JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Oct. 8, 2006) -- Defensive tackle John Henderson jumped up and down at the goal line, shaking his head from side to side and screaming at the top of his lungs.
He wanted a stop. He wanted a shutout. He wanted redemption after an embarrassing defensive performance at Washington.
He got all three.
The Jacksonville Jaguars scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions, quickly rebounding from consecutive losses and beating the New York Jets 41-0 -- the worst Jets loss in 20 years. Henderson and his fellow defenders provided the exclamation point with a goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter.
"There was a lot of frustration after the way we played against Washington," Henderson said. "We knew we were better than that. We had to show people that the last game wasn't really us."
They did. The Jags intercepted Chad Pennington three times, forced a fumble, held the Jets to 177 total yards and posted their second shutout of the season. They also continued the offensive barrage that began last week in the 36-30 loss.
It happened early, too.
Maurice Jones-Drew ran for two touchdowns, Fred Taylor added another and Byron Leftwich capped the fast start with a 1-yard TD pass to George Wrighster.
The Jets (2-3) provided plenty of help along the way.
Pennington threw two interceptions that Jacksonville (3-2) turned into touchdowns, Ben Graham had a punt blocked that resulted in a score, and two questionable roughing the passer penalties made it even worse.
"It felt good because last week was a hard one to swallow," offensive tackle Khalif Barnes said. "But we were never down. We knew we would bounce back."
The result was exactly what the Jaguars wanted after losses at Indianapolis and Washington. The offense, almost nonexistent in the second half against the Colts, came up with several big plays against New York's woeful defense. Jacksonville's defense, embarrassed after giving up 481 yards to the Redskins, clamped down on Pennington & Co.
"It was just a plain ol' butt-whipping they laid on us," Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma said.
Pennington finished 10 of 17 for 71 yards. He was picked off three times and sacked three times.
"I don't think there wasn't anything positive coming out of this game," coach Eric Mangini said.
There were plenty of positives for Jacksonville.
Leftwich, Pennington's close friend and former college teammate, fared well in their third meeting. He was 9 of 20 for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
Leftwich had the better supporting cast, too. Taylor ran 21 times for 111 yards, and Jones-Drew added 59 yards.
The Jaguars also won despite resting receiver Matt Jones (groin) and defensive linemen Marcus Stroud (ankle/groin) and Marcellus Wiley (groin).
The only negative for the Jags was that linebacker Mike Peterson, the team's leading tackler the last four seasons, strained a pectoral muscle in the first half and did not return.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed," coach Jack Del Rio said.
Although losing Peterson would be a huge blow for a team already without defensive end Reggie Hayward for the season, he was hardly missed against the Jets.
"We just did what we're supposed to be doing," safety Deon Grant said. "We just had one of those fluke games last week. This game was definitely more like our defense."
Brian Williams intercepted Pennington's second pass of the game. Pennington rolled right and threw behind Laveranues Coles, who reached back with his right hand and tipped the ball to Williams.
The Jags quickly turned it into a touchdown.
But the rout was just getting started.
Gerald Sensabaugh blocked a punt and the Jaguars recovered at the 8-yard line. Three plays later, Jones-Drew scored from 4 yards out to make it 21-0.
Pennington's next pass was intercepted by Terry Cousin, and Leftwich made the most of a short field. He found Wrighster in the left corner of the end zone.
The Jaguars sealed the victory with a field goal and a touchdown on their first two possessions of the second half. The touchdown came three plays after Pennington was intercepted for the third time.
"We weren't going to allow them to score," Henderson said. "We wanted to dominate. We wanted another goose egg. We take a lot of pride about that, especially at home."
Notes:
The Jets hadn't lost by such a wide margin since falling 45-3 to Miami on Nov. 24, 1986. ... Jags DE Paul Spicer, whose sack ended Pennington's season a year ago, told the quarterback to "stay healthy" at midfield before the coin toss. ... Taylor had his first 100-yard game of the season. ... Jets RB Leon Washington ran 23 times for 101 yards, the rookie's first 100-yard game.
