Gene Frenette: Jaguars dance the night away, stealing AFC South title from Titans

The difference on two game-changing turnovers was a matter of a millisecond.

With the Jaguars’ season threatening to end in a massive letdown Saturday night against their most despised rival, that miniscule amount of time was all their defense needed to put the finishing touches on the greatest comeback story in franchise history.

For 23 years, the Jaguars and a charged-up crowd of 70,050 spectators waited to deliver a payback against the Tennessee Titans for that gut-wrenching 1999 AFC Championship loss at this same TIAA Bank Field venue.

By a whisker, the Jaguars snatched the elusive AFC South title prize, a 20-16 comeback victory which triggered a “Duuuval” celebration that will be remembered for decades to come.

More game coverage

Takeaways:Jaguars win AFC South after defensive scoop-and-score, beat Titans 20-16. Here are our takeaways

Postgame recap:Jacksonville Jaguars beat Tennessee Titans, clinch AFC South, NFL playoff berth

Trevor Tracker 2022:How did Trevor Lawrence's second season compare to 2021? Here's how.

The dramatic triumph secured only the second division crown in 21 seasons of AFC South play, an improbable entry into the NFL playoffs, and beaming owner Shad Khan holding a treasured game ball afterwards presented to him in the locker room.

“It's a feeling, uh, hard to describe,” Khan said. “I'm speechless, but Doug [Pederson, head coach], Trent [Baalke, general manager], their staff, obviously the players, you know, what a difference they've made. And really, people showing up. The 12th, 13th, 14^th and 15th man and woman in the stands that got us over the edge.”

Homefield advantage aside, what gave the Jaguars the ultimate edge was pass-rusher Arden Key and blitzing safety Rayshawn Jenkins getting to Titans’ quarterback Joshua Dobbs just in the nick of time.

“It’s always a couple plays that you can look back to that really change the course of the game,” said linebacker Chad Muma.

Two game-changing turnovers

On a night where a Trevor Lawrence-led offense struggled to make big plays and failed to take advantage of ideal field position, it was Mike Caldwell’s defensive unit that saved the season.

Trailing 16-10 late in the third quarter, things didn’t look good for the Jaguars, but two plays bailed out Lawrence and ultimately turned a delirious Jaguars’ locker room into a dance contest. More on that later.

The comeback began when Key barely grazed Dobbs’ arm on a deep ball for Treylon Burks, who was streaking down the left sideline and had at least a full step on cornerback Tyson Campbell. A well-thrown pass might well have resulted in a touchdown and a 23-10 Titans’ lead.

“I didn’t get the sack, but I hit his throwing arm where he wasn’t able to follow through,” Key said.

The result was a ball coming up short of its target. Campbell turned and saw the pass was going to be underthrown, allowing him to pick it off and return it 29 yards to the Titans’ 25.

Campbell denied Burks had outrun him, but there’s no question Key made the interception happen by impeding Dobbs’ throw.

“He got beat, but I knew the ball was underthrown,” Pederson said. “Just a great play by Tyson.”

“Once I saw the ball was underthrown, I began to slow down and play the ball,” Campbell added.

A fully-engaged crowd could sense the momentum turning, but the Jaguars only got a field goal off the turnover.

When a sputtering offense failed to capitalize on consistently good field position in the fourth quarter, you could sense frayed nerves from a sold-out crowd, which continuously waved white and teal towels given to fans as they entered the stadium.

“We were down, but we weren’t out of the fight,” said outside linebacker Josh Allen. “We’ve been in that situation before. We knew what we had to do to win this game. Stop the run, pressure the quarterback, create take-aways.”

'That's our DNA'

A clock ticking toward the 3-minute mark, with the Titans playing keep-away football, looked like it might spell doom. But the Jaguars, after overcoming larger fourth quarter deficits to beat the Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys, aren’t a team that flinches in big moments.

“I think that’s our DNA, that’s us,” said Key. “I think we like the hard way sometimes. [Winning] the easy way is better. But we adjust to the hard better than most teams.”

With the Jaguars’ season on the brink of expiring, they came up big again. Jenkins, who had the pick-6 that won the Dallas game in overtime, worked some more of his timely magic.

The blitzing safety came around the edge untouched toward Dobbs, hitting him with such force that the ball came out. It went right to Allen, who had no problem cradling the fumble and racing 37 yards for a go-ahead TD with 2:51 remaining.

Lawrence, anticipating the offense was about to go back on the field, found himself awestruck after seeing Jenkins forcing the third-down fumble.

“I saw Rayshawn coming off the edge,” said Lawrence. “I mean, just honestly, just [my] jaw dropped and kind of speechless. Defense just bowed up.”

Had Jenkins gotten there a split-second later, Dobbs’ arm would have likely been moving forward and that fumble might have turned into a less-impactful incomplete pass.

“He was still holding the ball, and I said, ‘Let’s go for the ball, man. I know the sack is already there,’ “ said Jenkins. “Let’s be great. Let’s make the great play. Let’s swat at this ball, and I was fortunate to get it.”

The heroics of Jenkins and the entire defense was also instrumental in containing Derrick Henry, the former Yulee High star who needed 30 carries to get 109 rushing yards.

Dancing toward the playoffs

But without those two turnovers, the Jaguars would now be cleaning out their lockers, making tee times and spending the offseason lamenting how the next generation of Titans ripped their heart out again.

Not this time. Not with a team that has embraced Pederson’s winning culture, allowing them to become the fifth team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to win a division title in the same year that it owned a No. 1 draft pick.

“I think the biggest thing we can take away just from those two moments is the sense of urgency,” said Allen. “We kind of knew how the game was going. They were running the ball and then they were throwing the ball quick. If [Dobbs] was going to draw back the pass, he was going to draw it out quick, so the sense of urgency has to be there.

“It’s the playing for one another. It’s knowing if he does his part, I’m going to do my part, and we’re going to win this game.”

When it was over, the euphoria that enveloped The Bank was a sight to behold. Pederson found Lawrence at the 48-yard line and the two had a lengthy embrace, with the coach whispering in his quarterback’s left ear.

“I just told him how much I was proud of him, how much I loved him and how much he meant to this football team,” said Pederson. “He just battled all season long, and I told him we weren’t finished yet. We have more football to play.”

Somehow, the Jaguars are moving on and will host an AFC wild-card game next weekend against the Los Angeles Chargers or Baltimore Ravens.

In rather unpredictable fashion, they prevailed against a hated division rival that seized the lead late in the first quarter and held on to it for the next 43 minutes, 45 seconds. Only to have the Jaguars steal it away from them near the finish line.

“This game tonight kind of symbolizes our season,” said Pederson. “There were some struggles. There were some highs, some lows, but in the end, we had the victory.”

It triggered a postgame celebration in the locker room that included the Jaguars' version of Saturday Night Fever, a dance competition among several players that was a memory most pleasing to 32-year-old receiver Marvin Jones.

“The locker room, everybody doing dance battles,” said Jones. “I didn’t go and mess it up because clearly, I would have won because I’m the dance rhythm king. Shaq [Quarterman] and D.T. [Daniel Thomas] got in there, showed their moves off.

“There was a lot of people dancing. Electric energy, man. That’s what’s good about this game, makes it beautiful. These moments here and everybody united in our stadium.”

After so much hardship — the one-score losses during an 0-5 October, momentum stalling after a 40-14 thrashing by the Detroit Lions, the 17-point holes they dug for themselves against the Raiders and Cowboys – the Jaguars (9-8) can now bask in the glow of a remarkable accomplishment.

They just swept the Titans for the first time since 2005, dancing their way to an AFC South title and right into the NFL playoffs.

No telling how far this Cinderella ride might take them.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540  

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Cinderella Jaguars sweep Titans, dancing their way to AFC South title