5 Bold Observations on Jaguars' Horrific Texans Loss

Trying to rack my brain of the worst Jaguars losses since I began covering the team in 2019, and it is hard not to put this at No. 1. The Jaguars had a 19-point lead against a team without its starting quarterback and two starting offensive linemen. According to ESPN's win probabilty charts, the Jaguars had a 98.4% chance to win the game with 13 minutes left ... and they just let it get away from them.

Most NFL games are close. I was not shocked when the Texans began to scratch and claw their way back into the game. I was shocked when the Jaguars failed to make a single momentum-shifting play after Etienne's rushing touchdown, on either side of the ball. This is a loss that will haunt the Jaguars for some time.

Losing to Davis Mills is inexcusable

Mills Mafia, lose your minds. Davis Mills drove down the heart of the Jaguars' defense not once, not twice, but three times to come back and kick the Jaguars out of Houston with the worst loss of the Liam Coen era. Mills certainly had major struggles with accuracy at times, but the Jaguars failed to take advantage of all but one of his errant throws.

Where the Jaguars were at the worst against Mills was the pass-rush. He is a largely immobile quarterback, but the Jaguars recorded just four quarterback hits, fell off several sacks, and led him scramble for the game-winning touchdown. Losing this game, in this fashion, to this quarterback is the most inexcusable act of the Coen/Gladstone/Boselli regime thus far.

The Jaguars' season is on the ropes

The Jaguars' season is officially back on the ropes. With the Indianapolis Colts picking up a big overtime win, the Jaguars are now three games out of first-place in the AFC South and for all intents and purposes are playing for a wild card spot. To win that spot, they will need to be better down the stretch than the likes of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, and New England Patriots.

The Jaguars have a middling offense and a defense that has now been burned by Mills and Jake Browning in the same calendar year, so it is hard to say they are better on paper than a single one of those teams. The Jaguars are a flawed team fighting with no margin of error. Good luck.

Everyone carries blame in this one

You could throw a dart at a printout of the Jaguars' roster and place part of the blame on whatever name it ends up on outside of Parker Washington. It was that kind of game for the Jaguars, who did not force a punt in the second half and who had just one net yard in the fourth quarter. Want to blame this on Trevor Lawrence? That is fair. Want to blame Liam Coen, Anthony Campanile, the OL, or the pass-rush? That works too.

The Jaguars lost this game. The Texans won, yes, but it was the Jaguars who gift-wrapped them the game. No aspect of the team played well in the final 20 minutes of the game, and that is what the Jaguars are now going to have to live with at 5-4.

Play of the Day

It was all good at this point ... the Jaguars' only passing touchdown since the bye week was the best play of the day, with Trevor Lawrence's best throw of the contest coming on the seven-yard touchdown to Parker Washington in the back of the end zone.