Monday, December 10, 2001
Battered Brunell inspires Jaguars
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
Mark Brunell got beat up. Jacksonville got ahead in the fourth quarter. The opponent got the ball with a chance to win in the closing minutes.
It seems to happen every week to the Jaguars, who know the ending all too well. They make mistakes and wind up losing — unless the Bengals are the opponent, that is.
Brunell threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass with a mangled finger, and the downtrodden Jaguars manage to hold on to beat the Bengals 14-10 Sunday.
“It's our job to finish games like this, and we did,” said Keenan McCardell, whose 11-yard touchdown catch made the difference.
The Jaguars (4-8) have rarely finished off an opponent this season, their worst since they were an expansion team in 1995. Six times, they've given up the winning points in the final 5:18.
The only time they manage to hang on is when they're playing the Bengals (4-8), who fell into a last-place tie with them in the AFC Central. The Jaguars have won only twice in the last 10 games — the two times they played Cincinnati.
Neil Rackers' 47-yard field goal put Cincinnati ahead 10-7 with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Three plays later, Brunell slammed his passing hand into Mark Roman's facemask on his follow-through, then fell to his knees.
Blood dripped from nasty cuts on his index finger, forcing him to the bench for the final play of the series. It looked like Brunell, already limited by pulled thigh muscles, was done for the day.
“His hand was shaking and he couldn't stop it,” tight end Kyle Brady said. “Blood was coming out everywhere. Then he jumps back in there. He's as tough as anybody out there.”
Two minutes later, the Jaguars got the ball back and Brunell was back on the field, his finger bandaged to stop the bleeding. The ball slipped from his swollen hand the first time he tried to pass, helping the Bengals match their team record with their eighth sack.
The next throw went 27 yards in a spiral to McCardell. Three plays later, he threw a perfect pass to McCardell for the go-ahead touchdown, giving no hint that anything was wrong.
“It got stiff and it was hard to grip the ball,” said Brunell, who completed 23-of-32 for 242 yards. “But I wouldn't have heard the end of it from the offensive line if I didn't go in because of a cut.”
“I didn't think he was going to come back,” said Jimmy Smith, who caught Brunell's other touchdown pass. “When he did, it inspired the guys. Mark makes this team go.”
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Battered Brunell inspires Jaguars
