The Houston Texans cost themselves a chance at winning the AFC South on Sunday when they fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-21.
While Houston came up just inches short of forcing overtime, it wasn’t the offense’s shortcomings that sent first-place hopes spiraling. It was the defense.
Much like Jacksonville did in Week 3, the Texans let the Jaguars walk into their building and create explosive plays left and right. As quickly as rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud thrust himself into the conversation of the league’s top passers, Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence seemed to take back the hype.
Lawrence was impeccable on Sunday, throwing for 364 yards on 38 attempts. He found two touchdowns, one of which came on the ground, and may have had another if not for a poor play call on Houston’s goal line.
Much of the Jaguars’ production came on chunk plays. Receivers Calvin Ridley and Christian Kirk both had 89 yards. Four targets broke off plays for 42+ yards, and tight end Evan Engram saw a 21-yard catch, too. No Jacksonville pass catcher had a longest reception of fewer than 10 yards.
Texans safety Jalen Pitre spoke about the defense’s pervasive miscues.
“I think overall we could be better in communication and just oneness as a defense,” Pitre said. “I think that was probably the biggest thing … Poor execution. Like I said, communication could have helped us out there, that’s probably the biggest thing. Just making sure everybody is on the same page and executing … that’s what led to the explosives.”
To Houston’s credit, the unit is working through a lack of continuity, with cornerback Derek Stingley and safeties Jimmie Ward and Pitre all missing time. Despite the abundance of young talent on the roster, the gelling that generally occurs by this time has yet to come to fruition.
Even so, Houston allowed just two offensive touchdowns. Given the special teams' woes and an offense that was rendered one-dimensional, those explosives proved to be costly.
Pitre, a leader despite his lack of NFL experience, remained optimistic about the Texans’ short-term future.
“Each week, win or loss, we’re gonna take what we did good and keep doing that and correct what we need to correct,” he said.
Houston’s schedule isn’t particularly difficult down the stretch, though three divisional games should showcase some heightened tensions. The Texans will (and should) be favored in the majority of their remaining games.
Continuing to exceed expectations means adjusting on the fly and making the strides young, talented players are expected to make. With as much draft capital as the Texans have invested in their defense, one would hope that comes sooner rather than later.
Development is rarely linear, but Houston’s defense ranks 24th against the pass in terms of expected points added and success rate. Further stagnation could be the determining factor in sealing this team’s fate as an underdog story that just wasn't good enough for January football.
“Execution, staying on the final details of our job, and continuing to push forward,” Pitre said, regarding head coach DeMeco Ryans’ message after the loss. “Obviously we lost and it is a little bit saddening. But understand that we have a long season left, so just improve and get better.”
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