Jacksonville Jaguars: Ranking the franchise’s five current playoff victories
By Billy Long
With the Jacksonville Jaguars making their triumphant return to the postseason, we look back at the young franchise’s playoff wins to date.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are back in the playoffs for the first time in a decade after a 10-6, AFC South championship regular season. The Jaguars are the three seed, and will play host to the Buffalo Bills at EverBank Field on Sunday at 1:00 PM.
With playoff buzz finally back in Jacksonville, and the team ready to make a run at the Super Bowl, let’s take a trip down memory lane and rank the Jaguars’ playoff wins as the team gets set to add to the list.
5. January 3rd, 1999, Wild Card vs. New England Patriots, 25-10
This lasting memory of this wild card game vs. the New Patriots is that it was the first home playoff game in Jaguars history, and with that, the first home playoff win.
As for the matchup itself, it was also the first playoff game Jacksonville was expected to win. After being the underdog in the team’s previous four postseason games, the Jaguars were favored to knock out New England at home. Jacksonville entered as the three seed at 11-5, and faced a Patriots team who was just 9-7.
It was a slow start for Jacksonville, but the Jaguars hit halftime with a 12-0 lead, on their way to the 25-10 victory over Pete Carroll and the Patriots in the wild card round.
4. January 5th, 2008, Wild Card @ Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-29
This game being fourth shows just how many memorable playoff games the Jaguars have won. Just three weeks after beating the Steelers in a snowy week 15 game in Pittsburgh, the Jaguars returned for the wild card round, and pulled off a feat no other team has accomplished before or since then: winning in Pittsburgh twice in the same season.
Jacksonville jumped on the Steelers early, on their way to a 14 point halftime lead, and a 28-10 third quarter lead before Pittsburgh made a furious fourth quarter comeback to take a 29-28 lead late in the game.
Down by one, and with just 2 and a half minutes to go, the Jaguars had one final drive to win the game. And every Jaguars fan knows what happened next. On a fourth-and-two with the game on the line, quarterback David Garrard blasted through the defense on a QB draw for 32 yards to put Jacksonville firmly in kicker Josh Scobee‘s range. Scobee got his chance, and split the uprights to send the Steelers packing and the Jaguars onto the divisional round.
3. January 15th, 2000, Divisional Round vs. Miami Dolphins, 62-7
The game that sent Jimmy Johnson and Dan Marino into retirement. This wasn’t just a win, this was a complete dismantling of a football team. This game was one of the most lopsided in NFL history in general, but all the more impressive considering it was a playoff game, and a divisional round game at that.
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The Jaguars made their presence felt early and often, on their way to a 41-7 halftime(!) lead. Jacksonville could do no wrong in this one, and made sushi out of Marino and the Miami Dolphins. The game got out of hand so quick and abundantly, Jacksonville started playing backups in the second quarter.
The most unforgettable play of the game (and there were many), was Fred Taylor weaving and dodging, and then turning on the jets for a 90-yard touchdown gallop.
The 62-7 thrashing of the Dolphins is the most complete and dominating performance the Jaguars have ever put together in their short history. To this day, you cannot convince me the 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars weren’t the best team in the league that year.
2. December 28th, 1996, Wild Card @ Buffalo Bills, 30-27
The 1996 Jaguars were in just their second season of existence, and started the year 4-7. Five straight wins, and one Morten Anderson miss later, Jacksonville found themselves in the playoffs. It was a darling story for a team in their sophomore season, but a trip to Buffalo to face Jim Kelly and the Bills was viewed as nothing more than the end of the book for the Jaguars.
But Jacksonville had other plans. The Jaguars wanted no part of playing the role of a team just happy to be there, and that showed quickly. Jacksonville never trailed by more than seven points, and even took a second quarter lead on the Bills. The second half went back-and-forth, as the two teams traded score for score until a 45-yard fourth quarter field goal by Mike Hollis sealed the improbable win.
It was the Jaguars’ first playoff win, and the biggest win in team history…. for a week….
1. January 4th, 1997, Divisional Round @ Denver Broncos, 30-27
The week following the win over the Buffalo Bills, the Jaguars doubled-up by pulling off one of the NFL’s most notorious upsets. Winning over Buffalo was one thing, but heading to Denver to take on John Elway and the Broncos brought even more doubters. Denver was the number one seed in the AFC, and the overwhelming favorites to reach the Super Bowl. This was Elway’s year. The year he was going to cap off his illustrious career with a ring.
But once again, Jacksonville didn’t want to play the part of lowly underdog.
The Jaguars fell behind quickly in the first quarter, 12-0, and appeared over-matched and headed towards a blowout exit in the divisional round like most expected. But Jacksonville didn’t flinch, and the team reeled off 23 unanswered points to take a 23-12 fourth quarter lead. The Broncos punched in a touchdown to close the gap to 23-20, but the Jaguars slammed the door shut with a 29-yard scramble from Mark Brunell, who then found Jimmy Smith in the left corner of the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown in what is still one of the franchise’s most famous plays. The clock hit triple zeros, and Jacksonville left the Broncos, and NFL fans nationwide, stunned.
To this day, the win over John Elway and the Denver Broncos is widely considered a top upset in league history, as the cardiac cats made an unlikely run to the AFC Championship in year two.
If was a tough list to rank, specifically with not having the win over the Steelers higher. But when the Jaguars win in the playoffs, they really make a splash.
Here’s to adding many more to the list as the Jacksonville Jaguars begin postseason play on Sunday.