Browns Drop Heartbreaker

Browns Drop Heartbreaker

Published Nov. 21, 2010 4:08 p.m. ET

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars won again in a dramatic finish with the help of another fortunate bounce.

Maurice Jones-Drew followed a 75-yard reception with a 1-yard touchdown dive, and the Jaguars overcame six turnovers to beat the banged-up Cleveland Browns 24-20 on Sunday.

Jones-Drew broke four tackles on a screen pass from David Garrard and weaved his way toward the end zone, with rookie Joe Haden making a touchdown-saving tackle that ended up taking precious seconds off the clock.

Jones-Drew scored two plays later with 1:16 left, giving both teams dramatic finishes for the second time in as many games.

The Jaguars (6-4) beat Houston last week on Garrard's desperation pass to Mike Thomas on the final play. The Browns (3-7) lost to the New York Jets in overtime on Santonio Holmes' 37-yard TD reception.

Cleveland had a final chance to win this one. Jacksonville's Sean Considine tipped Colt McCoy's pass to Mike Bell at the goal line, but the pass bounced off Bell's chest and landed in Considine's arms.

Thomas' 50-yard catch last week was tipped by a defender.

The Browns surely will kick themselves after this loss. Phil Dawson missed two 51-yard field goal attempts, and Cleveland failed to take full advantage of Jacksonville's numerous mistakes.

The Jaguars ended five consecutive drives with turnovers in the second half. Jones-Drew, whose first career pass was intercepted in the first half, started the sloppiness with a fumble following an 8-yard run.

Abram Elam stripped the ball from Jones-Drew's hands and returned it 18 yards for a score and a 14-10 lead. Players on both sides watched the play unfold, many of them believing Jones-Drew was down or that his forward progress had been stopped.

Things snowballed from there for Jacksonville.

Garrard threw behind Thomas on the ensuing drive, and T.J. Ward intercepted the tipped pass. Cleveland did nothing, though.

Under heavy pressure on the following possession, Garrard threw into double coverage. Haden, playing in place of injured starter Eric Wright, picked it off and returned it to the Jacksonville 31 before fumbling. Teammate Chris Gocong recovered, but the Browns had to settle for Dawson's 38-yarder that made it 17-10.

Garrard fumbled on a third-down run to end the next drive, then had another tipped pass intercepted. That pass bounced off Marcedes Lewis' pads and into Ward's hands.

Cleveland did nothing with either turnover, punting on one and missing a field goal try on the other.

Jacksonville could have trailed badly. Instead, the Jaguars settled down and put together two long drives. Garrard connected with Lewis for a touchdown on third-and-goal from the 14 -- a rare conversion in the NFL -- to tie the game at 17 with 3:34 remaining.

McCoy found Evan Moore down the sideline for a 38-yard gain on the next play, but Jacksonville's sixth sack forced another field goal try. This time, Dawson connected from 41 yards.

But the Jaguars had plenty of time to mount a comeback.

They didn't need all of it, though.

Garrard pumped to his left on first down, then dumped a screen pass to Jones-Drew on the other side. Jones-Drew cut back across the field, eluded a couple of defenders and then broke out of the grasp of a few more. Ward had the best shot at Jones-Drew -- they are cousins -- but couldn't bring him down. Haden tracked Jones-Drew down at the 1, but all that did was cost the Browns time.

ADVERTISEMENT
share