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Jones-Drew, Taylor steamroll Colts

Dec 10, 2006 - 9:18 PM JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Rookie Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor led a stampede through the Indianapolis Colts.

Jones-Drew rushed for a season-high 166 yards and two touchdowns and scored on a 93-yard kickoff return as the Jacksonville Jaguars rolled to a 44-17 victory over the Colts in a battle of division rivals.

The Jaguars took advantage of the NFL's worst run defense, rushing for a franchise-record 375 yards.

"We wanted 400, but got 375, so that's alright," Jones-Drew said. "The offensive line was awesome."

The 375 yards tied for the second highest rushing total in the NFL since the 1970 merger and was the most since Cincinnati rushed for 407 yards in an October 22, 2000 game against Denver.

The loss was the second in a row and third in four games for the Colts (10-3), who again squandered a chance to clinch their fourth straight AFC South title and slipped a game behind San Diego in the race for the best record in the AFC and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

"Probably as disappointing as we have been in a long time to have a big game, one we needed, and to come up with a game like that was disappointing," Colts coach Tong Dungy said. "We played a team that was very good today, very focused."

Jacksonville (8-5) improved to 6-1 at home and remained tied for the lead in the wild-card race with Cincinnati, one game ahead of Denver, Kansas City and the New York Jets.

The Jaguars entered as the NFL's third-best rushing offense while the Colts were last in run defense, yielding nearly 160 yards per game. Jacksonville had success on the ground in the first meeting, rushing for 191 yards in a 21-14 loss on September 24.

The matchup was again exploited by Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, who used his backs Jones-Drew and Taylor to expose Indianapolis' weakness.

"It's very gratifying to prepare in the business-like fashion we did and perform at such a high level," Del Rio said. "We prepared hard and took nothing for granted. Attention to detail separates the good from the great. Our guys are starting to understand that."

The Jaguars had already compiled 251 rushing yards on 17 carries in the first half when they built a 24-10 lead.

Taylor didn't waste time inflicting punishment on the Colts. On Jacksonville's first play from scrimmage, Taylor took a handoff at the 6 and broke off a 76-yard run before being knocked out of bounds by cornerback Jason David.

"I wasn't warmed up yet," said Taylor, who finished with all of his 131 yards on nine carries in the first half. "It was a cutback play and I made the safety miss and 76 yards later I was tackled. It should have been 94 yards. I shouldn't have gotten caught."

Jones-Drew, a second-round pick out of UCLA, scored on an 18-yard run on the next play.

"It started with play one and it went all the way through the game," Dungy said. "Obviously with 400 yards rushing, you are not going to be in many games giving that up. They have two great backs and they did a great job."

Jones-Drew produced his season-high total on just 15 carries. He broke off a 48-yard touchdown late in the second quarter and opened the third quarter with his 93-yard kickoff return.

Even third-string back Alvin Pearman rushed for 71 yards on 13 carries, including a six-yard touchdown.

"I probably could have had 78 or so (yards) on two carries," Jaguars defensive end Bobby McCray said. "They probably would have pulled me early to save me for next week."

Peyton Manning didn't have any type of running game to help him. Ranked fifth in the league against the run, the Jaguars limited the Colts to 34 yards on 20 carries.

Manning passed for 313 yards, but failed to throw a touchdown pass and was intercepted once. He scored on a one-yard run with 11:13 left in the fourth quarter after the Jaguars had built a 37-10 lead.

"Not much to say except they dominated us from start to finish," said Manning, who completed 25-of-50 passes. "We just need a win to get back on track."

Meanwhile, Jacksonville's David Garrard essentially spent the day handing off. He attempted just 14 passes, completing eight for 79 yards with an interception.

"From my perspective, just being able to hand the ball off to the running backs and have them run an explosive game like that, they worked their tails off," Garrard said.

It was the worst loss for the Colts since a 41-0 defeat to the New York Jets in the 2002 wild-card round.

"We'll see what we're made of," Dungy said. "Our problems against the run are fixable. We have to get it fixed to go where we want to go."

The loss overshadowed a milestone for Marvin Harrison, who caught six passes for 101 yards and became the fourth player in NFL history to reach 1,000 receptions (1,001), joining Jerry Rice, Cris Carter and Tim Brown.

Manning and Harrison connected on a 42-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. Three plays later, Brandon Stokley dropped a pass in the end zone and the Colts were forced to punt.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal with 6:05 left in the first quarter and Dominic Rhodes scored on a one-yard run with 8:18 remaining in the second quarter to give the Colts a 10-7 lead.

But Jacksonville scored the next 30 points, including 17 in the last 5:45 of the first half.

Taylor scored on a 21-yard run to give Jacksonville the lead for good. Jones-Drew broke off his 48-yard scoring run with 1:17 left in the second quarter and Josh Scobee kicked a 48-yard field goal on the last play of the half.

Then even when Derrick Wimbush slipped trying to field the second-half kickoff, Jones-Drew scooped the ball up and raced 93 yards for a score. The rookie finished with 303 all-purpose yards.

"Maurice is a special young man," Del Rio said. "He has explosive qualities, just in a smaller package (at 5-feet-7)."