This Unit Simply Has to Be Better for the Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars are reeling. Following their fourth-quarter collapse against the Houston Texans, there's no shortage of blame to go around. Both the offense and defense struggled mightily to put the game away, allowing the Texans to mount a comeback down 19 in the final 15 minutes of the contest.

The defense caught the bulk of the flak. After all, they allowed Davis Mills to lead three straight touchdown drives to erase a 29-10 deficit. They couldn't get any pressure against a pitiful and depleted Texans offensive line, allowing the backup quarterback to stay comfortable throughout the fourth-quarter resurgence, capped off with a 14-yard touchdown scramble that gave Houston the lead for good.

However, fingers have to be pointed at the Jaguars' offense too. They were gifted 17 points off turnovers and special-teams play, and could only muster 12 on their own. When the team needed them the most to kill the clock and put the game away, they went 3-and-out on back-to-back drives, forcing their defense to try to get stops without any rest.

Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL, Houston Texans, Trevor Lawrence — Nov 9, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter (55) and defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (51) sack Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) during the first half at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Jaguars' O-line needs to be better

There were a lot of reasons behind the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive shortcomings against the Houston Texans, but the common thread between them all was the poor play up front. Their ground game was mostly neutralized, gaining just 3.5 yards per attempt. Removing Trevor Lawrence's 35 yards brings that average down to just 2.7 per carry for Travis Etienne Jr., Bhayshul Tuten, and Parker Washington.

Will Anderson Jr., Danielle Hunter, and the rest of the Texans' pass rush wreaked absolute havoc in the backfield all day. T-Law was pressured 27 times and took five sacks for 39 yards, including a brutal nine-yard loss on the final drive of the game that forced the Jaguars to burn their last timeout with just 22 seconds remaining. Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski spoke on the offensive line's recent performance:

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— Daniel Griffis (@DanDGriffis) November 10, 2025

"There's a lot of things that go into it. I think as coaches, we always want to start with trying to evaluate how we can put them in better positions for success. And whether that's the protections that we're in, the run calls that we're in, the formations we're in, or how many times we're doing different things, how can we continue to find the things they do best and continue to do those in new or different ways, or ways that are designed to attack that defense that specific week? So, we're always going to reflect on how we can build things for the offense for those guys specifically that put them in better situations."

"I think they’ve played at a high level before, and we've seen it, and they played at high levels in times of those games. Just like all the positions. I think every position during that game had points of the game where they wanted to improve or wish they had performed better, and had points to the games that they wish they could have back and do over again. And the O-line is no different. I have confidence that group of guys will rally together, continue to play together, and continue to build upon the things that we've worked on all through the offseason, all through training camp, and continue to protect and run block like they've done earlier in the year, like they did at times during that game.”

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