Jaguars lose game of inches, fall 13-12 on the road against Texans

Jacksonville falls to 0-2 on the season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (0-2) almost overcame a sluggish offensive game to pull off a 10 point comeback in the fourth quarter before ultimately losing 13-12 to the Houston Texans (1-1) in Houston on Sunday. 

The Jaguars offense struggled to put points on the board while rookie sixth-round pick Gardner Minshew navigated his first NFL start, but they still had a chance to steal a win on the road in what ended up being a bizarre game for each side. 

Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson had appeared to put the game away with 3:00 left when he completed a first down pass to Kenny Stills to get the Texans past the 50-yard line, but a tripping penalty on rookie right guard Tytus Howard gave the Jaguars one last chance to string together a drive.

And behind the arms and legs of Minshew, the Jaguars did just that. Minshew led a 14-play, 63-yard drive thanks to accurate downfield passes and gutsy first down scrambles. Eventually, the Jaguars scored their only touchdown of the day with 00:30 left when Minshew found DJ Chark from four-yards out. 

With the game at 13-12, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone made the risky call to go for two points instead of tying it up, but Leonard Fournette failed to punch it in, just barely being tackled before the ball crossed the goal line.

Marrone said after the game he decided this would be the route he would go even before the touchdown was scored. While the call to put the game away made sense, the play the team ran was a poor decision. Fournette only rushed for 47 yards on 15 carries (3.1 YPC) and the run blocking was poor all game. 

Running it from the goal line was nonsensical considering Minshew had just orchestrated the team's best drive of the season and the Texans had no answer for him. He ended the game 23-for-33 passing for 213 yards and a touchdown, with zero glaring mistakes outside of losing a fumble late in the game.

With the loss, however, Marrone can take solace in a few things. Despite a very poor day from the offensive line in terms of penalties and pass blocking, Minshew was impressive and the defense looked closer to its old form than it did in week 1 when it allowed 40 points. 

The defense kept Watson in check throughout the game, keeping him outside of the end zone sans a 2-yard touchdown run and limiting him to 159 yards passing on 29 passes. Watson was also sacked four times, with rookie defensive end Josh Allen notching his first career sack. 

But while the defense gave the offense every chance it needed to win the game, they were not without their own issues. Calais Campbell failed to recover a fumble at the Texans 20-yard line and Jalen Ramsey dropped an easy interception that could have been returned for a touchdown. Make either of these plays, and the result may be different. 

The defense also had issues against the run, with Carlos Hyde running for 90 yards on only 20 carries. The Texans averaged 4.2 YPC on 30 carries. 

But even with the issues on offense and defense on Sunday, the Jaguars had a chance to win the game at the end despite their sixth-round rookie backup quarterback starting his first NFL game. The call to go for two will undoubtedly be questioned throughout the season, but it is simply a good example of how games can sometimes come down to merely inches.