Jacksonville a Winner in Game Five : AFC: Expansion Jaguars get late touchdown from Howard and then hold on to defeat Houston, 17-16.

After spending most of the game paying for its mistakes, expansion Jacksonville did two things right and ended up celebrating its first victory.

Desmond Howard caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from backup Mark Brunell with 1:03 to play and Mike Hollis added the winning extra point for a 17-16 victory over the Houston Oilers on Sunday.

“We caught them in a blitz and it happened all so quick, it was like a blur,” Howard said. “This is a great victory. This is what we’ve been waiting for. We never quit and that’s the attitude the coaches have been working on.”

Said Houston quarterback Chris Chandler: “It’s embarrassing. Every bad break that could happen went our way and we just gave it to them. About the second quarter, we came around. Just looking at them, they got some decent players but we really should have won, even as bad as we played.”

Against the team that gave them their first franchise loss, the Jaguars (1-4) got their big break with 2:27 left when safety Darren Carrington recovered a fumble by Houston’s Rodney Thomas at the Oilers’ 45.

Brunell, who entered the game with 12:56 remaining, completed four consecutive passes, including the winner to Howard, a former Heisman Trophy winner discarded by the Washington Redskins.

“You always think about scoring a touchdown,” Howard said. “To get a winning touchdown, it’s great, to get the first victory winning touchdown, it’s icing on the cake.”

The Oilers, who scored 13 points off Jacksonville miscues, had one more chance, but Al Del Greco’s 52-yard field-goal attempt was wide left on the game’s final play.

“It’s the first win in our history, it’s huge,” Jaguar Coach Tom Coughlin said. “It’s a great feeling. There is a lot of emotion flowing out of this locker room at this moment. It’s one win and we don’t have to worry about that any more.”

After trailing, 10-0, early in the first quarter, Houston went ahead, 13-10, in the third quarter Chris Chandler threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Thomas.

The Oilers (2-3) increased their lead to 16-10 in the fourth quarter when a 23-yard pass-interference call against Jacksonville cornerback Vinnie Clark led to Del Greco’s 32-yard field goal.

Brunell completed seven of nine passes for 57 yards and starter Steve Beuerlein, playing for the first time since Sept. 10 because of a knee injury, completed eight of 18 for 117 yards.

The victory was especially emotional for Jacksonville offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, who held the same position with the Oilers before he was fired last season.

“The feeling is just indescribable,” Gilbride said. “We knew that we had to fight until the end and it was a great finish. Hopefully this can be a springboard.”