1996 Jacksonville Jaguars season

1996 Jacksonville Jaguars season
Head Coach	Tom Coughlin
Home Field	Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	9–7
Place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff Finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (Bills) 30–27 Won Divisional Playoffs (Broncos) 30–27 Lost AFC Championship (Patriots) 20–6
Uniform
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1995	1997

The 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars season was the franchise's 2nd season in the National Football League and the 2nd under head coach Tom Coughlin. The Jaguars improved on their 4–12 record from their inaugural season. The Jaguars marked success as they won six of their last seven games of the season and finished with a record of 9–7. The credit for this midseason turnaround probably lies in the demotion of wide receiver Andre Rison in favor of Jimmy Smith after a game against the St. Louis Rams in which Brunell threw 5 interceptions. The interceptions were blamed on Rison and he was benched. In the team’s final game of the regular season against the Atlanta Falcons, needing a win to earn a playoff berth, the Jaguars caught a bit of luck when Morten Andersen missed a 30-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining that would have given the Falcons the lead. The Jaguars clinched the fifth seed in the AFC playoffs.

The Jaguars achieved their first ever franchise playoff game victory, in a stunning upset on the road against the Buffalo Bills. The victory against the Bills was notable due to the fact that the Bills roster was made up of many of the same players that had been to four Super Bowls in the decade, including eventual Hall of Fame players Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and Bruce Smith (who had previously been the league Defensive Player of the Year). Their next game was on the road against the Denver Broncos, who had dominated the AFC with a 13–3 record (and earned the top AFC seed). The upstart Jaguars were not intimidated by the Broncos or their fans and their good fortune continued, as they largely dominated from the second quarter on. A late touchdown pass from Mark Brunell to Jimmy Smith gave the Jags a 30–20 lead. They held on to win in a huge upset, 30–27, in a game that many people still consider the franchise’s finest hour. Upon their return home, the Jags were greeted by an estimated 40,000 fans at the stadium. Many of these fans had watched the game on the stadium JumboTron displays and had stayed into the early hours of the morning when the team arrived. In the AFC Championship Game, the Jaguars acquitted themselves very well, playing a tight and close defensive game in a hostile environment for over three quarters before finally losing 20–6 to the New England Patriots on the road.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1996 NFL draft

1996 Jacksonville Jaguars draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	2	Kevin Hardy *	Linebacker	Illinois
2	33	Tony Brackens *	Defensive end	Texas
2	60	Michael Cheever	Center	Georgia Tech
3	63	Aaron Beasley	Cornerback	West Virginia
4	110	Reggie Barlow	Wide receiver	Alabama State
5	146	Jimmy Herndon	Guard	Houston
6	170	John Fisher	Defensive back	Missouri Western State
6	185	Chris Doering	Wide receiver	Florida
7	227	Clarence Jones	Wide receiver	Tennessee State
7	228	Gregory Spann	Wide receiver	Jackson State
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1996 Jacksonville Jaguars staff
	Front office Chairman/Chief Executive Officer – Wayne Weaver President/Chief Operating Officer – David Seldin Senior Vice President of Football Operations – Michael Huyghue Director of College Scouting – Rick Reiprish Director of Pro Personnel – Ron Hill Assistant Director of Pro Personnel – Fran Foley College Scout – Rick Mueller College Scout – Doug Williams Head coaches Head Coach – Tom Coughlin Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Kevin Gilbride Running Backs – Jerald Ingram Wide Receivers – Pete Carmichael Tight Ends – Nick Nicolau Offensive Line – Mike Maser			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Dick Jauron Defensive Line – John Pease Inside Linebackers – Steve Szabo Outside Linebackers – Lucious Selmon Secondary – Randy Edsall Special teams coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Larry Pasquale Assistant Special Teams – Joe Baker Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Palmieri Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Jeff Hurd

Roster

1996 Jacksonville Jaguars roster
	Quarterbacks  8 Mark Brunell 11 Rob Johnson  5 Todd Philcox Running backs 36 Ryan Christopherson FB 34 Roger Graham 23 Randy Jordan 35 Le'Shai Maston FB 20 Natrone Means 33 James Stewart Wide receivers 84 Reggie Barlow 88 Kendricke Bullard 80 Willie Jackson 89 Curtis Marsh 87 Keenan McCardell 81 Andre Rison 82 Jimmy Smith Tight ends 86 Derek Brown 85 Rich Griffith 83 Pete Mitchell		Offensive linemen 71 Tony Boselli T 63 Michael Cheever C 62 Ben Coleman G 73 Brian DeMarco T 74 Jimmy Herndon T 66 Greg Huntington G/C 67 Jeff Novak G/T 72 Leon Searcy T 76 Rich Tylski G 79 Dave Widell C Defensive linemen 90 Tony Brackens DE 92 Don Davey DT 91 Paul Frase DE/DT 64 John Jurkovic DT 56 Jeff Lageman DE 93 Ernie Logan DE 94 Kelvin Pritchett DT 96 Clyde Simmons DE		Linebackers 52 Brant Boyer 59 Reggie Clark 51 Kevin Hardy 57 Jeff Kopp 55 Tom McManus 50 Eddie Robinson Defensive backs 21 Aaron Beasley CB 42 Ricky Bell CB 22 Bucky Brooks CB 27 Vinnie Clark CB 45 Travis Davis S 24 Rashid Gayle CB 28 Dana Hall S 37 Chris Hudson S 40 Robert Massey CB 30 Darren Studstill S 25 Mickey Washington Special teams  4 Bryan Barker P  1 Mike Hollis K		Reserve lists 53 Nate Dingle LB (IR) 77 Andre Davis DT (IR) 29 John Fisher S (IR) 58 Bryan Schwartz LB (IR) 99 Joel Smeenge DE (IR) 41 Dave Thomas CB (IR) Practice squad Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	TV Announcers	Attendance
1	September 1, 1996	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–9	NBC 1:00pm	Marv Albert & Sam Wyche	70,210
2	September 8, 1996	Houston Oilers	L 34–27	NBC 1:00pm	Dan Hicks & Bart Oates	66,468
3	September 15, 1996	at Oakland Raiders	L 17–3	NBC 4:00pm	Jim Lampley & Bob Golic	46,291
4	September 22, 1996	at New England Patriots	L 28–25 (OT)	NBC 1:00pm	Marv Albert & Sam Wyche	59,446
5	September 29, 1996	Carolina Panthers	W 24–14	FOX 1:00pm	Kenny Albert & Tim Green	71,537
6	October 6, 1996	at New Orleans Saints	L 17–13	NBC 4:00pm	Jim Lampley & Bob Golic	34,231
7	October 13, 1996	New York Jets	W 21–17	NBC 1:00pm	Marv Albert & Sam Wyche	65,699
8	October 20, 1996	at St. Louis Rams	L 17–14	NBC 4:00pm	Dan Hicks & Bart Oates	60,066
9	October 27, 1996	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 28–21	NBC 1:00pm	Don Criqui & Beasley Reece	45,890
10	Bye
11	November 10, 1996	Baltimore Ravens	W 30–27	NBC 4:00pm	Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy	64,628
12	November 17, 1996	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 28–3	NBC 1:00pm	Jim Lampley & Bob Golic	57,879
13	November 24, 1996	at Baltimore Ravens	W 28–25 (OT)	NBC 1:00pm	Jim Donovan & Bob Golic	57,384
14	December 1, 1996	Cincinnati Bengals	W 30–27	NBC 1:00pm	Dan Hicks & Bart Oates	57,408
15	December 8, 1996	at Houston Oilers	W 23–17	NBC 1:00pm	Jim Donovan & Beasley Reece	20,196
16	December 15, 1996	Seattle Seahawks	W 20–13	ESPN 8:00pm	Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann	66,134
17	December 22, 1996	Atlanta Falcons	W 19–17	FOX 1:00pm	Kevin Harlan & Bill Maas	71,449

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Pittsburgh Steelers	10	6	0	.625	344	257
Jacksonville Jaguars	9	7	0	.563	325	335
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	372	369
Houston Oilers	8	8	0	.500	345	319
Baltimore Ravens	4	12	0	.250	371	441

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	TV Announcers	Attendance
Wild-Card	December 28, 1996	at Buffalo Bills (4)	W 30–27	ABC 12:30pm	Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann	70,213
Divisional	January 4, 1997	at Denver Broncos (1)	W 30–27	NBC 4:00pm	Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms	75,678
AFC Championship	January 12, 1997	at New England Patriots (2)	L 20–6	NBC 4:00pm	Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms	60,190

Game summaries

AFC Wild Card Game vs Buffalo Bills

AFC Wild Card Game: Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Jaguars 10 7 3 10 30 Bills 14 3 3 7 27 at Rich Stadium, Buffalo, NY Date: December 28, 1996 Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST

The Jaguars win their first Playoff game in franchise history with this win over the Bills.

AFC Divisional Game vs Denver Broncos

AFC Divisional Game: Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Jaguars 0 13 7 10 30 Broncos 12 0 0 15 27 at Mile High Stadium, Denver, CO Date: January 4, 1997 Game time: 2:00 p.m. MST

Considered one of the greatest upsets in NFL Playoff history, the Jaguars (who were 14 point underdogs, and initially fell behind 12–0 in the first quarter, but led 13–12 at halftime) would stun the Broncos 30–27. Earlier in the day, Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige referred to the Jaguars as the “Jagwads”, stating throughout the article that the Jaguars weren’t worthy to travel to Mile High Stadium and play the Broncos. The Broncos had indeed been dominant during the regular season, going 13–3. The Broncos opted to rest most of their starters for the better part of the final month of the season- as they had secured the number one seed in the AFC Playoffs relatively early on in the regular season. Conversely, the Jaguars had battled their way into a Wild Card spot; and coming off of their upset road victory in Buffalo, were only further motivated by the general lack of faith in their chances. Mark Brunell threw 245 yards with no interceptions, and two touchdowns, including a diving effort on 3rd down by WR Jimmy Smith with 3:49 left in the 4th Qtr to put Jacksonville up 30–20. It was Natrone Means, however that was the star of the game. He ran for 140 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown, and subsequently relieved the pressure on Brunell and the Jaguars passing game. The Broncos would struggle all game to contain Means, whose longest run of the day was 21 yards. With this win, the Jaguars in just their second year of existence would go to the AFC Championship Game.

AFC Championship Game vs New England Patriots

AFC Championship Game: Jacksonville Jaguars at New England Patriots – Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Jaguars 0 3 3 0 6 Patriots 7 6 0 7 20 at Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, MA Date: January 12, 1997 Game time: 4 p.m. EST

The Jaguars come up a game short of the Super Bowl. They would lose four critical turnovers.

Awards and records

• Mark Brunell, Franchise Record, Most Passing Yards in One Game, 432 yards (Sept 22, 1996)
• Mark Brunell, Franchise Record, Most Passing Yards in One Season, 4,367 Yards
• Mark Brunell, Led NFL Passing Yards, 4,367 Yards
• Mark Brunell, Pro Bowl MVP Award
• Mike Hollis, Franchise Record, Most Field Goals in One Game, 5 Field Goals (December 1, 1996)
• Keenan McCardell, Franchise Record, Most Receptions in One Game, 16 receptions (Oct 20, 1996)

Milestones

• Keenan McCardell, 1,000 yard receiving season (1,129 yards)
• Jimmy Smith, 1,000 yard receiving season (1,244 yards)

References

• Jaguars on Pro Football Reference
• Jaguars Schedule on jt-sw.com