What Happened on That Botched Field Goal Attempt vs. the Texans? Doug Marrone Explains

The Jaguars attempted a field goal in the third quarter of Sunday's 26-3 loss to the Houston Texans, but something went horribly wrong. What exactly was it?

Long before the Houston Texans began to blow the doors off of the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Sunday in London, the Jaguars were lining up kick a 49-yard field goal early on in the third quarter of the team's 26-3 loss in London. 

The Jaguars were trailing 9-3 at this point, and another three points would have gone a long way for an offense that struggled all game. But alas, the Jaguars were not able to even get the kick off. 

Instead, punter Logan Cooke got the snap and after trying to hold it, Cooke began to run with the ball hoping to somehow make a play. He was eventually tackled and fumbled the ball backward before kicker Josh Lambo was able to recover it for a loss of downs instead of giving Houston a chance to advance the ball.

The Jaguars did not attempt another kick all game. The only other time they got into the red-zone, the offense went for it on fourth down but failed to convert. The botched field goal attempt was Jacksonville's best chance of points the entire second half, and it certainly felt like it was the beginning of the end for Jacksonville against Houston.

"I think football is a game of momentum, and I think that's something that was disappointing," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said Sunday following the game. "I thought that Logan (Cooke) did a great job getting the snap down. I talked to Josh (Lambo) coming off, and he said he didn't feel he was going to be able to kick it, and it's just unfortunate because that was the first drive of the second half in a 9-3 game."

Marrone pointed to this play, along with the offense's inability to manage the final seconds of the first half in an attempt to have a chance at a field goal or possible toward the end zone, as crucial missed opportunities in the game.

"I look back at two things. It was right before the half, we wanted to hit the receiver, go down, call a timeout and then either take a shot at a long field goal or throw a Hail Mary," Marrone said Sunday. "We missed that opportunity, and I don't know what would have happened. And then obviously you kick the field goal. Get a little bit of momentum, at least that first drive coming out you score, then you wind up giving them the ball somewhere close to the 50, and I thought our defense did a good job just holding them to three.”

Marrone elaborated a bit more on the failed field goal attempt when he spoke to local media on Tuesday. He was again complimentary of Cooke's hold, indicating the snap from rookie long snapper Matthew Orzech was not a great one.

"First of all, I thought, and I said this to Logan [Cooke], I was a snapper, so I snapped," Marrone said Tuesday. "So, I’ve seen some really great holds in my life, to show you my ability as a snapper, but I thought that was truly an unbelievable hold."

Marrone continued, "He got it up, put it down, laces [out] and everything. Like I said to you afterwards, Josh [Lambo] said he didn’t feel like he was going to be able to get it off. So yeah, that’s one of those plays that you look at momentum, all those other things, exactly, it’s correct.”

The failed field goal attempt was obviously not the sole reason the Jaguars were trounced by the Texans, but it was just another example of a missed opportunity in what was a pivotal AFC South game. Now, the Jaguars enter their Week 10 bye at 4-5 and will have to look at how to clean up issues like the ones that flared up against Houston.