HOUSTON – Enduring frustration after frustration as some questionable offensive play-calls backfired while the defense dealt with heavy enforcement of the pass interference rules, the Texans still had a chance to win the game Sunday.
Instead of manufacturing another late win, though, the Texans came up short as kicker Matt Ammendola’s 58-yard field goal try ricocheted off the crossbar.
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The Texans’ 24-21 loss to the Jaguars drops them to 6-5 overall and two games behind an 8-3 Jacksonville team that has won five games in a row.
Instead of ascending into first place, the Texans’ three-game winning streak was snapped as they squandered a prime opportunity to take control of the AFC South division.
With six games remaining in the regular season, the Texans are currently in the eighth spot in the playoff standings and on the AFC playoff bubble behind the 6-5 Indianapolis Colts, 7-4 Cleveland Browns, 7-4 Pittsburgh Steelers, 8-3 Dolphins, Jaguars, 8-3 Kansas City Chiefs and the 9-3 Baltimore Ravens. The Texans haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2019 under former coach and general manager Bill O’Brien.
Despite another strong game from standout rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, a lock for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year who has emerged as an NFL MVP candidate, the Texans didn’t play well enough to beat the Jaguars.
Now, the Texans need to reset before a difficult home game next week against the Denver Broncos.
“It’s a long season, man,” Stroud said. It hurts us pretty significant, man. It’s about the mindset, though. What are we going to do? Not play anymore? We’re just going to tuck our tail and not play hard? No, I don’t really believe in that type of mindset. I’m going out there every play, every game trying to win.
" So, I don’t really think that our season is over at all. It’s a long year. There’s a lot more football left. You can see the trajectory we’re on. We’re taking strides, but we’ve got to play complementary football and play for the offense. We have to help the defense. Defense has to help the offense, and special teams have to do their job too. So, there’s a lot of things we can learn from, but I think we’re at where we’re at. Sky is the limit still. There’s no confidence taken away in this loss.”
Stroud was sacked four times and hit seven times overall. He hadn’t been sacked that many times since being sacked five and six times against the Ravens and Colts to begin the season. Stroud completed 26 of 36 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He was also the Texans’ leading rusher with 47 yards and a touchdown on six carries.
Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen had 2 1/2 sacks, four quarterback hits and 12 pressures. Eight pressures came against Texans Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil, according to NextGen Stats. Tunsil hadn’t allowed that many pressures against one player in six seasons.
“We’ve got to play better up front,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We’ve got to protect it better. We’ve got to run the ball better and that all starts up front. We weren’t the best team up front today, offensive or defensive lines, and that’s the reason why we didn’t win the game.”
The Texans rushed for 91 yards on 18 carries, but Stroud did most of the damage. Running backs Devin ‘Motor’ Singletary and Dameon Pierce had a combined 11 runs for 32 yards after the team rushed for 188 yards and 111 yards the previous two games.
The Texans’ pass defense was shaky against Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, allowing too many explosive plays. Lawrence was never sacked and was only hit twice.
“Not a missed opportunity for us,” Ryans said. “Of course, we didn’t play our best. As I told our guys, you don’t play your best, you don’t execute versus a good team, this is what happens. There’s no need to hold our head or sulk about anything.
“We have to do something about it when we’re out there on the field. We have to execute. We have to play better. You play better, you’ll win the game. We didn’t deserve to win because we didn’t play good enough.”
Stroud has passed for 3,266 yards, passing Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert for the NFL record for the most passing yards by a rookie in his first 11 games.
Stroud, the second overall pick from Ohio State and a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist, has passed for 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s on pace to finish the season with 5,047 yards, 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has a 100.8 passer rating.
“It’s a blessing, man,” Stroud said. “This is a job. I was talking to (Tom) Brady on the podcast. He had a great piece of advice for me: ‘This is your job, people are depending on you.’ There’s hope in this city. It’s not about me and breaking records. That stuff will come if it comes, but it’s really about helping people and seeing the hope and inspiring people.”
The Texans have maintained a close locker room all year.
A lot of that stems from Stroud’s excellence and his leadership qualities.
“We’re brothers, man,” Stroud said. “One of the things coming from Ohio State, that’s our motto is the brotherhood. I didn’t know if it would be like that in the NFL, but, honestly, it is. It’s quite the same.
“This team is really close. That’s the thing about losing in this league. I told them in the locker room. There’s only two things: You either win or you learn. We have the mindset in there that we are going to learn from this and we’re going to be better.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.