it unscathed. A minute and a half remained but it turned out to be insufficient for the Raiders to mount a comeback.
With the extra point the Jaguars won the game with 38 points against 31.
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