Josh Scobee’s 59-yard field goal on the final play lifts Jaguars over Colts, 31-28

Scobee’s 59-yarder lifts Jaguars over Colts, 31-28

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Coming off consecutive lopsided losses, the Jacksonville Jaguars talked all week about needing a spark.

Josh Scobee provided it.

Scobee’s 59-yard field goal on the final play gave the Jaguars a 31-28 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Scobee watched it clear the crossbar, then ripped off his helmet and started running toward the opposite end zone. His teammates finally caught up with him near the sideline, setting off a raucous celebration for a team desperate for a victory against its biggest rival.

It was the longest field goal in franchise history. Maybe the biggest, too.

The Jaguars (2-2) rebounded from back-to-back, 25-point losses — the worst consecutive setbacks in team history — and handed the six-time defending AFC South champion Colts (2-2) their second division loss.

Peyton Manning was solid at usual, throwing for 352 yards and two touchdowns, but his receivers let the team down in this one.

Tight end Brody Eldridge dropped a pass near the goal line in the third quarter. Anthony Smith made a shoelace grab on the ball and returned it near midfield. David Garrard found Marcedes Lewis over the middle for a 15-yard TD pass a few plays later, putting Jacksonville ahead 21-14.

Reggie Wayne, who finished with a career-high 15 receptions for 196 yards, fumbled inside the 10-yard line on the ensuing drive.

Those turnovers were the difference, even though Manning tied the game at 28 with 48 seconds remaining. He hooked up with Dallas Clark on a fourth-and-10 play, then found Wayne streaking down the sideline for 42 yards. A few inches from the goal line, Manning hit Austin Collie for a 1-yard pass, and the extra point tied it up.

The Jaguars appeared content to run out the clock and go to overtime, but when the Colts called timeout, coach Jack Del Rio changed his mind and took some shots through the air.

Garrard, booed last week and benched the week before, found Tiquan Underwood on a 22-yard pattern that put Jacksonville in range for a long field goal.

Underwood may have played as important a role as Scobee, and not because of that reception. Garrard dropped back on the next play, and under heavy pressure, floated a ball to the far sideline. Kelvin Hayden broke on it and had nothing but green grass in front of him, but Underwood made a nice play to swat it out of his hands at the last second.

Del Rio then sent Scobee on for the long one.

After a timeout to ice him, Scobee drilled it. He has three game-winning kicks against the Colts. He also had a 51-yarder with 4 seconds left in 2008 and a 53-yarder with 38 ticks remaining in 2004.

Garrard completed 17 of 22 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a 25-yard score on an option play in the first quarter, scoring not too far from where there had been a sign saying, “Trade for Tebow.”

The Jaguars clearly revamped their offensive attack following back-to-back drubbings against San Diego and Philadelphia. Garrard threw five interceptions and was sacked nine times in consecutive 25-point losses that were the worst in franchise history.

In hopes of preventing more costly errors, Garrard used a lot of two- and three-step drops against Indianapolis — getting the ball out quickly and not even trying to throw deep. Jacksonville also lined up offensive tackle Jordan Black as a tight end, using him to help on defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.

Garrard rarely got touched and didn’t get sacked for the first time this season.

It helped that Maurice Jones-Drew kept the Colts off balance with 105 yards on the ground.

Jones-Drew got his first touchdown of the season, plunging across the line from a yard out to put the Jaguars ahead 14-7 in the second quarter. He did a jig in the end zone, then blew kisses to fans.

Manning answered with the second of three 11-play scoring drives, this one ending on a quick slant to Clark.

Manning picked apart Jacksonville’s secondary — no surprise since every other quarterback has done the same this season — but fell to 14-5 all time against the Jaguars.