Colts turnovers and Offensive Efficiency power a Jaguars victory

With seconds left to go in the football game, the Indianapolis Colts called time out to try and ice Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee. Unfortunately for the Colts, Josh Scobee is a savvy kicker and the plan backfired.

Typically when you ice a kicker, it's to mess with their mind. When a kicker hits a field goal that's good to only have it wiped out by a timeout, it forces him to press to hit the same kick again. If the kicker misses, it makes the kicker over think the kick and they often over correct and still miss.

Not Josh Scobee.

Scobee was smart enough to just chip the football and not give the Colts the satisfaction of actually icing him. On the next attempt, Scobee nails a team record 59 yard field goal to win one of the best football games I've attended in recent memory. That now makes 3 of Josh Scobee's seven game winning field goals against the Colts.

Offensively quarterback David Garrard rebounded in what was obviously a limited game plan by offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter. Garrard was asked to only pass the football 22 times, but he was efficient in 21 of 22 of those pass attempts. I say 21 of 22 because his final pass was nearly an interception returned for a touchdown. Garrard felt the rush and smartly instead of taking a sack and forcing overtime, he threw the ball away. The problem was he threw the ball to the far side of the field and it was nearly picked off.

Other than that, the game plan was for mostly short passes and designed runs that Garrard executed to a 'T'. Garrard ended the night 17 of 22 with 163 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and another touchdown on a 25 yard run.

The key to the offense in this football game however was the offensive line. They kept David Garrard virtually untouched, as he was hit only once in the game, and they opened holes for the running game. Left tackle Eugene Monroe stoned Dwight Freeney all game long and he barely showed up on the stat sheet with only a single tackle. Opposite Monroe, the struggling Eben Britton held up to defensive end Robert Mathis and only gave up a single hit on the quarterback, but neither tackle gave up a sack. As a matter of fact, no one on the Jaguars offensive line gave up a sack.

Runningback Maurice Jones-Drew was finally able to find the endzone this season, twice, and finally broke the 100 yard barrier. Receiving wise, there wasn't a whole lot done. Second year receiver Mike Thomas caught quite a few short passes and turned one up field for a 21 yard gain. Tight end Marcedes Lewis caught another touchdown pass on a nice throw by Garrard into coverage.

Defensively, the Jaguars did just about all you could ask from them. Yeah, Peyton Manning still shredded them for 352 yards and two touchdowns, but when the defense had to make a play they made them. The Jaguars defense and newly signed safety Gerald Alexander forced Colts turnovers in the redzone. The first turnover was an interception by safety Anthony Smith after Alexander hit tight end Brody Eldrige and knocked the football into Smith's hands. The second turnover was a fumble forced by Anthony Smith and then picked up and returned for a sizable gain by Gerald Alexander. Right there, the Jaguars defense virtually snatched 14 points off the scoreboard from the Colts. Cornerback David Jones nearly had an interception that would have all but ended the game late in the 4th quarter, but he dropped it.

All in all, it was a win that the Jacksonville Jaguars and their fans desperately needed. Josh Scobee's field goal may have saved a few jobs, for now.

It's too bad there were only 25,000 fans there to see it... right Mike Ditka?