Dec 14, 2008 - 5:35 PM
1 shoutJACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- After a month of losing, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally had something to cheer about.
Maurice Jones-Drew scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 2-yard run with 1:56 remaining Sunday as the Jaguars rallied for a 20-16 victory over the Green Bay Packers in a battle of struggling teams.
The loss snapped a four-game losing streak for Jacksonville (5-9), which won for the first time since a 38-14 victory at Detroit on November 8.
"We needed this win in the worst way," Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard said. "It didn't feel like our fifth win, it felt like the first round of the playoffs. For me, it did."
Green Bay (5-9) suffered its fifth straight loss and officially was eliminated from the playoffs a year after reaching the NFC championship game with a 13-3 record.
"This game has a lot of similarities from the games we have played as of late," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "There's no doubt about it. The bottom line is the outcome and we didn't make enough plays to win the game."
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will miss the playoffs in his first season as Brett Favre's heir apparent in Green Bay.
However, the Packers were doomed by another fourth-quarter collapse, giving up two touchdowns in the final 10 1/2 minutes which featured three lead changes.
In last week's 24-21 loss to Houston, the Packers allowed the Texans to drive 75 yards before Kris Brown drilled a 40-yard field goal as time expired. Green Bay surrendered 549 total yards.
Sunday was Green Bay's sixth loss this season by four points or less and third straight.
"No one is happy where we are," McCarthy added. "We had high expectations and those expectations have changed."
After the Jaguars took a 14-13 lead on Garrard's 14-yard TD pass to Jones-Drew with 10:39 remaining, the Packers answered on Mason Crosby's third field goal of the game - a 38-yarder with 5:35 left.
"We struggled to get off the field but we bucked up and played well in the red zone and limited them to field goals," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said.
Jacksonville responded again, putting together an eight-play, 80-yard drive that Jones-Drew capped with his second TD.
"(The offensive line) definitely gelled today," added Garrard, who finished 21-of-33 for 238 yards and two TDs. "They played as one unit and kept the guys off me pretty much all day."
Rodgers completed 20-of-32 passes for 278 yards, including a 4-yard TD strike to Greg Jennings in the second quarter.
From the Bleachers
-
GREEN BAY: 16
JACKSONVILLE: 20
Final
Dec 14 4:09 PM -
NFL
TD JAC
MAURICE JONES-DREW 2 YD RUN
(TWO-POINT RUN CONVERSION FAILED)
GREEN BAY 16
JACKSONVILLE 20 1:56 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Dec 14 3:58 PM -
NFL
FG GNB
MASON CROSBY 38 YD
GREEN BAY 16
JACKSONVILLE 14 5:35 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Dec 14 3:46 PM -
NFL
TD JAC
MAURICE JONES-DREW 14 YD PASS FROM DAVID GARRARD
(JOSH SCOBEE KICK)
GREEN BAY 13
JACKSONVILLE 14 10:39 LEFT, 4TH QTR
Dec 14 3:34 PM -
GREEN BAY: 13
JACKSONVILLE: 7
End of 3rd
Dec 14 3:20 PM -
GREEN BAY: 13
JACKSONVILLE: 7
Halftime
Dec 14 2:31 PM -
NFL
FG GNB
MASON CROSBY 23 YD
GREEN BAY 13
JACKSONVILLE 7 1:18 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Dec 14 2:24 PM -
NFL
TD GNB
GREG JENNINGS 4 YD PASS FROM AARON RODGERS
(MASON CROSBY KICK)
GREEN BAY 10
JACKSONVILLE 7 8:33 LEFT, 2ND QTR
Dec 14 1:56 PM -
GREEN BAY: 3
JACKSONVILLE: 7
End of 1st
Dec 14 1:34 PM -
NFL
FG GNB
MASON CROSBY 22 YD
GREEN BAY 3
JACKSONVILLE 7 2:33 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Dec 14 1:26 PM -
NFL
TD JAC
DENNIS NORTHCUTT 30 YD PASS FROM DAVID GARRARD
(JOSH SCOBEE KICK)
GREEN BAY 0
JACKSONVILLE 7 8:03 LEFT, 1ST QTR
Dec 14 1:15 PM -
Sweetness34
Which team has been more decimated by injuries, the Jaguars or the Packers?
Dec 14 2:12 AM
