Mistakes Cost Jaguars in Loss to Texans


The Houston Texans got their first win on the road Sunday, taking down the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-21 on Sunday.

The Jaguars (2-7) rallied late when Blake Bortles found Allen Robinson for a 14-yard touchdown with 2:17 left, capping an eight play, 92-yard drive and getting the Jaguars within a field goal. 

Unfortunately for the Jaguars, despite a muffed kickoff by the Texans that forced them to start at their own six, Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler converted a third-and-5 with a 10-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins, ending the game.

Jacksonville’s problems started much earlier, when Bortles threw a pick-six to Kareem Jackson on the fifth play of the game, 3:03 in. It was the second consecutive year that Jackson picked Bortles off and took it back for six.

Bortles did bounce back on the next possession, going 75 yards on 13 plays. He threw a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Julius Thomas, tying the game at seven, with 5:14 left. The Texans answered with a 10-play touchdown drive. Osweiler threw a one-yard pass to Ryan Griffin with 19 seconds left in the quarter.

These turnovers (pick-six, fumble) are inexcusable at this point. Bortles was making these mistakes last year, but he was improving as well. This year he is making these mistakes at the worst times and compounding them. He has taken major steps back and at this point, you have to wonder if he will ever recover.  

On the Jaguars’ next possession, Bortles fumbled the snap and gave the Texans the ball at the Houston 49. Kicker Nick Novak missed a field goal and would do so again on the next drive. In between the two, Jason Myers kicked a 54-yard field goal with 5:17 left in the half, cutting the Texans lead to 14-10.

The second half got off to a slow start, with both teams punting on their first two possessions. On the second Jaguars punt, the Texans got a big return of 57 yards, down to the Jags’ seven and Osweiler needed just one pass to Stephen Anderson, to give the Texans a 21-10 lead.
The teams traded field goals, giving the Texans a 24-13 lead, before the Jaguars went on that 92-yaed drive to cut the lead to three.

For more info: Houston @ Jacksonville Box Score

The postgame has become predictable, with head coach Gus Bradley trying to find the positives, but spreading the blame around to the coaches and players, equally. It’s starting to get stale. This team is not good right now and unlike last year, the fans are not seeing the week-to-week improvement that they saw last season.

Gus Bradley post-game|| Blake Bortles post-game

Jacksonville will hit the road on Sunday, heading to Detroit to take on a resurgent Lions team. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. EST.

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