Jags Stun Cowboys

Rayshawn Jenkins intercepted Dak Prescott’s bobbled pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown that gave the Jacksonville Jaguars a 40-34 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in overtime Sunday.

Noah Brown failed to secure Prescott’s low throw, and Jenkins made a shoelace grab and went untouched the other way to end Jacksonville’s NFL-record 20-game skid against NFC teams.

The Cowboys (10-4) ended a five-game winning streak and failed to secure a playoff spot. Jacksonville (6-8), meanwhile, could gain ground on Tennessee in the topsy-turvy AFC South.

Jacksonville won the toss in overtime and had a chance to win it with Trevor Lawrence, who threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns. But the Jaguars went three-and-out, giving the Cowboys a chance to win after squandering a 27-10 lead. Prescott’s third-down pass proved to be a difference-maker.

Prescott completed 23 of 30 passes for 256 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Two of his TD passes went to Brown.

Prescott found Brown for a 13-yard score with 3:02 remaining. Lawrence fumbled while scrambling on the ensuing possession, but he got the ball back and drove his team into position for Riley Patterson’s 40-yard, game-tying field goal on the final play of regulation.

Lawrence threw three TD passes to Zay Jones. Travis Etienne ran for 103 yards.

When the first media member reached Rayshawn Jenkins’ locker after the most heroic football play of his life, the Jaguars’ safety raised his right hand and begged our indulgence to give him more time, saying: “I can’t breathe right now.” 

It was a most appropriate response, considering Jenkins’ team had just done something so remarkable, it took the breath away of 69,050 paying spectators — a minimum 50 percent appearing to be Dallas Cowboys’ fans — at TIAA Bank Field. 

The euphoric reaction to Jenkins’ 52-yard touchdown interception return, finishing off a 40-34 overtime victory over the Cowboys, wasn’t quite as impactful as the end of the 1996 regular season when Atlanta Falcons kicker Morten Andersen’s 30-yard missed field goal sent the Jaguars to the playoffs. 

Still, Jenkins’ shoe-top pick of a Dak Prescott pass and race to the north end zone will go down as one of the most memorable plays in franchise history, especially if it serves as a springboard to the Jaguars returning to the NFL playoffs after a five-year absence.  

“History was made today,” said Jaguars’ pass-rusher Duwane Smoot. “Rayshawn [Jenkins] set it off. He made a helluva play.”