Home wreckers: Jaguars spoil Raiders’ party

Two fourth-quarter TDs lead to 20-16 win

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Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) is sacked by Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue as Raiders tight end Darren Waller (83) looks on during the second half of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019. (AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)

The Jaguars spoiled the perfect going-away party.

Jacksonville snapped a streak of five straight blowout losses and strung together a final minute comeback to stun the Raiders 20-16 on Sunday.

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It was the last game in the Oakland Coliseum — the Raiders are moving to Las Vegas next year — and was set up as the proper sendoff for coach Jon Gruden and Oakland fans.

Until the Jaguars (5-9) ruined it.

Gardner Minshew threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Chris Conley with 31 seconds to play and the Jaguars swatted down two Oakland Hail Mary attempts to escape with a stunner.

It was Jacksonville’s first win on the West Coast since Jan. 2, 2005, a 13-6 win over Oakland.

The offense just couldn’t find its way to get moving until it was in an almost unwinnable position, an area that it as been in quite a few times this season.

Only this time it worked out.

Jacksonville was down 16-3 with 5 minutes, 15 seconds to play before Minshew hit Conley on a 6-yard touchdown to pull the Jaguars within a possession.

It still didn’t seem feasible for a comeback.

The Raiders (6-8) scratched out three first downs on the ensuing drive and set themselves up to ice the win with a Daniel Carlson field goal.

Carlson missed his first but got a reprieve when Parry Nickerson was flagged for running into the kicker. With another shot, this time from 45 yards out, Carlson missed that one, too.

That set up the Jaguars back at their own 35 with 1:44 to play and Minshew worked the offense down the field in chunks, first on an 8-yard throw to CJ Board, followed by an 8-yard scramble and then an 11-yard toss to Leonard Fournette on the sideline.

Now in kicker Josh Lambo’s range, the Jaguars kept up the attack. Minshew hit Conley over the middle for 21 yards and then drew an unsportsmanlike call for roughing the passer on the next play. Three plays later, he hit Conley in the center of the end zone.

Minshew finished 17 of 29 for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to Conley.

Unlike Jacksonville’s previous clunkers — all blowouts by 17 points or more in the worst stretch of football in the NFL since 1986 — this effort was thorough for all four quarters.

Defensively, the Jaguars played about as aggressively as they could have in their best showing on that side of the ball since a 29-15 win over the Jets in Week 8.

After giving up a 40-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Tyrell Williams on the seventh play of the game — a play where Williams shed a tackle by Jarrod Wilson — Jacksonville actually flashed some teeth on defense.

The pass rush gave the Raiders problems most of the day, with Josh Allen, Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue keeping Carr uncomfortable. Allen had a sack on third-and-18 in the second quarter that wound up forcing a punt. The sack was Allen’s 10th of the season. Ngakoue had a pair of sacks and four tackles for loss.

It all circled back to the offense.

Jacksonville had 65 yards on its opening drive of the game and managed just 10 yards the remainder of the half. It didn’t start moving things until the final five minutes and Jacksonville finally found its way into catching a break at the finish.


About the Author:

Justin Barney joined News4Jax in February 2019, but he’s been covering sports on the First Coast for more than 20 years.