Jaguars Breaking Down

The Jacksonville Jaguars shouldn’t think much about the playoffs or a division title anymore. At this point, they simply need a quarterback to get them through the rest of the season.

Left with rookie third-string quarterback Jonathan Quinn to run their offense, the Jaguars became predictable in the second half. The Tennessee Oilers capitalized, getting a 41-yard field goal from Al Del Greco with four seconds left Sunday for a 16-13 victory to keep their own postseason hopes alive.

The win pulled the Oilers (8-6) within two games of Jacksonville (10-4) in the AFC Central with two games remaining and the tiebreaker in their favor.

Suddenly, what looked like a clear path to the first division title in the Jaguars’ four-year history is filled with potholes.

“We had guts, we had courage, we fought,” Jaguar Coach Tom Coughlin said. “It certainly was a disappointing day. We had an awful lot of buildup for a situation like this. It was the first time in our history we had been in that spot.”

The Jaguars’ only healthy quarterback is Quinn, a third-round draft pick out of Middle Tennessee State who hadn’t thrown a pass before Sunday. He came in at halftime for Jamie Martin, who was making his first career start because Mark Brunell injured his ankle last week.

Brunell isn’t expected to return before the playoffs, although he might be rushed back now. Martin sprained his right knee just before halftime and left the field on a cart. Coughlin said the initial report on the knee “doesn’t look good.”

Quinn was 12 for 18 for 107 yards but led the Jaguars to only three points.

“We should have taken care of business no matter who the quarterback was,” said tailback Fred Taylor, who had 42 yards in 20 carries against an Oiler defense that often lined up in eight- and nine-man fronts.