Jaguars Are Mile High

DENVER — Jacksonville in the AFC title game?

No way. No Elway. Not the year the Denver Broncos finally get a running back. Not the year Denver quarterback John Elway finally gets a bona fide shot at that elusive Super Bowl ring. Not the year the Broncos equal their best regular-season record at 13-3.

Jacksonville?

That’s right. Two years ago, the Jaguars didn’t even exist. Three months ago, they were 3-6. Two weeks ago, they were the longshot of the playoffs.

But no more.

Fourteen-point underdogs, the Jaguars came into Denver on Saturday and turned Mile High Stadium into Mile Low Stadium, stunning the Broncos and shocking a crowd of 75,678 with a 30-27 victory to move into the Super Bowl semifinals next week against the winner of today’s Pittsburgh-New England game.

Jacksonville?

Last week, the Jaguars (11-7) went into Rich Stadium, where the Buffalo Bills had been 9-0 in postseason play, and upset Buffalo by the same score, 30-27. This time, the Jaguars won at Mile High, where the Broncos had been 8-1 in the postseason and were 8-0 this year in the regular season.

In Buffalo and Denver, Jacksonville was facing teams that had been in a combined eight Super Bowls.

“Any Super Bowl wins among them?” asked Jacksonville defensive tackle John Jurkovic, reflecting the confidence that flowed through the Jaguar locker room after the game.

The answer, of course, is no.

The Jaguars, who have won seven games in a row, pulled off this upset as they have done so many others in recent weeks, with solid defense, flawless kicking, great offensive-line play, the powerful running of a rejuvenated Natrone Means, who rushed for 140 yards, and the impressive play of quarterback Mark Brunell, who, with his left-handed throwing style, poise under pressure and ability to scramble for big yards, is being described as the next Steve Young.

“I take that as a compliment,” Brunell said.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Brunell, 26, who played in college at Washington, was his calm demeanor and steady play when his team fell behind early for the second week in a row.

Elway drove the Broncos down the field in the first quarter, Denver putting the first points on the board when Vaughn Hebron scored from a yard out.

Kicker Jason Elam’s extra-point attempt was blocked by Clyde Simmons.

No problem. The noise level at Mile High remained high. The stadium shook from the pounding of the fans’ feet. After all, they figured, there would be plenty more points scored by their beloved Broncos on this afternoon.

Sure enough, Elway came back before the quarter was over, connecting with Shannon Sharpe on an 18-yard touchdown pass. But Sharpe, normally one of the Broncos’ most reliable receivers, dropped the ball on the two-point conversion attempt.

Then, after failing to get past their own 34-yard line in the first quarter, and managing to hold the ball for only 4:53, the Jaguars came alive in the second quarter.

“We have started games slow,” Jacksonville Coach Tom Coughlin said. “We have picked our way until we could find out where we are coming from.”

The Broncos soon found out.

Jacksonville surged into a 13-12 lead by halftime on two Mike Hollis field goals, from 46 and 42 yards, and an eight-yard scoring run by Means, who has gained 315 yards in the last two games after gaining 507 in the regular season.

What makes Means’ performance even more surprising is that it came against the NFL’s No. 1 run defense.

The touchdown was typical of what Means has done in recent weeks after languishing on the bench for much of the season, first because of a thumb injury and then because he found himself a backup to James Stewart. Means headed up the middle on his touchdown run, found a pileup in his path, bounced off, turned left and had a clear path to the end zone.

Things didn’t change much for the Broncos in the third quarter. Brunell hit receiver Keenan McCardell on a 31-yard touchdown pass, Hollis added a 22-yard field goal, and the Jaguars had scored 23 unanswered points after Denver’s fast start.

The numbers tell some of the story. Overall, Jacksonville amassed 443 yards of offense to 351 for Denver. Brunell completed 18 of 29 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. Elway completed 25 of 38 for 226 and two touchdowns.

But the biggest difference was on the ground, where Terrell Davis, the NFL’s second-leading rusher in the regular season, was supposed to make the difference between a good team and a Super Bowl contender. Although he gained 50 yards on Denver’s first two series, including a club postseason-record 47-yard run, Davis gained only 41 yards the rest of the way to finish with 91.

The Broncos made a run at the Jaguars in the fourth quarter. Davis scored from the two and ran in the conversion to cut the lead to 23-20, but Brunell, after scrambling for 29 yards, answered with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Smith.

Did Elway have one last comeback in him? He connected with Ed McCaffrey on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:50 to play, but Jacksonville’s Le’Shai Maston recovered the onside kick and the Jaguars ran the clock out.

Jacksonville?

In the Denver Post on Saturday, columnist Woody Paige referred to the team as the Jagwads.

“At least he could get the name right,” Coughlin said.

Don’t worry, Tom. From now on, everybody will.