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| Wide receiver Keenan McCardell leaps into the arms of defensive end Tony Brackens after the Jaguars secured thier first playoff berth in just the team's second year of existence. |
If you had told anybody that the Jacksonville Jaguars would be on the cusp of a postseason berth in just their second year of existence, you probably would have been laughed at.
But that was the case as the 1996 NFL regular season came to an end as the Jaguars needed to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in the final week of the regular season to clinch a playoff spot.
The Jacksonville Jaguars joined the NFL in 1995 as one of the two new expansion teams with the other being the Carolina Panthers and went 4-12 in their inaugural season and hoped to improve on that record in 1996.
By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, the Jaguars had matched their win total of the year before but a playoff berth seemed out of the question as they stood with a 4-7 record.
That is when the Jaguars, led by head coach Tom Coughlin, released wide receiver Andre Rison and replaced him with Jimmy Smith to join Keenan McCardell as the other starting wide receiver as the pair would catch passes from quarterback Mark Brunell.
The move seemed to spark the Jaguars as the two combined for 238 yards on 17 catches as Jacksonville knocked off the Baltimore Ravens 28-25 in overtime, kickstarting a four-game winning streak to push the Jaguars' record to 8-7, needing just one more win to secure a spot in the postseason .
All the Jaguars had to do was defeat the lowly Falcons, who entered the game with a 3-12 record after starting out the season 0-8.
The '96 season had been a nightmare for the Falcons as the team had cut quarterback Jeff George following an argument he had with head coach June Jones during Atlanta' 33-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in week 4.
Bobby Hebert would take over the reins at quarterback but that did not solve all of the Falcons problems as the defense gave up 442 points through the first 15 weeks of the season, an average of 29.4 points per game.
With all the dysfunction in Atlanta and success in Jacksonville, the Jaguars were nearly 10 point favorites to beat the Falcons and move on to the playoffs.
However, the Jaguars would be in for a struggle with the Falcons in a game that would not be decided until the final seconds.
After the Falcons went three-and-out to start the game, the Jaguars got the ball at their 23-yard-line as Brunell would complete a 14-yard pass to Smith to start the drive, then connected with Willie Jackson for 13 yards, and then McCardell for 17 yards to help put Jacksonville at the Atlanta 28-yard-line.
From there, running back Natrone Means would run the ball four straight times, gaining 17 yards to set up an 11-yard touchdown run by Brunell to give Jacksonville a 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter.
The two teams would trade punts until early in the second quarter when the Falcons were able to drive from their 43-yard-line to the Jacksonville 20-yard-line until a quarterback sack by cornerback Aaron Beasley forced a 46-yard field goal by Andersen to cut the Jaguars' lead to 7-3 with 12:25 to go in the second quarter.
The Jaguars would get the ball back at their 25-yard-line as Brunell would complete five of his next seven passes for 51 yards to help lead Jacksonville drive to the Falcons' five-yard-line where they faced a 2nd & 1.
However, the Jaguars could not convert as Means would be stopped for no gain on back-to-back carries, leading to Jacksonville to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Mike Hollis to push the Jaguars' lead back to seven points at 10-3 with 6:12 left in the second quarter.
Following an Atlanta three-and-out, the Jaguars would drive from their 14-yard-line to the Falcons' eight-yard-line as Means ran the ball four times for 25 yards while Brunell would complete three passes for 38 yards while scrambling for 16 yards to set up Jacksonville with a 1st & goal situation.
But the Jaguars could not punch it in for a touchdown as two incomplete passes and a Brunell run that went for no gain forced Jacksonville to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Hollis to increase the Jacksonville lead to 13-3 with 42 seconds left before halftime.
The Falcons would drive to midfield as time expired in the first half with the Jaguars ahead 13-3 and set to get the ball to start the second half.
Jacksonville would start its initial possession of the second half at their 20-yard-line with two runs by Means for eight yards to set up 3rd & 2 when Brunell connected with Smith for 23 yards and a 1st down at the Falcons' 49-yard-line.
The Jaguars would once again drive to inside the Falcons' 10-yard-line but would once again have to settle for a field goal as Hollis would come on to kick a 22-yard field to end the 13-play, 76-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock and increased the Jacksonville lead to 16-3.
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| Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell would complete 18 of 29 passes for 222 yards while running for 28 yards on four carries. |
After an 18-yard return by Roell Preston on the ensuing kickoff, the Falcons would start their ensuing possession at their 28-yard-line having with a 14-yard pass from Hebert to running back Richard Huntley, which was followed by an 11-yard run by Craig "Ironhead" Heyward and then a 15-yard scramble by Hebert to put Atlanta at the Jacksonville 32-yard-line.
Six plays later, the Falcons were in the end zone as Hebert found Eric Metcalf for a four-yard touchdown to cut the Jaguars' lead to 16-10 with 2:34 left in the third quarter.
The Jaguars would get the ball back at their 26-yard-line as Brunell would complete three of four passes for 36 yards, with two of those passes going to tight end Derek Brown for 24 yards, to set up another Hollis field goal, this one from 42 yards out to increase the Jacksonville lead to 19-10 with 13 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons would start their next possession at their 23-yard-line as running back Jamal Anderson would carry the ball twice for 12 yards to start the drive which was followed by Hebert completing five of six passes for 53 yards to lead Atlanta to the two-yard-line where Heyward punched it in for a two-yard touchdown to make it a one-possession game at 19-17 with 5:39 left in the game.
Needing a few 1st downs to run out the clock, the Jaguars would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Falcons, who took over at their 30-yard-line with 3:57 left and needing just a field goal to win.
The drive would begin with an one-yard run by Anderson followed by a four-yard pass from Hebert to Tyrone Brown to set up 3rd & 5 when Anderson ran for 14 yards to give Atlanta a 1st down at the Falcons' 49-yard-line.
After Anderson ran for three yards on 1st down, Hebert found Brown again, this time for 23 yards for another 1st down at the Jaguars' 25-yard-line.
Heyward would carry the ball on the next two plays, picking up five yards as the Jaguars burned their last two timeouts in hopes of preserving enough time for Jacksonville assuming the Falcons scored.
Anderson would get the ball on 3rd & 5 and run for seven yards to pick up another 1st down at the Jacksonville 13-yard-line, easily in field goal range for Andersen.
The Falcons would run two more plays before calling on Andersen to come and kick a 30-yard field goal with 11 seconds to play.
It looked like the Falcons were going to break the Jaguars' hearts as Andersen had not missed a field goal of 30 yards or shorter since 1989 or 59 consecutive field goals.
The only hope for the Jaguars was for one of the Jaguars to block the kick or hope that the holder would botch the snap.
But none of those were needed as Andersen shockingly pushed the kick wide left and no good, allowing for the Jaguars to take a knee to run out the clock as Jacksonville came away with the 19-17 win and their first ever playoff berth in just their second year of existence.
One day after the loss to Jacksonville, Jones was fired as head coach and replaced by Dan Reeves who helped lead the Falcons to the Super Bowl two years later.
As for the Jaguars, they earned a trip to Buffalo take on the Bills in the AFC Wild Card round as Means ran for 175 yards to lead Jacksonville to a 30-27 upset to advance to the Divisional Round where the Jaguars would shock the Denver Broncos 30-27 in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in NFL history.
However, the Jaguars' Cinderella run would come to an end one week later as they fell to the New England Patriots 20-6 in the AFC Championship Game.
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