ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The next coach of the Atlanta Falcons will be lucky to have Michael Vick.
Vick threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns as the Atlanta Falcons held on for a 21-14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the season finale for both teams.
Atlanta (5-11), which fired Dan Reeves on December 10, improved to 3-1 in Vick's four starts, building a 21-7 lead at halftime. Vick gave the Falcons the lead for good on a trick play late in the first quarter.
Vick handed off to T.J. Duckett, who pitched it back to Vick. The electrifying quarterback then hit Peerless Price with a 44-yard touchdown for a 14-7 lead with 23 seconds to go in the first quarter.
"That was the reason that I came back," said Vick, who was hurt in the preseason and missed the first 11 games. "I came back to try to give my team a lift in any way I possibly could. I took a lot of criticism from a lot of people who didn't understand my situation. They really didn't know how bad I was hurting and what I was going through as far as my ankle.
Jacksonville (5-11) took over on its own 13-yard line with 4:16 left. Rookie Byron Leftwich drove the Jaguars all the way to the Atlanta 13 before he threw incomplete on 4th-and-2 with 32 seconds to go.
"In a lot of ways, today was a microcosm of our season," said Jaguars rookie coach Jack Del Rio. "We come out and do not do things well early. We gave ourselves the opportunity to come back and win the game, but in the end we fell short."
Vick, who completed 12-of-22 passes, displayed his talent on an 11-play, 80-yard drive just before the first half expired. He had a 38-yard pass to Brian Finneran that helped set up a one-yard TD toss to tailback Justin Griffith for a two-touchdown lead at intermission.
"Right before the half, we went into our two-minute offense and scored," Atlanta interim coach Wade Phillips said. "That made it 21-7. We might have been a little conservative during the second half."
Duckett carried 22 times for 96 yards, earning praise from Vick.
"He's the reason the offense is playing as well as we've been able to play," Vick said. "When you've got the running game going and it's going well, then it's hard for teams to defend you in the passing game."
The quarterback duel between Vick and Leftwich never quite materialized. Leftwich, a first-round choice from Marshall, finished 19-of-32 for 167 yards.
"It's been great to have the opportunity to play as many games as I did," Leftwich said. "I would like to have won more games. Sometimes it comes down to your not executing and sometimes the defense makes plays."
