ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (Nov. 26, 2006) -- From awful to awesome: In a matter of weeks, J.P. Losman has taken the bumble and stumble out of the Buffalo Bills' offense.
Delivering on the patience his coaches and teammates have provided him all season long, the second-year starter produced his second straight last-minute, game-winning drive in a 27-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The Jaguars, meanwhile, continued their bewildering inconsistency.
Showing poise in avoiding the rush, Losman stepped up in the pocket and threaded a perfect pass to Roscoe Parrish, who kept both toes inbounds at the left sideline for a 30-yard catch. Two plays later, Rian Lindell hit a 42-yard field goal as time ran out.
The last-minute dramatics came a week after Losman hit Peerless Price for a 15-yard touchdown with 9 seconds left in a 24-21 win at Houston. This was an equally clutch performance, with Lindell's field goal coming 28 seconds after the Jaguars tied the game when David Garrard hit Matt Jones for a 3-yard touchdown pass.
"You have to call it momentum," said Losman, who finished 21-of-28 for 169 yards passing. "We're feeling really, really tight."
That's quite a change for the Bills' offense, which two weeks ago was labeled as "awful" by receiver Lee Evans.
"Certain things are going our way now that didn't go our way earlier in the season," Evans said with a smile. "You can start to see the consistency starting to come along."
Bills running back Willis McGahee had 63 yards rushing and two touchdowns in his first game after missing the past two with broken ribs. Parrish also scored on an 82-yard punt return.
The Bills (5-6) won consecutive games for the first time since October 2005, and tied their win total from last season.
The Jaguars (6-5) dropped to 1-4 on the road, continuing a streak of up-and-down outings after what appeared to be a convincing 26-10 win over the New York Giants last Monday. The loss hurt all the more considering Jacksonville had an opportunity to catch Denver and Kansas City, both 7-4, in the AFC wild card hunt.
"This is one we definitely needed to get," said Garrard, who finished 16-of-22 for 132 yards passing and two touchdowns. "I can definitely say that I didn't perform to my best to help us get the win."
The only thing that consistently clicked for the Jaguars was its powerful running-back tandem. Maurice Jones-Drew had 78 yards rushing and a touchdown, while Fred Taylor finished with 101 yards.
The Jaguars were hurt by penalties, committing 10 for 108 yards. And their usually stout defense bent easily, uncharacteristic for a unit that entered the game having limited its past four opponents to three touchdowns.
"We can't come out and play like we played today," defensive end Paul Spicer said. "Today, we didn't look like the No. 3 (defense) in the league. We looked like No. 32."
It didn't help that the Jaguars were minus starting strong safety Donovin Darius, who broke his leg last week, and starting cornerback Brian Williams (hamstring). With backup cornerback Terry Cousin (groin) also out, rookie Dee Webb was forced to make his first career start.
Webb had difficulty in coverage and was burned several times by Evans, including a pass interference penalty that resulted in a 43-yard gain and led to Lindell's 21-yard field goal in the second quarter.
More maddening was Webb intercepting a Losman pass in the first quarter, but then fumbling the ball away when he was hit by tight end Robert Royal.
Webb was eventually benched, replaced by Scott Starks, who happened to be the one covering Parrish on the final drive. Starks had great position on the 30-yard catch, but the ball was thrown so tightly that only Parrish had the opportunity to catch it.
"It was pretty cool," Losman said. "Sometimes you've got to let it go, dude, and let players make the plays. I don't think many receivers could've caught that like he did."
McGahee sparked the offense in the first half, scoring on 4- and 30-yard touchdown runs, his first two-TD game since he scored twice in Buffalo's 2004 season-finale.
The Bills then appeared to take control when Parrish scored, streaking up the left sideline, touched only by punter Chris Hanson, to put Buffalo ahead 24-14 with 4 minutes left in the third quarter.
Notes: Jaguars PK Josh Scobee hit a 27-yard field goal, but also missed wide right on a 42-yard attempt in the first quarter. ... Jaguars TE Marcedes Lewis also scored on a 1-yard reception. ... The Bills 27 points were a season-high and most since a 37-27 win at Cincinnati in the second-last game last season.
