Jaguars Pull Off Ugly, Emotional Win vs. Texans

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Week 3 presented a big oppurtunity for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

First Quarter

The Jaguars had to fight the field position battle early in the game. After the Jaguars forced a punt on the first drive of the game, the Texans landed it on the Jaguars' three-yard line. After gaining just seven yards on the next three plays, a poor punt from Logan Cooke had the ball land on the Texans' 48-yard line for just a 42-yard punt.

The Jaguars' defense stiffened after an early third-down from CJ Stroud, with Devin Lloyd getting a tackle for loss and Tytus Howard drawing a false start. After a missed field goal from Ka'imi Fairbairn, the Jaguars got the ball on their own 42.

After impressive passes to Brenton Strange and Parker Washington, Trevor Lawrence got the Jaguars in the red-zone when a Derek Stingley pass-interference set them up at the one-yard line. One play later, Bhayshul Tuten made it a 7-0 game.

The Jaguars' defense continued to push the Texans' offense around on the next drive, with Travon Walker recording his second sack of the season to doom their drive. Through the first quarter, the Jaguars allowed just 27 yards and 2.1 yards per play.

Second Quarter

After two missed deep throws and a flag, the Jaguars' offense stalled out to start the second quarter and then saw the Texans put together a near-seven minute drive. The drive consisted of the Texans picking up a 3rd-and-long and multiple penalties in the Jaguars' secondary, ending with a 27-yard field goal to make the score 7-3.

The two teams then traded punts for the next few series, with the Jaguars struggling to get any traction on offense due to penalties, a lack of running room, and some missed throws from Lawrence. After a solid completion to Thomas seemingly moved the chains, Brown was hit for an illegal shift penalty and Lawrence was then sacked by Will Anderson on third-down.

Third Quarter

Jacksonville's offense starting to put together a drive to kick off the second half, finally finding some breathing room on the ground before Travis Hunter recorded a 21-yard catch to move the chains on 1st-and-20. After a 16-yard gain from Parker Washington, the Jaguars moved the ball past the 50-yard line but a holding on Patrick Mekari made it 2nd-and-22.

The drive eventually stalled and the Jaguars were forced to a field goal before a special teams penalty on the Texans gave the Jaguars a new set of downs. The Jaguars failed to take advantage, however, and had to go with a 39-yard Cam Little field goal to make it 10-3.

Josh Hines-Allen singlehandedly got the Jaguars' defense off the field on the following drive thanks to a terrific run-stop and a split-sack with Arik Armstead. Then, a 16-yard pass from Lawrence to Tim Patrick should have set up a score, but Little then had his first missed field goal of the season on a 47-yard wide right attempt.

Fourth Quarter

The Texans quickly began to put to together a drive following the missed field goal, with Collins beating Hunter for a 17-yard gain on third-down to move into Jaguars territory. But just like the defense has done all season, a timely turnover bailed the offense out as Jourdan Lewis recorded his second interception of the season and picked off Stroud at the Jaguars' 25-yard line.

After a week of handwringing about the performance of Thomas, the Jaguars' top receiver dropped a critical third-down pass on the next drive to force the Jaguars to punt after the pick. Luckily for the Jaguars, the defense once again forced a three-and-out from the Texans to get the ball back.

The boo birds came out on the next drive, with Washington and Etienne dropping back-to-back passes and Lawrence then throwing a woeful interception to Jalen Pitre. On the next play, Collins burned the Jaguars for a 50-yard touchdown to tie the game.

The Jaguars then faced a critical 4-th-and-2 at the Texans' 47-yard line, but were forced to burn a timeout due to offensive misscomunications. Coming out of the timeout, an intended pass for Washington was broken up by Tim Settle and the Jaguars turned the ball over.

The Jaguars' defense forced their second turnover of the day a few plays later, however, with Campbell stripping Collins of the ball after the catch. Lloyd recovered the fumble and helped save the Jaguars from going down 13-10.

A 3rd-and-6 seemed to nearly force the Jaguars off the field, but Lawrence used his legs to pick up 10 yards and get a new set of downs. Etienne then picked up 13 yards on the next two runs to give the Jaguars a first down at their own 44.

Then, Thomas got his redemption with a 46-yard catch and run to set up a 10-yard rushing touchdown from Etienne to give the Jaguars a 17-10 lead.