Per Jacksonville.com:
Destiny smiled on the Jaguars Sunday.
In an improbable finish that had to be seen to be believed, Houston cornerback Glover Quin batted a Hail Mary pass in the end zone into the arms of Mike Thomas on the final play of regulation.
A surprised Thomas caught the 50-yard pass inside the 1-yard line and walked into the end zone to give the Jaguars a stunning 31-24 victory over the Texans just when it seemed the teams were headed for overtime.
Though many of the fans had already left EverBank Field, there was pandemonium as Jaguars players stormed the field. Texans players stood by, stunned by the sudden turn of events.
“Wow, it was crazy. I still can’t believe it. That is why it’s called the Hail Mary,” said guard Uche Nwaneri. “Whether, it’s destiny, magic or luck, it’s a win. That’s a fact.
“I’ve never, ever in my career as a football player seen that play live. I’ve always seen it on ESPN Classic where it works. But I’ve never been a part of it.”
The victory enabled the Jaguars (5-4) to move into a tie for second with Tennessee in the AFC South, one game behind Indianapolis and one ahead of Houston.
It was only the fourth time in NFL history that a regular season game ended on a game-winning TD pass of 50 yards or more with no time remaining.
“What a way to end it, huh” said Thomas, who finished the game with a team-high eight catches for 149 yards. “I was a little shocked and stunned. I’ve never seen anything like that. You see it on TV every blue moon.”
David Garrard, who threw the pass high in the air to give his receivers time to run under it, said, “It was the Thank You, Jesus play. My wife’s name is Mary so I always love to call the Hail Mary, but really when it works like that, it’s beyond words.”
The last time a Jaguars game ended on a Hail Mary pass was in 2002 when Cleveland’s Tim Couch threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Morgan to beat them, 21-20.
Thomas’ catch capped what already was a wild game, with both teams fighting for their playoff lives.
The game was tied at 3 midway through the second quarter, a surprise considering the Texans came in with the worst pass defense in the league and the Jaguars ranked 28th.
The Jaguars, who finished with a season high 491 yards while the Texans had 395, took advantage of field position to score two touchdowns on drives of 52 and 55 yards for a 17-3 halftime lead.
At the time, the Texans seemed beaten. They got the ball back with 34 seconds left in the second quarter on their 14 with three timeouts left, but simply ran out the clock.
The start of the second half was a different story. The Texans came alive and put together a pair of 80-yard touchdown drives to tie the game at 17. They also had a 77-yard pass to Arian Foster nullified by penalty.
The Jaguars had a chance to take the lead again at the start of the fourth quarter but Josh Scobee missed his first field goal of the season, a 39-yarder on his second attempt.
He made his first attempt, but it was nullified by a false start penalty on Brad Meester, one of eight Jaguars penalties in the game.
“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” Nwaneri said.
The two teams then traded touchdowns and with the score tied at 24, Scobee had another chance to give the Jaguars the lead, but missed again from 43 yards.
The Texans took over on their 33 with 1:34 left and drove to the Jaguars 40 with 22 seconds left when Matt Schaub spiked the ball.
Then Texans’ backup tight end Joel Dreessen made two critical mistakes that help set up the Jaguars’ winning play.
First, he was called for a false start that pushed the Texans back to their 45. After Schaub threw an incomplete pass, Dreessen caught an eight-yard pass, turned up the field and fumbled. Justin Durant recovered with eight seconds left at the Jaguars 34.
If Dreessen hadn’t fumbled, the clock probably would have expired before the Texans could have gotten their field goal team on the field, forcing overtime.
The Jaguars got to midfield on an 11-yard pass to Marcedes Lewis and a five-yard offsides penalty on Antonio Smith.
That put the Jaguars on the 50 with three seconds left. Since the Jaguars decided not to try to let Scobee try a 67-yarder, the only option was the Hail Mary.
Nwaneri said he warned the players to be alert in the huddle in case the Texans intercepted it.
“In my mind, the way this game is going, something crazy might happen,” he said.
It couldn’t have been much crazier than Quin batting the ball down into the hands of Thomas. Quin could have just caught the ball and the game would have gone to overtime.
Jaguars players said the winning score should get an ESPY for play of the year.
“I’m going to be right there in the audience ready to accept the reward,” Garrard said.
