NFL Old School Game of the Week: Jags Beat Colts on Scobee's Walk-Off Field Goal

Josh Scobee(10) runs around the field after his game-winning 59-yard field goal.

In Week 4 of the 2010 NFL season, the Indianapolis Colts traveled to Florida to take on their division rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars in a key early season showdown when it came to who would win the AFC South division that year.

The Colts came into the game with a 2-1 record under second-year head coach Jim Caldwell who was hoping to lead Indianapolis back to the Super Bowl as nine months earlier the Colts fell to the New Orleans Saints 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV.

The Colts still had quarterback Peyton Manning at quarterback, who had led Indianapolis to eight straight playoff appearances including six division titles and a win in Super Bowl XLI over the Chicago Bears, with his top targets being wide receiver Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark who were both coming off 100 catch seasons in 2009.

On the other side were the Jaguars who came into the game with a 1-2 record having suffered back-to-back 25-point losses as Jacksonville looked to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Jacksonville was led by head coach Jack Del Rio, who has in his eighth season as the Jaguars' head coach, as the Jags' offense was led by quarterback David Garrard and running back Maurice Jones-Drew, which had struggled up to this point in the season as it averaged just 13.3 points per game through the first three games of the season.

However, the Jaguars had great confidence that they could move the ball against the Colts as Jones-Drew had rushed over for 100 yards four times against Indianapolis since his rookie season back in 2006.

The Colts would get great field position to start the game as Dante Moore returned the opening kickoff 33 yards to the Indianapolis 41-yard-line as Manning would complete all six of his passes for 43 yards on a 11-play, 59-yard drive that culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by Joseph Addai to give Indy a 7-0 lead.

The Jaguars would begin their opening possession of the game with five straight carries by Jones-Drew for 26 yards before Garrard completed two passes in a row with the second pass going for 21 yards to wide receiver Mike Thomas as the nine-play, 76-yard drive would end with a 25-yard touchdown run by Garrard to tie the score at seven with 3:39 left in the first quarter.

Following an Indianapolis three-and-out, the Jaguars would get the ball at the Colts' 45-yard-line as Jacksonville would run the ball on seven consecutive plays with Jones-Drew getting most of the work as he carried the ball six times for 26 yards including an one-yard touchdown to give Jacksonville a 14-7 lead with 13:40 to go in the second quarter.

The Colts would respond on the right arm of Manning whose favorite target on this drive would be Wayne as he would catch four passes for 53 yards on the 11-play, 85-yard drive that was capped off with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Clark to make it 14-14 midway through the second quarter.

Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne caught a team record 15 passes for 196 yards and scored one touchdown.

Neither team would score again before the end of the first half as the Jaguars would get the ball to start the second half only to punt the ball back to the Colts who would take over at their 31-yard as Manning would complete four of his next five passes for 37 yards to move Indianapolis to the Jacksonville 23-yard-line as the Colts seemed poised to retake the lead.

However, Manning would throw an interception as his pass bounced off the hands of tight end Brady Elleridge and into the hands of Jaguars defensive back Anthony Smith, whose 47-yard return would give Jacksonville the ball at the Indianapolis 49-yard-line.

It would take the Jaguars seven plays to get into the end zone as Garrard fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mercedes Lewis to give Jacksonville a 21-14 lead with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

The Colts would start their next drive at their 26-yard-line as Manning would complete his next five passes for 35 yards to move Indianapolis to the Jacksonville 19-yard-line until a quarterback sack by Jaguars defensive end Jeremy Mincey for a four-yard loss would bring up a 2nd & 14 situation when the Colts would commit their second turnover of the game.

Manning would complete a 13-yard pass to Wayne, who while stretching to get the 1st down, lost the football as Jaguars free safety Gerald Alexander would scoop up the fumble and run it 43 yards to the Indianapolis 47-yard-line.

The Jaguars would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Colts who would take over at their four-yard-line when Wayne would begin his atonement for the fumble on the previous drive.

Wayne would catch a 21-yard pass from Manning to start the drive which was followed by a 13-yard reception to move Indianapolis to its 38-yard-line as passes to Collie for 12 yards and Clark for 15 yards would bring the Colts to the Jaguars' 35-yard-line.

From there, Wayne would catch back-to-back passes totaling 29 yards as the Colts advanced to the Jacksonville six-yard-line where Addai would carry the ball for four yards then carry it for the two-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 21 with 7:35 remaining in the fourth quarter.

A 39-yard return by Tiquan Underwood would give the Jaguars great field position for their ensuing possession which began at their 43-yard-line as two straight running plays picked up six yards to set up 3rd & 4 when Underwood caught a 13-yard pass from Garrard that with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Colts cornerback Jacob Lacey gave Jacksonville a 1st down at the Indianapolis 23-yard-line.

Five plays later, Garrard would hit Jones-Drew on an eight-yard touchdown pass to give the Jaguars a 28-21 lead with 2:09 left in regulation which for Jacksonville was an eternity considering the quarterback on the other team.

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 105 yards on 26 carries.

After a 39-yard return by Justin Tryon on the ensuing kickoff gave the Colts the ball at their 35-yard-line, Manning would throw three straight incomplete passes as Indianapolis would face a do-or-die 4th & 10 situation when Manning hit Clark for 16 yards to give the Colts a fresh set of downs at the Jacksonville 49-yard-line.

On the next play from scrimmage, Manning would throw deep as he completed a 42-yard pass to Wayne to give the Colts a 1st & goal at the Jacksonville seven-yard-line as incomplete pass followed by a six-yard run by Addai would set up 3rd & goal from the one-yard-line when Manning found Collie in the end zone for the touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 28 with 48 seconds left in regulation.

Taking over at their 23-yard-line, the Jaguars seemed content to send the game into overtime as Garrard would hand the ball off to Jones-Drew who ran for eight yards when Caldwell decided to call timeout with 36 seconds left as it looked like the Colts were trying to save as much time as possible for Manning to lead Indianapolis to a game-winning score in the final seconds.

The Jaguars would then go to the air on the next play from scrimmage as Garrard would throw an incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 2 when Garrard connected with Underwood for six yards to give Jacksonville a 1st down at their 37-yard-line.

Garrard would then find Underwood again, this time for 22 yards as Tiquan would go out of bounds at the Colts' 41-yard-line with 11 seconds to go as one more completion would put the Jaguars in range for a game-winning field goal.

That is when the Jaguars averted disaster as Garrard, under pressure from an Indianapolis pass rush, lofted a pass that looked like it was going to be intercepted by Colts cornerback Kelvin Hayden, only for Underwood to knock him down from behind while Hayden had his hands on the ball which resulted in an incompletion with five seconds left.

Del Rio decided to send in the field goal unit as Scobee would attempt a 59-yard field goal despite the fact that his career long was 53 yards which he had done three times up to this point in his career.

But Scobee's kick would easily split through the uprights as time expired as his team-record 59-yard field goal gave the Jaguars a 31-28 win over the Colts.

Jacksonville's win over the Colts would not be the only time the Jaguars had an exciting win on the final play of the game in 2010 as six weeks later the Jags would beat the Houston Texans 31-24 on Garrard's 50-yard "Hail Mary" touchdown pass to Mike Thomas(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2022/12/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-jaguars.html).

However, the Jaguars would not make the playoffs as a 34-24 loss to the Colts in a Week 15 rematch would start a three-game losing streak for Jacksonville as the Jags would finish the season with a 8-8 record while the Colts would go on to win the AFC South with a 10-6 record in what would be their final playoff appearance with Manning as the quarterback.

As for Scobee, he would remain with the Jaguars for four more seasons until he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers right before the 2015 season began as two missed final goals in the final minutes of the Steelers' 23-20 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens would result in Scobee's release from the team as he would not kick for another team in the NFL.

Scobee's record of the longest field goal in Jaguars history would last until 2025 when Cam Little obliterated the record with a 68-yard field goal in a 30-29 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.