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Jaguars hand Steelers first home loss

Dec 16, 2007 - 11:01 PM PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars felt right at home in the nasty elements.

On a cold, snowy afternoon, David Garrard tossed three touchdown passes as the Jaguars defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 29-22, on Sunday.

Jacksonville (10-4) also used the power running of Fred Taylor to move one step closer to its first playoff berth since 2005. Tennessee's 26-17 victory in Kansas City prevented Jacksonville from clinching a postseason berth.

"We just have to make sure that everybody keeps grinding," Garrard said. "We're just trying to get there (playoffs). Mother Nature may not have been kind but we didn't let that bother us."

Taylor rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, only the second 100-yard game the Steelers have allowed in their last 63 contests. But it was Taylor's fourth straight 100-yard game.

"A lot of guys didn't believe that we could come up here, on the road, and play a team like Pittsburgh and win the game," Taylor said. "We just played the game."

Taylor's 12-yard touchdown run snapped a 22-22 tie with 2:02 remaining and came after the Steelers erased a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 5:46 remaining.

The Jaguars, however, answered with a game-clinching eight-play, 73-yard drive, hammering the Steelers on the ground as they did throughout the game.

The conditions might have been more suited to the Steelers, but the Jaguars showed they have a team equipped to win December games in wintry weather.

Jacksonville beat Pittsburgh at its own game, running for 225 yards against the league's second-best rushing defense.

"It was a good hard-fought victory here," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. "It took a complete team effort. The guys understood we had some challenges this week. We played a stout defense. Our team met those challenges."

With the snow at Heinz Field intensifying, the Jaguars wore down the Steelers (9-5) with a 20-play drive in the third quarter on which they twice converted a 4th-and-1.

Garrard capped the nearly 10-minute, 74-yard march with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Williams that made it 16-7 with 5:25 left in the third quarter.

On their final possession of the first half, the Jaguars marched 68 yards on 10 plays to take a 10-7 halftime lead on Garrard's 12-yard TD pass to Ernest Wilford with 1:07 remaining.

Ben Roethlisberger tossed an 18-yard TD pass to tight end Heath Miller to give the Steelers a 7-3 lead 42 seconds into the second period.

The Jaguars registered five sacks against Roethlisberger, who was ineffective until the fourth quarter while playing with a sore right shoulder that caused him to miss two days of practice during the week.

"We've got to execute better," Miller said. "When we're not successful, it's because we dont execute and we don't play good fundamental football. I'm sure that's the case today."

Roethlisberger also threw three TDs but passed for only 137 yards as the Steelers lost at Heinz Field for the first time this season. Pittsburgh was trying finish 8-0 at home for only the fourth time in franchise history.

"Ben was feeling good enough to play," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "Once we made the decision to play, not only him but anybody, we don't second-guess it. His play speaks for itself. That is the way we operate. We didn't play well enough to win."

While the Jaguars relied on their ball-control offense, they also showed they could score quickly.

Garrard's third TD - a 55-yard pass to Dennis Northcutt - made it 22-7 with 3:57 left in the third quarter.

"Our offensive line moved some people today," Del Rio said. "David wasn't sacked and we were able to run the football and keep the quarterback operating."

The loss dropped the Steelers into a tie for first place in the AFC North with the surging Cleveland Browns (9-5), who defeated the Buffalo Bills, 8-0, on Sunday.

"We had some elements we had to deal with and they're a great defense, a great team," Roethlisberger said of the Jaguars. "It was unusual to see receivers not get balls today."

Pittsburgh owns the tiebreaker edge based on a season sweep of Cleveland. However, the Steelers still have not wrapped up a playoff spot due to Tennessee's victory.

"We're not looking at Cleveland," Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said. "We're concerned about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Until we do what we've got to do, it doesn't matter who's chasing us."

Pittsburgh came alive in the fourth quarter, as Roethlisberger tossed TD passes of 11 yards to Ward and 30 yards to Nate Washington to pull the Steelers even.

But the Steelers could not get a defensive stop when they needed one.