Titans vs Jaguars Game Day Newsletter 4Sept19Titans_Digital | Page 36

TWENTY-FIVE SEASONS,
TWENTY-FIVE GAMES
In Their Own Words
This was the Jaguars’ fi rst appearance on
Monday Night Football since 2001, and the
fi rst prime-time home game since 2001. The
atmosphere was memorable from the start.
Rashean Mathis: “It was amazing. It was my fi rst
Monday Night game ever. It was electric. There’s
not too many games I can remember that I can
say I remember like that one.”
Josh Scobee: “That was the year after the
Steelers won the Super Bowl, so that was a
really exciting game, Monday Night and highly
anticipated. It ended up being a snoozer for
everyone but me.”
The Jaguars’ defense indeed dominated
throughout, but with neither team scoring until
5:28 remained, this was a pressurized, tight
game from start to fi nish.
Maurice Jones-Drew: “We played the same type
of ball. The defenses were going to attack. It was
going to be downhill, smashmouth offense. We
were two of three or four teams in the league at
that time that would run two-tight end, two-back
consistently. You just knew going into the game
the team that fought and executed their game
plan the best was going to win, but it was going
to be one of those tough games where you have
to fi ght and claw for everything.”
score some more.’ The tension was thick, but the
concentration level was there. It never wavered.
In our heart of hearts, we were like, ‘If they don’t
score, they don’t win.’ We brought our hard hats.
It was a signature game when we walked away
with that win.”
Scobee: “You get a sense for how the game’s
going, especially when you get toward the fourth
quarter. You can tell it was going to be a hard
thing for either offense to move the ball. Even if
they were shorter fi eld goals you knew they were
going to be a premium because of the lack of
offense. The defense played lights out and gave
up zero points; I had three fi eld goals and I don’t
think any of them were very long, so it was an
easy game for everyone but the Steelers.”
Still, this game remains one of the most
memorable in franchise history. It was all
defense all the time – and in an era in which
defense defi ned the Jaguars, this game for many
stands out.
As a result, the pressure stayed on the defense
– and Scobee. Defensive Tackle Marcus Stroud: “I’ll put our
defense up against anybody’s in those years
– from about ’05 to ’07, we were clicking. I’d
put us up against anybody at the time. We had
camaraderie. We had fun. That was one of the
best things about our defense. That’s why I think
we were so successful. We had fun and we talked
to each other while we were out on the fi eld. We
knew where the other person was going to be,
and I think that’s what made us so successful.”
Mathis: “Once the clock hit zero, it defi nitely was
a satisfying game. As a defense, you’re thinking,
‘Come on. We can’t hold these guys forever. Let’s For more information on the Jaguars’
25th season celebration, please visit
www.jaguars.com/25years.
“Obviously, the Steelers game is intense because of the way it was.
Monday Night is awesome. It’s that feeling, that atmosphere.”
– C Brad Meester