Leftwich Has the Perfect Finish

Byron Leftwich was perfect in the second half against Houston -- and the Jacksonville Jaguars needed it.

Leftwich completed 11 of 11 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown after the break, directing two long scoring drives in the fourth quarter and rallying the Jaguars to a 21-14 victory over the injury-riddled Texans on Sunday.

“We knew we had to do some different things on offense,” said Leftwich, who finished 19 for 25 for 218 yards. “Instead of trying to take what they were giving us, we started taking what we wanted. We made some big plays.”

Leftwich directed scoring drives of 80 and 82 yards in the final quarter. He hooked up with Ernest Wilford for 26 yards, then found Jimmy Smith for an 11-yard gain on third and long. Leftwich capped the first drive with an eight-yard run on third down to tie the score, 14-14.

On the next possession, Leftwich and Smith connected for a 23-yard gain on third down. Then Greg Jones, who replaced injured starter Fred Taylor (ankle), scored from 12 yards out to put the Jaguars ahead for good with 2:53 to play.

“It’s all coming along,” Leftwich said. “We are getting an identity on offense.”

Of course, the identity could be that the Jaguars play to the level of their competition. They almost beat Indianapolis, then defeated Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. But they followed those wins with a 24-21 loss at St. Louis last week when the Rams played without four key starters.

Houston (1-7) had given up 30 or more points three times in its previous four games, but looked like a dominant defense against Jacksonville in the first half.

The Jaguars (5-3) eventually woke up from their first-half slumber.

Still, they tied the NFL record for consecutive games played without scoring 30 or more points. They matched Cleveland’s mark of 58 games set between 1995 and 2002.