You want to be on David Garrard’s Christmas list next year. Why? He got the New York Jets a playoff spot for this year’s holiday.
Garrard made a brilliant run for a 20-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to send the game with the Redskins to overtime and then promptly turned into the goat. On third down, Garrard, under heavy pressure, made a brutal decision to throw a pass sidearm up for grabs deep in his own territory. Kevin Barnes picked off the pass and returned it to the 14-yard-line and Graham Gano kicked a field goal three plays later to give the Redskins a 20-17 road win.
The kick meant the Jets are in the playoffs and it means (with thanks to Dan Graziano of FanHouse) that Gano possesses Rex Ryan’s third favorite foot.
The loss doesn’t eliminate the Jags from playoff contention, however. Even if the Colts beat the Raiders on Sunday, Jacksonville can win the AFC South by beating the Texans and watching the Colts lose to the Titans. It still has to sting, however.
The Jags fell behind 10-0 early thanks to another Garrard interception, fought back to tie the game, fell behind again and then sent the game to overtime on Garrard’s run. Not impressive given the Rex Grossman-quarterbacked opposition, perhaps, but the fight they showed without Maurice Jones-Drew is worthy of some kind of respect. It’s two straight weeks where they couldn’t get a win they really needed, however, and that’s the kind of stuff that erases playoff dreams in a hurry.