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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars, ugly and
boring on offense, seemed to have the perfect excuse: Fred Taylor was injured.
But that couldn't fully explain the worst offensive performance
in team history, one that resulted in perhaps their most hollow
victory ever, a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
|  | | Jacksonville's Gary Walker, left, and Joel Smeenge lower the boom on Ravens quarterback Tony Banks. |
The Jaguars improved to 8-1, the best record in the NFL, despite
producing just 132 yards and nine first downs. They lost Taylor in
the first quarter when he reaggravated his ailing hamstring.
It left the winning locker room sounding as if it were full of
losers -- and a Super Bowl contender searching for reasons for such
a flat effort.
"With Fred, you can say what you want," offensive lineman Tony
Boselli said. "But it's a team game. No one guy determines how
this offense plays. The bottom line is, anyone walking around in
this room can tell you we got whipped. Fortunately, our defense
whipped them."
Indeed, Jacksonville's top-ranked defense held Baltimore (3-6)
to 242 yards and just three scoring opportunities.
The last came with Baltimore trailing 6-3 late in the fourth
quarter. Tony Banks drove the Ravens to the Jaguars 34, but coach
Brian Billick passed on a 52-yard field goal attempt by Matt Stover
and Gary Walker sacked Banks on fourth-and-3.
"None, none," Billick replied when asked if he considered
going for the field goal.
The result was Baltimore's fourth loss in five games and its
third this season by a field goal.
"For whatever reason, we are short by one thing," Billick
said. "There's plenty of effort there. We are that one thing
short. If I knew what that one thing was, I would change that. But
we will have to figure that out individually."
Their offensive woes came in part because of Bryan Barker, whose
punts forced the Ravens to start eight drives inside their own 20.
Working in bad field position, the Ravens managed just 13 first
downs and converted just two of 14 third downs.
"I kept telling the offense in the second half, `It's only
going to take one drive and we can win this football game,"' Banks
said. "But we had to make a big play and we couldn't."
They weren't alone.
Jacksonville won on a pair of 28-yard field goals by Mike
Hollis.
The winning score came late in the third quarter, after a
15-play drive that covered 49 yards and didn't include a play of
longer than nine yards.
The tedium persisted and midway through the fourth quarter, an
anxious crowd showered coach Tom Coughlin with boos when he called
a plunge into the line on third-and-5, apparently happy with
another field goal attempt from the Ravens 18.
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GAME NOTES |
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Baltimore's fourth-quarter drive was helped by a bad
call. Officials ruled Qadry Ismail down by contact when he clearly wasn't. Fernando Bryant swiped the ball away and recovered the apparent fumble. But the Ravens retained possession at the Jaguars' 35. The play was not eligible for review.
With a sack in the first quarter, Jacksonville's Tony Brackens set a career high with eight.
The Jaguars improved to 7-0 all-time vs. the Ravens.
Tony Banks missed the second quarter with a twisted ankle. Stoney Case threw
for 103 yards in his absence, 30 more than Banks.
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Hollis made his first attempt, but had it nullified due to a
holding penalty on Kevin Hardy. A second kick also went through,
but it didn't count because a Ravens defender jumped offsides,
prompting a whistle before the snap. Finally, a kick that counted
sailed wide right and the Jaguars were left to protect their
three-point lead.
The sequence served as a microcosm for a game filled with
frustration for both teams, at least both offenses.
It could stay that way for the Jaguars without the injury-prone
Taylor, who has made it through only three complete games this
season.
He went down without contact late in the first quarter after
rushing seven times for 12 yards. Taylor will undergo tests Monday
on the same left hamstring that kept him out of three games last
month.
"I'm hoping it's just a sharp pain, nothing serious," Taylor
said. "The doctors are hoping it's just scar tissue. I'm hoping
it's just scar tissue."
Taylor returned from injury two weeks ago and cracked the
100-yard mark both times, giving defenses a genuine big-play threat
to worry about.
Without him, the Jaguars turned to James Stewart, who finished
with 25 yards on 18 carries and gave the Ravens no reason to fear
the run.
With Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell locked up in double coverage most of the game, Mark Brunell finished 20-for-29 for 118 yards. The Jaguars went without a touchdown for the first time in
two seasons.
It put the defense in a position where it had to win the game.
It did, adding four sacks to its league-leading total and
staying in line to set the NFL's 16-game record for fewest points
allowed. Through nine games, the Jaguars have allowed only 79,
keeping them ahead of the pace set by the 1986 Chicago Bears, who
gave up 187.
"Whether it's 3-0, 2-0, 6-3, I don't care," Walker said. "A
win is a win. We're 8-1 and nobody else in the league can say that
right now."
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Baltimore Clubhouse
Jacksonville Clubhouse
Taylor will undergo exam to determine damage to hamstring
Week 10 wrap-ups
Week 10 infirmary report
TJ's Take: Colts riding high
PrimeTime Players
Week 10 stats leaders
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