It was a tale of two very different endings for the NFL teams in Florida this past weekend. One team experienced a nightmare, while the other seemingly lived out a fairytale.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, after being down by 18 points at halftime against the Giants, stormed back unexpectedly to beat New York 25-24. The Jaguars’ furious second half rally was led by their aggressive play on the defensive side of the ball.
The Jags defense returned one fumble by Giants tight end Larry Donnell for a touchdown and also scored after recovering a fumble by Giants quarterback Eli Manning in the end zone. Jaguars defensive end Chris Clemons says the guys on defense knew they needed to go out and make a huge impact on the game after halftime.
“Our offense wasn’t moving the ball around, so we knew we had to make a big play,” said Clemons. “And this team thrives on big plays and the enthusiasm from our defense. So, we knew we had to go out and make a big play somewhere along the lines.”
After scoring two defensive touchdowns and holding the Giants to just one field goal after halftime, Jags kicker Josh Scobee nailed a 43-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the game to seal the comeback win.
“In the second half, you know, we started making some plays. Obviously the defense played well…Josh makes a big kick at the end, and it’s good to have an all phase win as a team victory,” said quarterback Blake Bortles.
The Jags will try to win two consecutive games for the first time this season when they face the Houston Texans (6-6) at home next Sunday.
Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Bucs suffered their 10th loss of the season after falling to the Cincinnati Bengals 14-13. This loss was particularly disappointing because of the way the Bucs killed their potentially game-winning drive in the closing seconds of the game by committing a silly and costly penalty for having too many men on the field.
“That’s how 2-10 football teams play…found a way to lose it in the end. Played hard throughout, gave us an opportunity to win the football game, but when you make dumb, stupid penalties like that throughout the game, it’ll end up biting you at the end, which it did,” said Bucs coach Lovie Smith.
The Bucs will try to get back on track next Sunday when they play against the Lions at Detroit.
Up north, the Miami Dolphins (6-5) will play the New York Jets (2-9) tonight at Metlife Stadium in Monday Night Football. The Dolphins are currently in the hunt for a wild card spot in the AFC and will probably need 10 wins to solidify a playoff spot. This is the first meeting of the season between these two teams.
“We were in the same situation last year where, you know, we could’ve won the last two games and made it to the playoffs. We know it’s pretty much the same situation,” said Dolphins Receiver Mike Wallace. “We have to win basically four out of five of our games. We know that, the rest of the world knows that. We have to stay focused and stay on our grind. I think we can get it done.”
Kickoff for the game is set for 8:30pm.
Listen to the audio clips mentioned above:
Chris Clemons talks about the Jags defense
Mike Wallace on the Dolphins playoff hopes