INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Scobee savored every part of Sunday’s victory celebration.
Even the wrestling match with the ball boy.
Scobee, who produced Jacksonville’s only other win at Indianapolis with a 53-yard field goal in 2004, did it again Sunday by making a 51-yarder with four seconds left to beat the dreaded Colts 23-21. And this time, he took the ball.
“My holder went to give me a high-five and I took off running,” said Scobee, who left the ball from his other winning kick in the Indianapolis locker room and never got it back. “I tried to get the ball from the ball boy and he didn’t recognize me.
“He wouldn’t let go of it, so I had to rip it away from him.”
Just as he snatched a second straight comeback out of the Colts’ grasp.
The ramifications of Scobee’s kick may last far longer than any postgame party. The victory allowed Jacksonville (1-2) to avoid the franchise’s first 0-3 start in five years and get out of what would have been a huge hole against the five-time AFC South champs.
Instead of being two games behind Indy, they’ve drawn even with the Colts (1-2) and now hold the first chip in the tiebreaker.
David Garrard impressively evaded the Colts’ pass rush to buy more time and find receivers during the final 67 seconds.
The powerful running tandem of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, who each topped 100 yards got the offense out of neutral for the first time this season.
Jacksonville had the ball for more than 41 minutes.
Peyton Manning ran his first play of the fourth quarter with less than 2:30 to go, and in 86 seconds, he had given the Colts a 21-20 lead when Joseph Addai scored on a 2-yard run.
Garrard followed that with his impersonation of Manning, getting an assist from an 11-yard pass interference call when a fourth-and-1 throw fell incomplete with 25 seconds to go.
“On the sideline, I said, ‘This is our time now,’ ” Garrard said. “Just believe. I kept telling them, ‘Just believe.’ I told the offensive line to get them off my back.”
