The Jacksonville Jaguars, coming off a game where the play-calling in the redzone was suspect and the team went 0-for-4 within this territory, in a match-up where they held the Kansas City Chiefs under 20, hosted AFC South rival Houston Texans for their second home contest of the 2023-24 season.
Houston, despite coming in 0-2 on the season, had a 17-0 lead at the half.
This put an eerie chill in the bones of Jacksonville fans to those who recall last season's 13-6 loss to Houston in the confines of their own yard back on October 9, 2022.
Texans running back Dameon Pierce turned the scoreboard on with a one-yard run at the 7:35 mark of the first quarter.
Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud would find tight Brevin Jordan for a touchdown at almost the exact same time as the score of the first quarter, this coming at the 7:27 mark of the second quarter, this being a four-yard pass to make it 14-0 Texans.
After stopping Houston behind the line of scrimmage followed by two incompletions by Stroud, Jacksonville's defense would allow open spaces, with Stroud going 3-for-4, the final completion going for 29 yards on a play to wide receiver Nico Collins. The Texans would advance to the Jaguars' 10-yard line from these completions, adding three more to their first-half shutout on a 28-yard field goal by kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn as the game clock expired.
Jacksonville would come out of the break clicking on offense. The Jaguars would begin the half on the ground, with running back Travis Etienne, Jr., gaining 11, 16, and five yards, respectively on three-straight runs to open the third quarter. Rookie running back Tank Bigsby would go for 10 yards on the team's fourth carry on four plays to open the half.
Third-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence would then connect with Etienne, Jr., for a 17-yard gain and tight end Evan Engram for a two-yard pass to get the Jaguars just outside the Texans' redzone, at their 23.
Right guard Brandon Scherff would move Jacksonville back five yards on a false start, bringing up 3rd-&-13, but they would be aided by safety Jimmie Ward's pass-interference penalty in the end zone as he was covering wide receiver Calvin Ridley. This penalty would place the Jaguars on the Texans' one-yard line. Offensive Coordinator Press Taylor would call Bigsby's number, and Bigsby would not disappoint, landing over the goal-line for a one-yard score to get Jacksonville on the board for the first time of the game, this coming at the 11:17 mark of the third quarter to bring the score to 17-7 Houston.
Bigsby has now scored twice in his first three weeks in the National Football League (NFL), both on the ground and each coming in the second halves of two different games, the first happening in the fourth quarter on the road in a 31-21 victory over another AFC South foe, the Indianapolis Colts, in Week 1 of this season.
The Jaguars defense would force the Texans to punt on their first possession of the second half, and the offense would gain points once again, this time off the foot of kicker Brandon McManus from 33 yards away to get the Jaguars within one score, down 17-10 with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter.
It looked as if the comeback was getting warmer and warmer.
Then came fullback Andrew Beck.
He received the kickoff from McManus, following McManus' aforementioned field goal, lost the ball, picked it up five yards ahead of himself and then ran out right and proved faster than the entire Jacksonville special teams unit, going 85 yards for a kickoff return to the house.
A fullback.
Those who are typically used as an extra blocker in the running game went and outran every Jaguar tasked to tackle on kickoff.
In his prior four seasons in the Nfl, all with the Denver Broncos, Beck accumulated one score, a receiving touchdown in the 2019-20 campaign. Thus, this return served as his first-ever special teams touchdown in his professional career.
Jacksonville would continue to lean in the wrong direction, with Lawrence getting intercepted on a pass over the middle that linebacker Blake Cashman came up with toward the end of the third quarter.
Houston would take this drive through the end of the third quarter and to 12:36 remaining in the game, on nine plays, the last being a 26-yard field goal by Fairbairn from the Jacksonville eight-yard line to elevate Houston back to a 17-point advantage, this time at 27-10.
Lawrence would respond by finding wide receiver Christian Kirk wide open in the end zone at the 10:40 mark of the fourth quarter for a 26-yard completion and Kirk back-peddled into the teal waters.
The Jaguars took a mere 1:56 off the clock on this drive, getting with 10, down 27-17.
On third down, the rookie signal-caller Stroud looked downfield and launched to fellow rookie, wide receiver Nathaniel "Tank" Dell, who turned, looked over his shoulder, and caught the ball in stride for a 68-yard score, giving the Texans twice as many points as the Jaguars, 34-17, with 8:59 to play.
Inside seven minutes to go in the game, Lawrence was flagged for intentional grounding, bringing up 4th-&-28 due to being nine yards behind the line-of-scrimmage and the penalty adding 10 yards, giving Jacksonville a loss of 19 yards, going from Houston's 37 to their own 44.
Lawrence's try to Kirk would fall incomplete and the Jaguars would turn the ball over on downs on their own 44-yard line.
Fairbairn would make his third field goal of the day, this from 33 yards away, with 2:10 remaining, providing the Texans their largest lead of the game, ahead by 20, 37-17.
Backup C.J. Beathard would come in for Lawrence, giving Beathard some time on the field, while making sure Lawrence does not sustain an injury in a game that was never in the paws of the Jaguars.
Jacksonville falls to 1-2 on the season, with their lone win coming on the road where they needed a second-half comeback versus Indianapolis and rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson.
They are 0-2 in the renamed EverBank Stadium this season, losing back-to-back games in the AFC to the Kansas City Chiefs and now the Houston Texans.
Houston has now won their last six games in Jacksonville, dating back to October 21, 2018, leaving Jacksonville looking like a prisoner within their own walls.
But, sometimes you have to get away to gain perspective.
And the Jaguars schedule allows for that, as they now head to London for back-to-back weeks, facing the Atlanta Falcons and then the Buffalo Bills.
Whatever Dorothy thought of home has not felt anything like it here in North Florida.
Maybe it is time for the Jaguars to start clicking their heels together.
Comentários