NFL Week 12: Jaguars 24, Texans 21 — Four Winners, Four Losers
They make enough mistakes to allow their opponent to either hang around or lead for most of the afternoon, like Jacksonville did, and then whether they win or lose comes down, oftentimes, to the ability of C.J. Stroud to put on his Superman cape and go win a game. On Sunday, Superman was good, but when the Texans needed heroics the most, the best Stroud could do, given some wretched offensive line play in front of him, was set up a 58 yard field goal attempt for Matt Ammendola to tie the game with under 30 seconds remaining
CLANK, it bounced off the crossbar. Final score, Jags 24, Texans 21.
A win would have put the Texans in first place in the division this deep into the season for the first time since 2019. Instead, with the loss, they drop into a tie for second in the division with the 6-5 Colts, who actually own the tiebreaker over the Texans by virtue of their Week 2 win at NRG Stadium. On the one hand, it's fun having the Texans playing relevant football. On the other hand, it feels like an opportunity was missed on Sunday.
Let's get to the winners and losers, shall we?
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Stroud was, once again, excellent, completing 26 of 36 pass attempts for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He also scrambled for 47 yards on the ground, and a rushing touchdown. What stood out about Stroud on Sunday was a clean turnover sheet, after six turnovers in the last two games, and the fact that he was on the run during what felt like a majority of his 36 pass attempts. The protection was very poor, and the rushing attack was even worse. Number 7 ALWAYS gives the Texans a chance.
If you missed it last week because of the holiday, the possible return of J.J. Watt to the Houston Texans was a popular topic. I have no idea how VALID a topic it is, but these three minutes of video from the on Wednesday got a LOT of traction:
Pat McAfee is single-handedly keeping the “JJ Watt is signing with the Texans” narrative alive and I’m here for it. As someone who was frustrated he didn’t sign a one day contract to retire a Texan, this is the next best thing. pic.twitter.com/h08WaSDoCD — James Roy November 22, 2023 Three things here. First, Watt never really gives an emphatic "NO" in that video. Second, when asked about this last week, DeMeco Ryans did not shut it down. Third, Pat McAfee is going to play this to the hilt every week until Watt gives a definitive answer. (NOTE: Watt is a weekly guest on McAfee's show.) If I were betting, I'd bet that Watt stays retired, but this is worth monitoring, for at least another couple weeks.
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Collins has had a solid year, going into Sunday leading the Texans in receptions and receiving yards, but it had been a couple months since he had a 100 yard receiving game. On Sunday, he was back in the 100 yard column, with seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown to cut the Jaguars late lead to 24-21. Collins was back to his old tricks from early in the season, slicing the Jags' defense on slants and sitting down in soft spots of their zone defense. Good to see.
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For a while this season, it looked like Nick Caserio's 2022 draft class was sliding into the toiley, especially on defense, where first round pick Derek Stingley was on injured reserve (again), and second round pick Jalen Pitre and third round pick Christian Harris were struggling. Things have turned around drastically for Stingley, who has two interceptions since returning three games ago, and Harris, who's been one of the best defensive players on the team since Week 9. Pitre was fine on Sunday with nine tackles and no glaring breakdowns in coverage. This has been a nice development for 2023, as well as the next three seasons.
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One of the huge reasons, aside from shoddy officiating, that the Texans lost on Sunday was massive defensive breakdowns on defense, which resulted in four plays of at least 42 yards through the air, to four different players. Three of the four plays led directly to scoring drives, and the fourth one gave the Jags a first and goal at the 1 yard line with two seconds left in the half. Luckily, the Texans stopped Travis Etienne on a toss to the right to keep their deficit at 13-7, at the time, but Trevor Lawrence had over half (186 yards) of his 364 yards tossing on those four plays. That's unacceptable.
Before the game, like any sporting event, the Houston Texans had someone perform the national anthem. That's standard fare, except that this particular performer was not a vocalist. Instead, they used an electric guitar player to play a music-only version of the anthem. I don't like it! I need lyrics. Of all the different spots on the national anthem, "guitar solo version" is my last favorite. I do still love our country, though. Very much.
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I am not putting Ammendola here because he clanked a potential 58 yard, game tying field goal off the crossbar. 58 yards is a long distance, even for good, seasoned kickers. I'm putting Ammendola here simply because he is incredibly shaky as a place kicker. Against the Bengals two weeks ago, his made field goals barely snuck inside the uprights. Last week, he missed a field goal. On Sunday, he missed another field goal and had an extra point slide inside the upright by mere inches. If I'm Nick Caserio, I'm bringing in some kickers on Tuesday to try out. Eventually, the decision may be to stick with Ammendola, but he's too shaky to just ignore all of the street free agents.
Well, it was fun while it lasted. Remember those 100-plus rushing yard performances by Devin Singletary the last two weeks, in which we'd hoped the Texans were finally clicking in their blocking schemes. Well, as it turns out, the Texans were able to run the football against Cincinnati and Arizona because those teams suck at defending the run. The Jaguars are good at defending the run, and thus, you get Singletary and Dameon Pierce combining for 32 yards rushing on 11 carries. Like old times again, and not in a good way.
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Someday, perhaps next week, the Houston Texans will play in a game that doesn't come down to the final two minutes, or in the case of several recent games, the waning seconds. For now, Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars was the epitome of who this team is.They make enough mistakes to allow their opponent to either hang around or lead for most of the afternoon, like Jacksonville did, and then whether they win or lose comes down, oftentimes, to the ability of C.J. Stroud to put on his Superman cape and go win a game. On Sunday, Superman was good, but when the Texans needed heroics the most, the best Stroud could do, given some wretched offensive line play in front of him, was set up a 58 yard field goal attempt for Matt Ammendola to tie the game with under 30 seconds remainingCLANK, it bounced off the crossbar. Final score, Jags 24, Texans 21.A win would have put the Texans in first place in the division this deep into the season for the first time since 2019. Instead, with the loss, they drop into a tie for second in the division with the 6-5 Colts, who actually own the tiebreaker over the Texans by virtue of their Week 2 win at NRG Stadium. On the one hand, it's fun having the Texans playing relevant football. On the other hand, it feels like an opportunity was missed on Sunday.Let's get to the winners and losers, shall we?Stroud was, once again, excellent, completing 26 of 36 pass attempts for 304 yards and two touchdowns. He also scrambled for 47 yards on the ground, and a rushing touchdown. What stood out about Stroud on Sunday was a clean turnover sheet, after six turnovers in the last two games, and the fact that he was on the run during what felt like a majority of his 36 pass attempts. The protection was very poor, and the rushing attack was even worse. Number 7 ALWAYS gives the Texans a chance.If you missed it last week because of the holiday, the possible return of J.J. Watt to the Houston Texans was a popular topic. I have no idea how VALID a topic it is, but these three minutes of video from theon Wednesday got a LOT of traction:Three things here. First, Watt never really gives an emphatic "NO" in that video. Second, when asked about this last week, DeMeco Ryans did not shut it down. Third, Pat McAfee is going to play this to the hilt every week until Watt gives a definitive answer. (NOTE: Watt is a weekly guest on McAfee's show.) If I were betting, I'd bet that Watt stays retired, but this is worth monitoring, for at least another couple weeks.Collins has had a solid year, going into Sunday leading the Texans in receptions and receiving yards, but it had been a couple months since he had a 100 yard receiving game. On Sunday, he was back in the 100 yard column, with seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown to cut the Jaguars late lead to 24-21. Collins was back to his old tricks from early in the season, slicing the Jags' defense on slants and sitting down in soft spots of their zone defense. Good to see.For a while this season, it looked like Nick Caserio's 2022 draft class was sliding into the toiley, especially on defense, where first round pick Derek Stingley was on injured reserve (again), and second round pick Jalen Pitre and third round pick Christian Harris were struggling. Things have turned around drastically for Stingley, who has two interceptions since returning three games ago, and Harris, who's been one of the best defensive players on the team since Week 9. Pitre was fine on Sunday with nine tackles and no glaring breakdowns in coverage. This has been a nice development for 2023, as well as the next three seasons.One of the huge reasons, aside from shoddy officiating, that the Texans lost on Sunday was massive defensive breakdowns on defense, which resulted in four plays of at least 42 yards through the air, to four different players. Three of the four plays led directly to scoring drives, and the fourth one gave the Jags a first and goal at the 1 yard line with two seconds left in the half. Luckily, the Texans stopped Travis Etienne on a toss to the right to keep their deficit at 13-7, at the time, but Trevor Lawrence had over half (186 yards) of his 364 yards tossing on those four plays. That's unacceptable.Before the game, like any sporting event, the Houston Texans had someone perform the national anthem. That's standard fare, except that this particular performer was not a vocalist. Instead, they used an electric guitar player to play a music-only version of the anthem. I don't like it! I need lyrics. Of all the different spots on the national anthem, "guitar solo version" is my last favorite. I do still love our country, though. Very much.I am not putting Ammendola here because he clanked a potential 58 yard, game tying field goal off the crossbar. 58 yards is a long distance, even for good, seasoned kickers. I'm putting Ammendola here simply because he is incredibly shaky as a place kicker. Against the Bengals two weeks ago, his made field goals barely snuck inside the uprights. Last week, he missed a field goal. On Sunday, he missed another field goal and had an extra point slide inside the upright by mere inches. If I'm Nick Caserio, I'm bringing in some kickers on Tuesday to try out. Eventually, the decision may be to stick with Ammendola, but he's too shaky to just ignore all of the street free agents.Well, it was fun while it lasted. Remember those 100-plus rushing yard performances by Devin Singletary the last two weeks, in which we'd hoped the Texans were finally clicking in their blocking schemes. Well, as it turns out, the Texans were able to run the football against Cincinnati and Arizona because those teams suck at defending the run. The Jaguars are good at defending the run, and thus, you get Singletary and Dameon Pierce combining for 32 yards rushing on 11 carries. Like old times again, and not in a good way.
