Jaguars Back in Playoffs

The Jacksonville Jaguars remembered what the Houston Texans did to them last year. They were determined not to let it happen again.

Jacksonville clinched its first playoff berth since 1999 by scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 38-20 comeback victory over Houston on Saturday.

With it, the Jaguars erased the ugly memory of a 21-0 loss to Houston last year on Dec. 26 that dashed their playoff hopes.

The Jaguars trailed 13-10 at halftime Saturday and 20-17 in a game in which the suddenly scrappy Texans refused to go away.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Jacksonville receiver Jimmy Smith. “But we’ve become a second-half team this year. I don’t necessarily like it that way – we don’t like to have to come back. But we have matured enough to be poised and do whatever we have to do to come away with a win.”

Fred Taylor’s 15-yard touchdown run with slightly more than nine minutes remaining gave Jacksonville a 24-20 lead.

Jacksonville (11-4) added two touchdowns late in the game on a 36-yard reception by Ernest Wilford and a 17-yard run by LaBrandon Toefield set up by an interception. That touchdown was Toefield’s third score of the day.

It is the sixth game this season Jacksonville won after trailing at halftime.

The Jaguars let Houston (2-13) stick around until the final quarter, but in the end the Texans were foiled by several costly penalties, three would-be interceptions that were dropped and two second-half field-goal tries that were missed. They also have the league’s worst record after San Francisco beat St. Louis; the Texans play at the 49ers in the finale.

“We had our opportunities and were close on a few, but we didn’t make the plays it takes to beat a good football team,” Texan Coach Dom Capers said.

Houston led 13-10 at halftime on the strength of a 50-yard touchdown pass by David Carr and two field goals, including a 53-yarder by Kris Brown. Brown missed a 38-yard field-goal attempt in the third quarter and one from 48 in the fourth.

Taylor was held to 39 yards in the first half but came on in the second to finish with 101 yards and a score.

Jaguar quarterback David Garrard was hurried and harassed by the Houston defense all day but still managed to throw for 292 yards. He fumbled twice, but both were recovered by Jacksonville. Twice he threw balls right into the hands of Houston defenders on the goal line, but they couldn’t hold on.