A game that didn’t seem possible to lose became the latest jarring loss for the Jaguars.
The Texans, down by three possessions in the second half, roared back behind a backup quarterback to stun the Jaguars 36-29 on Sunday.
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Jacksonville (5-4) watched a 19-point lead in the second half dissolve in a stomach-turning loss to a backup quarterback, giving up a staggering 26 points in the final quarter to slap an exclamation point on one of the most unbelievable losses in franchise history.
“The reality is we gave up a 19-point lead to lose the game. Part of winning in the National Football League is sustaining a lead,“ said head coach Liam Coen. ”We just needed one stop; didn’t get one. Against a tough defense, points were hard to come by. You score 29, however the points come, you feel like you’re going to have a chance to go win; didn’t get it done.”
Davis Mills, playing in place of injured starter CJ Stroud (out with a concussion) led Houston back from a 19-point deficit, tossing a 7-yard touchdown to Dalton Schultz with 7 minutes, 36 seconds to play to get within 29-24. Mills then marched Houston from its own 7-yard line, converting three times on third down and scrambling for the go-ahead touchdown with 31 seconds to play.
Jacksonville had one drive to get in position for a winning field goal try, but Trevor Lawrence was sacked, Chuma Edoga was flagged for illegal hands to the face after the Jaguars got into Little’s range, and then Will Anderson sacked Lawrence, and Sheldon Rankins returned it 32 yards for a touchdown to end it.
In terms of shocking collapses in Jaguars history, this one may need a category of its own.
“Definitely some probably disbelief, you’re like you got a 19-point lead and can’t hold onto it,” Coen said. “That’s disappointing. That’s really disappointing against an in-division opponent on the road where you’re controlling the game for the majority of it with all three phases having an impact.”
Washington’s big day
With Travis Hunter and Brian Thomas Jr. both out with injuries, third-year player Parker Washington was expected to see an increase in his workload. He certainly delivered. On a third-and-7 play following a penalty that wiped out a touchdown catch by Jakobi Meyers, Lawrence looked towards the back of the end zone and high. His throw was on target and where only Washington could grab it. More impressive than the catch was Washington’s ability to get both feet inbounds, scraping his right foot across the paint to make it official.
Washington’s punt return was even better.
After an Arik Armstead sack, Houston was punting way back from its own 5. Washington fielded the punt, made it through the initial cluster of tacklers and then raced to the right side of the field where he only had punter Tommy Townsend to beat. He easily did that before stopping and turning around inside the 1-yard line and falling backwards into the end zone.
Offense still inconsistent
Thanks to takeaways, the Jaguars had short fields for two of their scoring drives, but it really never got going against Houston. The Texans pass rush was solid and the ground game never got going.
Danielle Hunter tormented Jacksonville’s offensive line, with no better showcase of that coming on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter. Hunter took an inside lane and beat left tackle Walker Little to the right to smother Travis Etienne for a loss of four yards, then sacked Lawrence on the following play to force a punt.
Hunter added his fourth sack of the game on Jacksonville’s final drive, and Anderson’s sack on the final play wrapped it up. It marked the third time in the last four games that the Jaguars have allowed five or more sacks.
“I think it was more self-inflicted things throughout the passing game and throughout the day on offense, to be honest,” Lawrence said. “There was a lot of stuff we left out there. It’s a really good defense. Give all the credit to them. They are a really good defense. They made some plays today where good defensive teams are going to make plays, but I also feel like we left some stuff out there.”
Lawrence had a costly turnover that likely cost Jacksonville at least a field goal before halftime. With under 20 seconds left in the first half and all three timeouts, Lawrence tried to find Austin Trammell over the middle, but Derek Stingley Jr. made a one-handed interception to kill the scoring threat. Meyers, who Jacksonville traded for last week, had a touchdown catch nullified by a penalty, but led the team with 41 yards on three catches. Lawrence had a tough day, going 13 of 23 for 158 yards, a lost fumble and a pick. He had the one scoring pass to Washington.
Defense has problems
The offense was ragged but the defense remains an issue, too.
While Houston changed the game with a steady pass rush and dominance at the line of scrimmage, Jacksonville turned in yet another anemic day at the line. The lack of pass rush remains the team’s biggest issue on defense. Armstead leads the tea, with 4.5 sacks after one on Sunday, but top edge players Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker have combined for just four sacks. Houston’s Hunter had that by himself on Sunday.
Against Houston’s porous offensive line playing a backup quarterback, the Jaguars should have feasted.
“Yeah, that’s something we definitely need to talk about as a staff and as a group, that hasn’t been good enough all season and wasn’t good enough today,” Coen said. “There is a combination. It’s never one group’s fault when you lose a game. That’s not what we’re going to do here. But it definitely is a challenge for us at the moment.
Fast start for Jaguars
Coen said after last week’s win over the Raiders that Jacksonville needed to start games better. They did against Houston. The Jaguars raced out to a 17-0 lead thanks to short fields to work with after the turnovers. Jones’ pick at the Houston 40 led to a 32-yard field goal by Cam Little. Ventrell Miller punched the ball out on the ensuing kick return that Danny Striggow recovered at the 19. Lawrence hit Washington for a 7-yard touchdown that put Jacksonville in front 10-0 midway through the opening quarter.
Washington ripped off a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown just three minutes into the second quarter as that lead grew to 17-0.
Unlike the game against the Raiders where Jacksonville scored on six consecutive possessions, the Jaguars were listless in the second half. It could only scratch out a 6-yard touchdown run by Etienne and a 33-yard field goal by Little after halftime.
“We just have to move on to the next week. Unfortunately, this is what happened today. Can’t change it now. It’s over and done,” Lawrence said. “We have to move forward into our next week and learn from it. I mean, let that be a chip on our shoulder and a little bit of fire under us for this week of practice. It should sting for a while.”