Leftwich Delivers Again

The Jacksonville Jaguars finally got off to a fast start. They still needed another frantic finish.

Hobbled and hurting, Byron Leftwich directed a 67-yard touchdown drive and hit Cortez Hankton from 14 yards out with 45 seconds left to lift the Jaguars to a 22-16 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Jacksonville, Fla.

Leftwich also threw another touchdown pass and ran for a score as the Jaguars (4-2) ended a two-game losing streak and won in the last minute for the fourth time this season.

“Clearly he has some of the ‘it’ intangibles that make a great quarterback,” Jaguar Coach Jack Del Rio said. “He showed it in college and brought it with him here.”

Leftwich certainly has shown he can win close games. He has led the Jaguars on late scoring drives in three victories this season. He connected with Ernest Wilford for a seven-yard score as time expired for a 13-10 victory over Buffalo in the opener. He also directed a 69-yard drive against Tennessee to give Jacksonville a 15-12 win.

This one was maybe more improbable.

Leftwich injured his left shoulder on the second drive of the game but didn’t miss a play. Then he sprained his right ankle on the final drive and was limping between plays.

“When the game is on the line, I believe in my quarterback,” said Jimmy Smith, who caught seven passes for 91 yards. “He showed poise. He showed the will to win. He showed fight. You can look him in the eye and say, ‘This guy wants to win.’ If we lose, he’s going to die on the field. He was hurt, but he wanted to stay in there. And he got it done.”

Kansas City (1-4) took a 16-14 lead on an amazing touchdown pass from Trent Green to Priest Holmes with about five minutes left, but Lawrence Tynes missed the extra-point attempt. He also missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt with 2:16 to play.

“I let 60 other guys down today,” Tynes said. “I missed them. I didn’t get the job done. It’s unacceptable in this league.”

Denver 31, Oakland 3 -- Jake Plummer and Reuben Droughns did little wrong while turning the Broncos’ biggest rivalry into a rout.

On the other hand, Kerry Collins and Oakland’s offense did almost nothing right -- and the furious Raider Nation let them know it all day long.

Plummer passed for 190 yards and three touchdowns, Droughns rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown, and the Broncos took command of the AFC West with a victory at Oakland.

Jeb Putzier, Dwayne Carswell and Ashley Lelie caught first-half touchdown passes from Plummer, who led the Broncos (5-1) to a 28-point cushion in the third quarter and 444 total yards. Droughns had his second straight 100-yard game, a week after going for 193 yards in a win over Carolina.

And Denver’s defense was suffocating, holding the Raiders’ inept offense to 145 yards. The Raiders don’t keep track of negative statistics in their media guide, but it was surely one of the most embarrassing performances in franchise history.

After Denver’s early scores dug a huge hole for the Raiders (2-4), the rare sellout crowd booed whenever Collins’ crew took the field. The Raiders hoped returning home would cure their abundance of problems, but Coach Norv Turner’s first season is quickly turning ugly after three straight losses.

Cleveland 34, Cincinnati 17 -- A record play helped the Browns get their record to .500, and playing the Bengals didn’t hurt either.

Jeff Garcia threw four touchdown passes -- one a 99-yarder to Andre Davis -- and the Browns overcame their own sloppiness to defeat the inept Bengals (1-4).

William Green rushed for 115 yards and Lee Suggs caught a 59-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter from Garcia as the Browns (3-3) moved to 3-0 at home for the first time since 1973.

Garcia overcame two interceptions in the first half and completed 16 of 23 passes for 310 yards in his eighth career four-touchdown game.

He and Davis hooked up for the longest play in Browns’ history and only the 10th 99-yard pass play in NFL history, giving Cleveland a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Cincinnati didn’t cross midfield until the final play of the third quarter and moved into Cleveland territory twice. The Bengals gained 189 yards and went one for 13 on third downs.

Buffalo 20, Miami 13 -- Takeo Spikes returned an interception 11 yards for a touchdown, helping spark the Bills (1-4) over the Dolphins (0-6) at Orchard Park, N.Y., in a game involving the NFL’s winless teams.

Aaron Schobel had 2 1/2 sacks and Ron Edwards had two, leading a strong defensive effort in which Buffalo limited Miami to 212 yards in offense.

Willis McGahee had a strong debut in his first career start. The Bills’ first-round pick in the 2003 draft had 111 yards rushing and put the game away with a 31-yard run that allowed the Bills to run out the clock.