The Jacksonville Jaguars are getting good at bouncing back from embarrassing losses.

David Garrard threw for 264 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown pass to Mike Sims-Walker, and the Jaguars rebounded from a lopsided loss at Tennessee with a 24-21 victory against Kansas City on Sunday.

Up and down all season, the Jaguars (4-4) responded in similar fashion following losses to Arizona and Seattle.

“There’s only so much bouncing back you can do before there’s no more bouncing to do,” cornerback Rashean Mathis said. “It’s something to hang your hat on, to know that we’re going to fight, but at the same time we have to learn to be consistent.”

Consistency hasn’t been Jacksonville’s forte. Coach Jack Del Rio ripped his team’s defensive effort following a 30-13 loss at the Titans last week, calling it “insulting, ugly and embarrassing.” He considered putting his players through live tackling drills this week, but settled for an intense, full-pads practice.

He also switched back to a 4-3 defensive scheme.

It worked, at least against Kansas City (1-7). Playing without suspended running back Larry Johnson, the Chiefs managed little offense until late in the fourth quarter.

“We brought a different attitude to the game,” Jaguars linebacker Clint Ingram said. “It’s not a time for us to start beating ourselves on the chest and patting ourselves on the back. It’s one game. It’s good that we won it, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do and a lot of corrections to make and a lot of stuff to clean up.”

Indeed. With left tackle Branden Albert and center Rudy Niswanger back in the lineup, Matt Cassel threw for 262 yards and two scores — both to newcomer Chris Chambers. (more…)