Cleveland 21, Jacksonville 20

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Tim Couch threw a 50-yard "Hail Mary" touchdown to Quincy Morgan with no time remaining Sunday to lift Cleveland to an improbable 21-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars and push the Browns back in the race for the AFC North title.

With Cleveland emerging with a shocking win and Pittsburgh losing to Houston, the Browns (7-6) moved within a half game of Steelers atop the division.

"Wow," Browns coach Butch Davis said. "Yeah, another day at the office. I don't really know what to tell you other than when you've coached 30 years you think you've seen everything. Obviously, you haven't."

The Jaguars took a 17-14 lead on a 33-yard field goal by rookie kicker Danny Boyd with 2:32 remaining. It was Boy'd first NFL field-goal attempt.

Couch was then intercepted by rookie linebacker Akin Ayodele with 1:25 to play, leading to a 22-yard kick by Boyd with 52 seconds to go.

"When you throw the interception, a lot of teams just kind of fold their tent," Davis said. "I think it shows an awful lot of character by that defensive football team to go out there and hold them to another field goal and use the timeouts and have the time left to be able to give us some time left on the clock to let something like that happen."

Jacksonville (5-8) elected to squib kick and Cleveland took over at its own 47 with 47 seconds left and no timeouts. Couch was sacked by defensive end Paul Spicer on first down and completed a pass to running back William Green to midfield on second down with just over 10 seconds left.

With the clock winding down, Couch launched a ball to the front right corner of the end zone, where Morgan was battling with cornerback Fernando Bryant. Morgan made a spectacular one-handed grab with his right hand, but the play was reviewed after replays indicated he might not have had full possession before hitting the ground.

The officials said there was no indisputable visual evidence to overturn the touchdown and Phil Dawson, who had missed one field goal and had another one blocked, squeaked the extra-point attempt just inside the left upright.

It was the second career "Hail Mary" touchdown for Couch, who earlier this season had criticized Cleveland fans for booing him. He threw one in a 21-16 victory over New Orleans on Oct. 31, 1999, the first victory after the franchise was recreated by the NFL.

"I was just giving everyone a 'jet' call," Couch said. "Everybody goes deep and you see what happens. It just worked out for us. It's unbelievable when you think about how something like this can basically determine how your season will turn out."

"There's only one play (Couch) can make and yet we're not back there, we're circling under the ball and we give him a chance," said Jacksonville Coach Tom Coughlin. "It's going to be the last play of the game. Where's he going to go with the ball? He has to throw the ball into the end zone.

"For whatever reason we're not back here, we're not in position, we're the ones scrambling around instead of them."

Couch was 21 of 35 for 264 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and the rookie Green ran for 119 yards and one score. Morgan caught three passes, two for touchdowns, and 118 yards.

"After I caught it (the winning pass), half of my team was on top of me," Morgan said. "It was exciting. We are all just family. We don't just play for checks or for the heck of it. We all love each other.

"I've been here two years and we've been beaten like this three times. I knew if it happens to everybody else, it could happen to us, too."

Mark Brunell was 10 of 14 for just 73 yards and one touchdown for Jacksonville after injuring the middle finger on his passing hand last week in a loss to Pittsburgh.

Fred Taylor rushed for 145 yards and one score but the Jaguars dropped their third straight contest, effectively eliminating them from any playoff aspirations.

"I still think the AFC championship (loss to Denver in 1998) was my most painful defeat," Taylor said. "I think that will always be there until we make it to the Super Bowl. But this is a heartbreaker."

Brunell's four-yard pass to tight end Kyle Brady with 1:29 to play in the first quarter gave Jacksonville a 7-0 lead, one it held until Green's three-yard run midway through the third quarter.

Taylor put the Jaguars back ahead with a 44-yard run up the middle with 5:28 to play in the period but Couch countered with a 60-yard pass down the right sideline to Morgan 1:36 later to tie the game at 14.

"I don't have anything to say about this," Coughlin said. "Comments are beyond me right now. That game is not easy to explain. I cannot describe it. From a game that's won to losing a game, I can't describe it."