Texans 37, Jaguars 17: Jacksonville Puts Together Embarrassing Effort at Home

The Jaguars dropped their second game in a row, losing 37-17 in a game they trailed 17-0 at halftime.

This was supposed to be the Jaguars' get-right week.

This was supposed to be the game that they got back on track. 

Instead, Week 3 was the Jaguars' worst performance yet as they lost 37-17 to a banged-up Houston Texans team that entered the game missing eight starters. 

Jacksonville's opening-drive woes continued in Week 3. After getting the ball at the Texans' 48-yard line, Calvin Ridley dropped a potential huge gain on second down and a third-down attempt to Tim Jones was ruled incomplete after he stepped out of bounds. On the next play, Brandon McManus missed a 48-yard field goal to completely erase the gift the Texans gave them.

Houston responded several plays later with a 46-yard bomb to Tank Dell, who split the Jaguars' deep coverage and came down with the ball at the Jaguars' one-yard line. Two plays later, Dameon Pierce punched it in to take the 7-0 lead.

The Jaguars finally started to put together an offensive drive at the start of the second quarter, leaning on Travis Etienne and the running game to cross midfield. But they once again stepped on their own toes, with Calvin Ridley dropping a second-yard pass after getting high-lowed by two Texans defenders. 

Disaster then struck the kicking game for the second time, with Will Anderson blocking a McManus kick to wipe three points off the board and give the Texans the ball at the Jaguars' 41. The Texans did what the Jaguars failed to do, capitalizing with a four-yard touchdown from C.J. Stroud to Brevin Jordan.

The story went no different for the rest of the first half, with the Jaguars going scoreless in their first six quarters of home play in 2023 after Jamal Agnew fumbled a third-down conversion in Texans' territory. A short field goal later, and Houston entered halftime with a 17-0 lead. 

Travis Etienne helped the Jaguars finally come alive on offense, recording 33 rushing yards in his first three carries of the half and taking a screen pass 17 yards to get the Jaguars into field position. After Ridley drew a pass interference in the red-zone, Tank Bigsby punched it in from the one for the Jaguars first home touchdown of the season.

But just as quickly as things looked like they were turning around, they evaporated right back into embarrassment and dismay. 

After the Jaguars had to settle for a red-zone field goal to make it 17-10, the Jaguars missed five tackles -- yes, five -- as full back Andrew Beck picked up a muffed kickoff and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown, taking all air out of the Jaguars' sideline.

It is no coincidence that a few plays later, a disjointed and frustrated Trevor Lawrence forced a pass into coverage while under pressure, resulting in a Blake Cashman interception.

After a Texans field goal made it 27-10, the Jaguars at least closed the gap with a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown Lawrence to Kirk. 

Three plays later though, Stroud put the nail in the Jaguars' coffin with a 68-yard third-down completion to a wide-open Dell to make it 34-17. 

Dell finished the game with five catches for 145 yards, while Stroud completed 66.7% of his passes for 280 yards (9.3 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns, all while not being sacked. 

All of the Jaguars problems that crept up in the first two weeks continued to ring true in Week 3. This time, though, the defense and special teams stopped being reliable. Add it all together and you get an embarrassing home loss and panic alarms ringing louder than ever before in the Doug Pederson era.

Stats of the Game (9/24/23 vs. the Texans) Via: @theryanmichael

Trevor Lawrence finished the game 27 of 40 (67.5%) for 279 yards (7.0 YPA), 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 0 sacks and an 85.3 passer rating.

Travis Etienne carried the ball 19 times for 88 yards (4.6 YPC).

Evan Engram led the Jaguars in receptions (7) and receiving yards (67).

Christian Kirk caught 4 of 6 targets (66.7%) for 54 yards and 1 touchdown.

Foyesade Oluokun led the Jaguars with 14 total tackles (8 solo).