OAKLAND, Cal. – They fought, scrapped and kept it close. And then they won.
Somehow, someway they reallywon.
Rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew II completed two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to wide receiver Chris Conley, rallying the Jaguars from a 13-point halftime deficit for a 20-16 victory over the Oakland Raiders in front of 52,788 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
"We definitely needed this," Jaguars defensive tackle Abry Jones said.
Oakland took a 10-3 first-quarter lead and extended it to 16-3 at halftime before the Jaguars inched back into the game in the second half. A six-yard pass from Minshew to Conley with 5:15 remaining made it 16-13, Raiders.
Minshew then passed four yards to Conley with :31 remaining to give the Jaguars the victory in the final game the Raiders will play in Oakland before moving to Las Vegas in the offseason.
"It was awesome," Minshew said. "It's a piece of football history. Something special to be a part of. It will be an Aflac trivia question 20 years from now, so it's definitely going to be cool to be a part of that."
The Jaguars (5-9) won for the first time after five consecutive losses. The Raiders (6-8) have lost four consecutive games.
"We just wanted to get the game close to give us an opportunity to win the game and we were able to do that," Jaguars Head Coach Doug Marrone said. "The year hasn't gone well for us.
"Today we will at least have something that you might tell your grandchildren about one day. It is a pretty good memory."
The Jaguars won on the West Coast for the first time since 2004.
Minshew, who has started the last two games in place of Week 1 starter Nick Foles, completed 17 of 29 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. The Jaguars finished the game with 262 total yards and 17 first downs compared to 364 and 27 for the Raiders.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr completed 22 of 35 passes for 267 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Raiders tight end Darren Waller had eight receptions for 122 yards.
The Jaguars registered four sacks, with defensive end Yannick Ngakoue registering two and linebacker Austin Calitro and defensive end Josh Allen both registering one. Allen's first-half sack gave him 10 for the season, making him the seventh player in franchise history to record double-digit sacks in a season.
Ngakoue's two sacks gave him eight for the season, making him the only player in franchise history with eight or more sacks in four consecutive seasons.
Step by step:
*Wide receiver Tyrell Williams' 40-yard touchdown reception from Carr on the game's opening drive gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead with 11:29 remaining in the first quarter; the play capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive and came when Williams beat Jaguars safety Jarrod Wilson across the middle on an intermediate route and stepped away for an easy touchdown. The Jaguars cut the lead to 7-3 with a 28-yard field goal by Josh Lambo on the ensuing series, a drive keyed by Minshew's 55-yard pass down the left sideline to wide receiver Keelan Cole. A 33-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson on the next series pushed the Raiders' lead back to seven – 10-3 – with Carr finding Waller for a 36-yard gain to the Jaguars 18 to set up the score.
*Carlson's 34-yard field goal with 2:21 remaining in the second quarter pushed the Raiders' lead to 13-3. The Jaguars at that point had 61 yards, with 55 coming on the pass from Minshew to Cole on their first series. They didn't pick up their second first down until an 11-yard pass from Minshew to wide receiver Dede Westbrook on the play before the two-minute warning. A 27-yard field goal by Carlson on the final play of the half made it 16-3, Raiders. The Raiders at that point had a 273-75 advantage in total yards and a 17-2 advantage in first downs.
*The Jaguars cut the lead to 16-6 with Lambo's 43-yard field goal with :28 remaining in the third quarter and later cut it to three points with Minshew's fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Conley that capped an 11-play, 79-yard drive.
Injury report: Allen sustained a shoulder stinger in the second quarter and returned.
Notable: Running back Leonard Fournette surpassed his career-high rushing yards for a season Sunday (1,040, 2017) and also became the first Jaguars player since Maurice Jones-Drew in 2011 with 1,500 yards or more from scrimmage in a season. … Wide receiver DJ Chark Jr. was the lone projected starter among the Jaguars' seven inactives Sunday; he had been ruled out Friday with an ankle injury sustained last week in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Jaguars' other six inactives Sunday: Quarterback Josh Dobbs, linebacker Preston Brown, offensive lineman Tyler Gauthier, tight end Charles Jones, defensive tackle Carl Davis and defensive tackle Dontavius Russell. …
What's next: The Jaguars will play the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., Sunday at 1 p.m.
