NFL Wild Card Weekend Wrap-Up

Posted on January 6, 2008 in Sports

It was a bad weekend to be a number four seed.

In the AFC, the wild card Jacksonville Jaguars knocked the number four Pittsburgh Steelers out of contention with a last-minute field goal that saved the Jaguars from a meltdown of epic proportions.

The Jaguars went into halftime with a dominant 21-7 lead. They had rattled Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, causing him to throw three interceptions in the first half, one going all the way for a touchdown.

By the end of the third quarter, the Jags were up 28-10, and appeared to have the game wrapped up.

And then came the Steelers.

In less than eight minutes of game time, the Jaguars squandered their once-powerful 18-point lead to give the Steelers a 29-28 advantage. The Jaguars looked rattled, frustrated, and beaten.

But appearances can be deceiving.

When the Jaguars got the ball back with 2:38 left, they were determined to win.

On fourth-and-two, Jaguars quarterback David Garrard dropped back, and was faced with an all-out blitz from the Steelers defense. He lowered his helmet, turned upfield, and ran. The blitz left the field wide open, allowing Garrard to amass 32 yards on the quarterback draw.

“I knew they weren’t going to stop me for two yards,” Garrard said.

The long run set up Josh Scobee’s 25-yard field goal, and the Steelers offense stepped on the field for one last time.

Jaguars defensive end Bobby McCray quickly forced a Roethlisberger fumble which was recovered by the Jaguars, effectively sealing the outcome in the Jaguars’ favor.

The Jaguars will head to New England to try and topple the undefeated Patriots next Saturday at 8 p.m.

Over in the NFC, the number five New York Giants, coming off of a thriller against the New England Patriots, defeated the number four Tampa Bay Buccaneers to move on to the divisional round.

The Giants looked sharp on both sides of the ball, with quarterback Eli Manning showing the same poise he demonstrated in New England, and defensive end Michael Strahan led the way for the defense.

The big difference maker was the ability of the Giants to force three Buccaneers turnovers. Uncharacteristically, Buccaneers quarterback Jeff Garcia threw two interceptions.

The other turnover occurred during the opening kickoff of the second half. Buccaneers kick returner Michael Spurlock, who became the first Buccaneer to return a kickoff for a touchdown just a few weeks ago, fumbled the ball and allowed the Giants to take over deep in Bucs territory.

“That’s huge, the play of the day,” head coach Jon Gruden said of Spurlock’s fumble.

The Giants will face the Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

The other two wild card matchups had unsurprising outcomes, as the Seattle Seahawks handily beat the resurgent Washington Redskins and the San Diego Chargers held off a formidable effort from the Tennessee Titans.

The Seahawks will travel to Green Bay to play the Packers Saturday at 4:30 p.m., and the Chargers will go to Indianapolis to face the Colts Sunday at 1 p.m.

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