Jacksonville Jaguars seal first victory of season in unlikely way

By Sam Gardner, FOXSports.com Through the first eight games of the season, the Jaguars couldn’t catch a break, but the ball finally bounced Jacksonville’s way late Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, as the Jags graduated from the ranks of the winless with a 29-27 win. The first bit of good fortune came with the Jags up 20-13 with 8:02 left in the fourth quarter, when LaRoy Reynolds downed a Bryan Anger punt at the Tennessee 1-yard line. Mike Munchak challenged the call, arguing that it should have been a touchback because Reynolds’ foot touched the goal line while he was downing the punt — and it appeared he may have been right — but officials upheld the call, and the Titans took over at the 1.

Two plays later, Chance Warmack got called for offensive holding in the end zone (you can see the penalty below), giving the Jaguars a safety and a 22-13 lead.

Those two calls — the latter of which wouldn’t have happened without the first — would come into play later. With 4:15 to play, Tennessee cut the lead to 22-20 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was in for the injured Jake Locker. But after a Jaguars three-and-out, Jacksonville forced a Fitzpatrick fumble, which Jags cornerback Will Blackmon returned for a touchdown. Tennessee would add a late touchdown of their own, on a Fitzpatrick pass to Delanie Walker with 40 seconds left, but the Titans couldn’t come up with an onside kick, and that safety from earlier in the quarter would end up being the difference. So they’re partying on the streets of Duval County tonight, and just like that, the Tampa Bay Bucs are the lone winless team in the NFL. The Online OT crew checked in with their analyis: