Leftwich Makes the Perfect Call

Byron Leftwich switched plays just before a crucial third down in overtime against the New York Jets.

Leftwich noticed the Jet defense was jumping routes on third down all day, so he decided to send Jimmy Smith long. The strategy worked.

Leftwich threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Smith, giving Jacksonville a 26-20 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, although the Jaguars had to survive a replay review after Smith initially was ruled down at the one-yard line.

The Jets (1-2) have bigger troubles: Quarterback Chad Pennington strained his right shoulder again, and backup Jay Fiedler could be out for a while because of a shoulder injury.

Pennington and Leftwich gamely played through pain, but in the end, Leftwich left his good friend hurting even worse.

“Byron made a good call,” said Smith, who beat David Barrett on the winning score. “He told me to run a slant and go. Fortunately I ran a good enough route for him to make the easy throw.”

Leftwich completed 16 of 23 passes for 177 yards with one touchdown and one interception despite a groin injury. Teammate Fred Taylor had a career-high 37 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown. The win was big for the Jaguars (2-1), who put in a strong effort last week at Indianapolis but came up short.

“These kind of games, when you pull them out, do wonders for the confidence,” Jacksonville Coach Jack Del Rio said. “The guys start believing and understanding that it doesn’t always go exactly how you’d like to go, but you’ve got to find a way to scratch out a win.”

Perhaps it was too much to ask Pennington to lead the Jets to victory with a bum right shoulder. Pennington left in the third quarter after straining his shoulder on consecutive sacks. It is the same one in which he had a torn rotator cuff repaired in the off-season.

Curtis Martin could not get going either, finishing with 67 yards in 18 carries. The Jets had 168 yards of offense, and Jacksonville held the ball for nearly 15 more minutes.