Jaguars Lose Nail-Biter in Jake Luton's Debut, Fall 27-25 to Texans

The Jaguars couldn't pull out the win against the Texans in Week 9, but the game was much closer this time than last time around.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New week, new quarterback, same result. 

For the seventh consecutive game week, the Jaguars were on the losing end of things yet again, losing a close 27-25 game against the visiting Houston Texans. 

No matter what changes the Jaguars made after the bye week — and there were quite a few of them — the Jaguars just couldn't find a way to get in a position to win. The most notable of the changes was the move to sixth-round rookie quarterback Jake Luton, who made his NFL debut in place of an injured Gardner Minshew (thumb). 

A team that has long been buoyed by slow starts, the Jaguars saw their rookie quarterback quickly put the team on the scoreboard. On the third offensive play of the game, Luton dropped back on third-down and found wide receiver DJ Chark for a beautiful 73-yard touchdown.

The play that showed off everything the Jaguars have said they liked in Luton. A big arm, an accurate toss and a willingness to read the field. For Chark, it was a return to the end zone after having been held without a touchdown since Week 4. 

"Jake, he stepped into a divisional game and he never showed any nerves. He just played football and did what was asked of him," Chark said after the game. 

"He wasn’t afraid, he was fired up out there, he was excited. It’s good, definitely, for your first start in the NFL and not expecting it to come the way it did. Hats off to him for that.”

Things unsurprisingly went a bit downhill for Luton after his touchdown toss. Until the final drive of the game, that is. The rookie stood tall in the pocket throughout the same and had several impressive throws, but it was ultimately an uneven day for his first start until the Jaguars put the ball in his hands and asked him to attempt to tie the game. 

With 2:57 left in the game, Luton and the Jaguars offense went 80 yards in seven plays, ending the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run by Luton that featured a stiff arm, a spin move, and a wave of cheers throughout Jacksonville. 

That spin move 👀@JakeLuton6 runs it in for the TD!
📺: CBS | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/AAn0j3fI67

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 8, 2020

The touchdown run would give the Jaguars a chance to tie the game, but Luton threw an incomplete pass to Chark on the two-point conversion. The Jaguars then failed to recover the onside kick, ending their comeback bid.

Luton finished the game 26-38 (68.4%) for 304 yards a touchdown and an interception. While he made big plays, such as the touchdown to Chark and a 17-yard tight-window throw to Tyler Eifert on the Jaguars' second scoring drive of the day, a 12-play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a one-yard James Robinson touchdown. 

"One of the things I was impressed with was his eyes down the field," head coach Doug Marrone said after the game. "There is a lot of things that you can check; good here, good here, good here."

But the Oregon State product was also predictably uneven in his NFL debut. Luton got lucky on several turnover-worthy plays due to Houston dropping a few interceptions. Luton's luck ran out in the third quarter, however, starting a disastrous chain of events for the squad. 

After the Jaguars drove down to Texans territory following a forced three-and-out on the first drive of the second half, Luton attempted to find tight end James O'Shaughnessy deep downfield. O'Shaughnessy was streaking down the middle of the field wide open, but Luton put too much on the ball and overthrew the veteran, resulting in a Vernon Hargreaves interception at Houston's 22-yard line.

This would end up setting the table for even more bleakness for Jacksonville. Three plays after Luton's interception, the Jaguars got dealt a rough hand from the referees, while also not helping themselves. 

On third-and-6, the play clock ticked down to 0 and ... just stayed there. Houston snapped the ball several seconds later, leading to an extremely animated Doug Marrone once the ball was snapped with no flag. Marrone said after the game that he wouldn't comment on his feelings about the play, but the back judge is the only person responsible for the play clock. 

To add heavy insult to injury, the missed call would result in a Texans score as CJ Henderson lost track of the ball in the air and was beat by Will Fuller, resulting in a 77-yard touchdown. It was a major swing in the game and was the result of two poor plays by rookies and one egregiously missed call from the officials

God, you literally saw the play-clock at 0 for two seconds on the TV broadcast, too. Clear as day.

Hendo has to make the play, but Doug Marrone has every reason to be upset. https://t.co/MkYDHRCezQ

— Mia O'Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) November 8, 2020

The explosive play was one of many the Jaguars allowed on Sunday. Two of Houston's touchdowns were over 50-yards long. Take away those two scores, and the Texans had just 240 yards of offense. With those scores included, they had 374 yards on 62 plays (6.0 yards per play). 

While Jacksonville's defense struggled to limit Deshaun Watson from creating big plays through the air, the team was able to make more negative impact plays than most weeks. Myles Jack forced and recovered a fumble, while the defense also recorded two sacks and three tackles for loss. On the bright side for the defense, it was the first time since Week 1 that the unit didn't allow at least 30 points. 

“I felt like we had a real good game defensively. There’s a couple stops that we could have prevented. Overall, we get rid of those us-beating-ourselves plays like the penalties, pass interference, jumping offsides," defensive end Josh Allen said after the game. 

"We get rid of those, I feel like we’re in the game. Kudos to everybody, but next week we’ve got to forget about this game, learn from this game and come back next week ready to play against Green Bay.”

The 1-7 Jaguars are now firmly in the last place of the AFC South and are 1-3 against AFC South foes this season. Their last victory came on Sept. 13, a Week 1 upset over the Indianapolis Colts. 

Jacksonville is set to next travel to Green Bay to play the Packers in Week 10.