The Houston Texans came into week three winless and they were an 8.5-point underdog. Yet, they still found a way to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 37-17. In all three phases, the game was an overall disaster if you’re the Jaguars or just a fan of the team.
Houston was missing a significant amount of players on both sides of the ball due to injury, and it had no effect on the outcome of the game. The Texans were missing four of their five starting offensive linemen, including their best one in Laremy Tunsil. Defensively, they were missing Derek Stingley Jr., Jalen Pitre, and Tavierre Thomas who are three key starters in their secondary.
Both rookie head coach Demeco Ryans and quarterback CJ Stroud got their first win of their NFL careers.
CJ Stroud has thrown for 906 yards in his first three games which adds him to a list of one of three players in NFL history to throw for over 900 yards in their first three games, joining Cam Newton and Justin Herbert. Stroud completed 20-of-30 passes for two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Rookie wide receiver Tank Dell led the team with five receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Houstin limited the Jaguars offense to just 17 points and held the Jaguars to 5-13 on third down conversions.
Although Jacksonville did a great job of moving the ball up and down the field consistently, they couldn’t capitalize or get out of their own way. In the first half, the Jaguars missed a 48-yard field goal, had a field goal blocked, Jamal Agnew fumbled, and Calvin Ridley dropped a key pass that would’ve set the Jags up to score. Jacksonville went into the locker room at halftime being shutout and found themselves down 17-0.
Jacksonville came out in the second half with a heightened sense of urgency and got a touchdown and a field goal in their first two drives to cut the lead to 17-10. That didn’t last long as the Jaguars allowed an 85-yard kick return for a touchdown, courtesy of Texans fullback Andrew Beck. On the Jaguars’ next offensive possession, Trevor Lawrence threw an interception over the middle of the field while targeting Jamal Agnew.
In the fourth quarter, Jacksonville ended up having a six-play, 75-yard drive to cut the lead to 27-17 with 10:40 remaining in the game. On the very next possession, CJ Stroud hit Tank Dell for a 68-yard touchdown extending the Texans lead to three scores, and essentially ending any hopes for a comeback. The Jaguars would do their best to scrape and claw their way back into this game, but it was too little too late.
Trevor Lawrence finished the game 27-of-40 passing with 279 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Running back Travis Etienne Jr. had 138 yards from scrimmage and was the Jaguars’ most consistent weapon all afternoon. Tight end Evan Engram had a very good game with seven receptions for 67 yards and has played well through the first three games.
Jacksonville will have to get back to the drawing board and find a way to get back on the winning side, as they’ve now lost two consecutive weeks in a row. The Jaguars will travel to London as they will be playing their first of two games overseas this Sunday versus the Atlanta Falcons.