Garrard, turnovers help Jaguars beat Texans 23-18

By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.(AP) — When the Jacksonville Jaguars look back
on this season, they might point to two games against AFC
South-rival Houston.

And two miscues by Texans running back Chris Brown.

David Garrard threw two touchdown passes, had his first
turnover-free game in a month and the Jaguars stayed in the AFC
wild-card hunt with a 23-18 victory over injury-depleted,
turnover-prone Houston on Sunday.

It was Jacksonville’s fifth straight win at home and the team’s
second series sweep against the Texans (5-7) in eight years.

This one will be remembered for Brown’s gaffes.

Brown, who fumbled at the goal line with 2 minutes to play in
the first meeting, threw an interception on a halfback pass
midway through the fourth quarter Sunday that left the Texans
and Jaguars (7-5) scratching their heads.

“That’s something their coach and players are going to have to
live with forever,” Jaguars safety Reggie Nelson said.

Brown took a handoff, started right and got pressured by
cornerback Tyron Brackenridge. As he was getting hit, Brown
floated a pass that safety Gerald Alexander intercepted near the
goal line.

“That was very interesting,” Alexander said. “Chris Brown isn’t
exactly Matt Schaub throwing the ball. It was crazy because I
just felt something wasn’t right. It didn’t look like he was
trying to come downhill with the ball. Brack got that pressure
on him. It was like, ’Don’t blow the layup.’ I’ve just got to
catch the ball and come down with it. We got the turnover, and
that was big.”

It was huge, really.

The strangest part? The call came on first-and-goal at the 5,
with the Texans trailing 23-12 and Schaub picking apart
Jacksonville’s secondary after returning from a shoulder injury.

“We had what we wanted, but obviously it didn’t work out,” said
Houston coach Gary Kubiak, who signed off on the trick play.
“It’s a tough spot to put Chris in, so it just ends up being a
bad call by me. A poor call.”

Brown said the play worked just about every time in practice. He
was trying to hit tight end Joel Dreesen in the back of the end
zone, but the hit didn’t allow him to get much on the throw.

“When you look back at it, maybe I shouldn’t have thrown it at
all,” Brown said. “That was big. We had points. We could have at
least walked away with a field goal and unfortunately turning
the ball over like that really hurt us.”

The Texans got the ball back and scored on Schaub’s 1-yard pass
to Andre Johnson with 4:01 remaining. The 2-point conversion
failed when Brackenridge broke up a pass intended for Brown.

Jacksonville picked up three first downs on the ensuing kickoff
- Maurice Jones-Drew carried seven straight times for 38 yards -
and ran out the clock.

The Jaguars rebounded from last week’s 20-3 loss at San
Francisco and remained in position for a wild-card berth. They
have home games against Miami (6-6) and Indianapolis (12-0) up
next, and finish the season on the road against Cleveland (1-10)
and New England (7-5).

“It feels good,” Jaguars receiver Mike Sims-Walker said. “We’re
happy to be in a position to play in January. There’s not many
teams that have hope to be thinking about the playoffs right
now. We control everything. We’re in full control of whatever we
want to do. It feels good, but we’re not content.”

The Texans have lost four in a row and appear out of the
playoffs for the eighth time in as many years. They played
without running back Steve Slaton (shoulder) and lost Schaub on
their first offensive play. Schaub separated his left shoulder
when he was sacked by Derrick Harvey.

He went to the locker room for X-rays and returned in the second
quarter. By then, Rex Grossman had thrown an interception -
Houston threw three picks by three different passers – and
Houston trailed 17-0.

The Jaguars scored three times in the second quarter. Garrard
hit Nate Hughes for a 35-yard touchdown, then connected with
Ernest Wilford for a 4-yard score. Josh Scobee added his second
of three field goals.

NOTES: Jacksonville also swept the season series in 2005. …
Johnson caught seven passes for 99 yards. … Garrard was sacked
four times. … Texans LB Xavier Adibi (hamstring) and DT Shaun
Cody (ankle) were injured for Houston. … Jaguars DT John
Henderson tweaked a nagging shoulder injury but X-rays were
negative. … Jaguars TEs caught six passes for 132 yards and a
TD.