Where Jaguars Were Dominated by Texans in Narrow Loss

Jaguars were dominated in the trenches

The Jacksonville Jaguars had a great chance to win this game. Not just because they built a 29-10 lead before the fourth quarter, but even before the first kickoff. They should have had a major advantage with Houston Texans starting quarterback C.J. Stroud out with a concussion.

Furthermore, the Jaguars were supposed to be able to get pressure on backup Davis Mills all day, with Houston fielding one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL this season. And they were missing some of their starters there, too. Jacksonville knew that it'd be facing one of the most dominant defenses in the league, but it was able to adequately handle Will Anderson Jr., Danielle Hunter, and the rest of the Texans' elite pass rush in Week 4. The same couldn't be said for the rematch, as the Jaguars allowed 27 pressures and five sacks while getting just 23 pressures and two sacks on the other side of the ball.

Houston also dominated in the ground game, as it outrushed Jacksonville , 131 yards to 102. Head Coach Liam Coen was asked whether he could scheme a way to prevent his team from getting dominated in the trenches:

"I think there's maybe a few guys that can get some more opportunities at different positions. Rotating guys in. Keeping rushers fresh and utilize some of the personnel that we do have to be able to create. We tried, obviously, zero blitzing them a number of different times that did create a turnover, especially early in the game, put a little pressure on them to make throws under duress. But when we had to get home in some of those instances, the thing that occurred was we never made them one-dimensional."

"Even towards the end of the game, they were still running the ball. Like they were running it, staying balanced. They were getting five, six yards a chunk in the run game, which we never got them really into second-and-longs. Obviously, at the end of the game, when you get them in a third-and-long, third-and-goal to go, and we have an edge at the edge, and we're not able to get home and get them down. So, hey, we’ve all got to look at ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘How can we or I go improve my play and my job to help this team win?’ There's no magic solution.”