鈥?Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan waited until the final few minutes to start celebrating.Had he uncorked the champagne when the game was essentially over Kyzir White Jersey Elite , Khan would have been drinking by halftime.Blake Bortles threw three touchdowns passes, including two to seldom-used backup Jaydon Mickens, and the Jaguars clinched a playoff spot with a 45-7 drubbing of AFC South rival Houston on Sunday. Jacksonville’s seventh victory in its last eight games locked up the franchise’s first postseason berth since 2007.“It’s a story of perseverance,” Khan said.Once the NFL’s poster child for futility and a punchline for potential relocation, the Jaguars (10-4) are now one of the league’s top turnarounds.The injury-riddled Texans (4-10) have dropped four in a row and seven of eight.“They can smell the playoffs,” Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “You can tell that by the way they played. That’s what you play for: playoff football. You play this game to win the ultimate goal. When you don’t get there, what you did is not good.”Bortles finished with a season-high 326 yards and the best QB rating (143.8) of his career. He did it without receivers Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns and Marqise Lee.With Robinson (knee) on injured reserve, Hurns (ankle) inactive and Lee (ankle) in the locker room, Mickens and rookie Keelan Cole stepped up. Mickens caught four passes for 61 yards and two scores. Cole had seven receptions for a career-high 186 yards and a TD.Mickens disclosed earlier this week that he slept in his car outside the facility at night to save money, not knowing how long he would remain in town.Now, he and teammates will be getting playoff checks.“It’s kind of cool that we solidified our spot,” Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson said. “Now we can get over the giddiness of it. … It’s cool to be where we are, but we’re not done yet.”That’s a huge change for Jacksonville Ravens Anthony Averett Jersey , which was an NFL-worst 22-74 over the previous six years and widely considered more of a laughingstock than a postseason contender.Khan fired coach Gus Bradley one year ago Sunday, following a close loss at Houston. Khan hired Tom Coughlin to oversee football decisions and made interim Doug Marrone the head coach. Coughlin and Marrone added several key players and changed the culture with a grueling offseason and training camp.The Jags got off to an up-and-down start, but have hit their stride down the stretch.Bortles has been better than expected of late, with seven touchdown passes and no turnovers the last three games.“Blake’s killing it,” Jackson said. “I’m just glad he’s been able to turn it around. I’m glad he’s doing what we knew he could do, and I’m glad he’s proving to himself that he can do it. He chose one hell of a year to pick it up.”With Bortles picking apart Houston’s secondary, the Jaguars didn’t even need running back Leonard Fournette. The rookie was inactive because of a sore right quadriceps muscle.Jacksonville’s defense, which has been the glue all season, was dominant again. The unit held Houston to 186 yards.The Jags led 31-0 at the break, their largest halftime lead in team history.“It was very satisfying,” defensive tackle Calais Campbell said.EMBARRASSING LOSSThe Texans looked lost in every aspect. They did little on offense outside Hopkins’ 25-yard TD catch against Jalen Ramsey and did even less to slow down Jacksonville.T.J. Yates, making his first start since 2015, was mostly ineffective in place of Tom Savage (concussion). Yates completed 12 of 31 passes for 128 yards, with the TD and an interception.“It’s embarrassing Jonathan Cooper Color Rush Jersey , and you never want to get beat like that,” linebacker/defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said. “It’s embarrassing for the whole organization.”QUESTIONABLE CALLThe Texans could have run out the clock trailing 24-0 late in the first half, but with 53 seconds remaining and three timeouts, coach Bill O’Brien decided to try to get something going. Yates threw an interception, and the Jaguars scored three plays later.“I just felt we had to try and make a move,” O’Brien said. “The issue is you can’t run it. You have to throw it. We did, and it didn’t work out.”INJURIESTexans: Center Nick Martin (ankle) and right guard Jeff Allen (concussion) left in the second half. Linebacker Benardrick McKinney injured a shoulder making a touchdown-saving tackle on a punt return.Jaguars: Lee injured his right ankle in the first quarter and was later ruled out. Ramsey (groin), defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. (hamstring) and safety Peyton Thompson (foot) left the game but later returned.UP NEXTTexans: Host Pittsburgh next Monday in the team’s home finale.Jaguars: Play at San Francisco on Sunday. The young Winnipeg Jets have grown up fast this postseason, so quickly that now they are headed to the first Western Conference final in their short history after knocking off the NHL’s best team in the regular season.
Tyler Myers and Paul Stastny scored 2:06 apart in the first period, and the Jets stunned the Nashville Predators 5-1 on Thursday night in their first Game 7 – continuing an amazing run for a team swept in its previous two playoff appearances.
”The telling stat for me in this series is we played four games in here and never lost in regulation against the best team in the league,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. ”That’s what you worry about with a young team. It’s a physical series. We’ve got some skaters. … But that’s a difficult thing to do, to get out on the road … to play well in here as consistently as we did, it’s impressive.”
Stastny finished with a second goal and an assist, and Mark Scheifele also had two goals. Blake Wheeler and rookie Kyle Connor each had two assists.
Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves for Winnipeg Mike Hughes Jersey Vikings , which won three of four games in Nashville after missing the Presidents’ Trophy by three points to the Predators.
The Jets now host Vegas in Game 1 on Saturday night in a conference final nobody could’ve predicted when this season started.
”I like it,” Hellebuyck said. ”I’m excited, and looking forward to it.”
P.K. Subban scored for Nashville, now the ninth Presidents’ Trophy winner in 10 years not to win the Stanley Cup.
The best season in Predators history ended earlier than a year ago, but in the same fashion on their own ice. They lost to Pittsburgh in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final last June.
Pekka Rinne, Nashville’s Vezina Trophy finalist along with Hellebuyck, was chased for the third time in this series after giving up two goals on seven shots. He lasted just 10 minutes, 7 seconds for the quickest exit by a starting goalie in a Game 7.
”It’s heartbreaking,” Hellebuyck said on seeing Rinne pulled.
Rinne tried to take responsibility for the Predators’ season ending far earlier than they expected.
”The biggest moment of the season, it’s a terrible feeling,” Rinne said. ”You let your teammates down, and that’s what happened tonight. That’s tough to swallow.”
These teams combined for 231 points in the regular season, making this series the two best teams on points ever to meet in a series before a conference final. This was the third Game 7 all-time for Nashville with a big edge in experience over the Jets playing on this stage.
Nashville also brought out the star power once again with Sheryl Crow singing the U.S. anthem and former NFL Titans running back Eddie George waving the towel to rev up the crowd. A couple catfish hit the ice before the puck dropped.
The Predators took five of the first six shots, then the Jets stunned the crowd. Myers squeezed a wrister between the post and Rinne’s left skate for a 1-0 lead at 8:40 of the first. Then Stastny put a backhander off Rinne and into the net 2:06 later for a 2-0 lead on just seven shots.
Nashville coach Peter Laviolette didn’t hesitate and pulled Rinne for Juuse Saros Cheap Josh Allen Jersey , trying to snap the Predators out of a slow start while saving his timeout. Laviolette called the goals ”fluky.”
”There’s not a lot of things that you can do if a game’s not going your way if you can’t use your timeout,” Laviolette said. ”It was way too early to use a timeout at that point. Again, I just tried to send the game in a different direction, put a pause in the game and send it in a different direction.”
Subban started the rally with his fourth power-play goal of this series with a big one-timer from Ryan Johansen over Hellebuyck’s stick at 15:54. Subban then pointed to the Nashville bench and once there yelled at his teammates.
In the second, the Jets simply dominated keeping the puck in the offensive zone and outshot Nashville 6-2. Only Saros making save after save kept it 2-1 until Scheifele’s snap shot for his 10th goal this postseason from the left circle with 2:10 left in the period. That was the first goal Saros had allowed in four appearances this postseason.
Stastny sealed the victory with his sixth goal this postseason on the Jets’ lone power play at 11:59. Scheifele added an empty-net goal with 2:33 left.
Wheeler said the Jets will take a night to celebrate a thrilling win over Nashville that was every bit the series they expected.
”It’s too bad one of us had to be knocked off here,” Wheeler said. ”But night’s like tonight, you try to really soak it in and enjoy it. And then, wake up and get ready for a big game on Saturday.”
NOTES: Scheifele scored seven goals in Nashville, setting a record for most road goals in one postseason series. Scheifele topped 10 others tied with six on the road in a series, including Sidney Crosby. … Jets coach Paul Maurice now is 3-0 all-time in Game 7s all on the road. … Laviolette is 5-3 in Game 7s, and Nashville is 1-2 in Game 7s all-time.
UP NEXT:
Game 1 of Western finals against Jets in Winnipeg.
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