Bungling Is Over for the Jaguars

The Cincinnati Bungles are back. The Jacksonville Jaguars think they might be too.

Mark Brunell threw for two touchdowns, and Stacey Mack ran for two Sunday to help the desperate Jaguars end a losing streak at five games with a 30-13 victory over the mistake-prone Bengals.

The Jaguars (3-5) scored 21 points in the third quarter to take a 28-13 lead and, unlike the last two weeks, they held onto a double-digit lead.

“Finally,” Jaguar linebacker Kevin Hardy said, as he let out a sigh. “It’s a foreign feeling.”

No more foreign than the Bengals (4-4) contending for a playoff spot. Cincinnati committed 107 yards’ worth of penalties and failed in its quest to reach the halfway point with a winning record for the first time since 1990.

“It’s a tough example of how competitive this league is,” Bengal Coach Dick LeBeau said. “We have to play four quarters. We didn’t play four quarters. We played three, really.”

The Bengals are still playoff contenders, but they again proved they can’t go far without a big contribution from Corey Dillon.

Dillon ran for only 58 yards in 17 carries--and the Bengals fell to 1-4 this season when he fails to break the 100-yard mark.

Brunell, meanwhile, was hampered by a gimpy leg, but managed to throw a timing pass to the corner of the end zone to Jimmy Smith, for a touchdown to give the Jaguars the lead for good at 14-13 early in the third quarter.

On the next drive, Mack scored his second touchdown.

It was set up by 52 yards in Cincinnati penalties--a questionable 38-yard pass interference call on Artell Hawkins, followed by a personal foul on Takeo Spikes for arguing.