HOUSTON — Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars tried not to make too much of their win over the Houston Texans with plenty of football left this season.
However, they couldn't deny that Sunday's 24-21 victory was important.
“For us to be able to continue to control our own destiny, it’s up to us and how we play,” Lawrence said. “If we keep winning, we don’t have anything to worry about. We’re going to find ourselves in a good spot. In that sense, it’s a huge game.”
Lawrence threw for 364 yards and a touchdown, and the AFC South-leading Jaguars escaped with the victory over their division rival when Matt Ammendola's 58-yard field goal attempt bounced off the crossbar with 34 seconds left.
The Jaguars (8-3) avenged their 37-17 home loss to Houston (6-5) in Week 3 and created some separation at the top of the division. They also improved to 6-0 away from home, including two wins in London.
“Our guys are learning how finish,” Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson said. “I’m really proud of our guys for the way they hung in there today.”
C.J. Stroud, the second overall pick in the draft, threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns as Houston’s three-game winning streak was snapped. He has 3,268 yards passing this season to move past Justin Herbert (3,224) for most in NFL history by a rookie in his first 11 games.
He also became the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 300 yards in four consecutive games.
“We’ve got to be cleaner and execute better,” Stroud said.
The Texans led by one after a touchdown run by Stroud midway through the third quarter. Lawrence responded by throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Ridley and hitting Ridley for the 2-point conversion to make it 21-14.
Brandon McManus tacked on a field goal early in the fourth quarter to pad the lead, and Jacksonville’s defense stopped Houston on fourth down.
But McManus missed from 55 yards with seven minutes left. Stroud then orchestrated a 55-yard drive, capped by a 17-yard touchdown reception by Nico Collins, to cut the lead to 24-21 with just over five minutes to go.
The Texans got a stop but couldn’t move the ball and settled for the long field goal attempt on fourth-and-12 instead of giving Stroud and the offense one more shot.
“I felt like that was the right decision for us to kick the ball,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I thought he had good range from there, just didn’t make the kick.”
Derek Stingley Jr. intercepted Lawrence near midfield early in the second half. It was the second straight game with an interception for the third overall pick in the 2022 draft.
The Texans had third-and-goal at the 1 on the ensuing drive. Stroud faked a handoff to fullback Andrew Beck and dashed to the right before high-stepping his way into the end zone to put Houston on top 14-13.
Jacksonville retook the lead on its next drive, aided by two pass-interference penalties on cornerback Tavierre Thomas. The first one gave the Jaguars a first down at the 8 and the second gave them a new set of downs at the 1.
McManus added a 53-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 24-14.
Lawrence scored on a 1-yard touchdown with about 10 minutes left in the second quarter to put the Jags ahead 10-0. D’Ernest Johnson took a screen pass 42 yards earlier in the drive.
Stroud connected with Devin Singletary on a 33-yard catch on the next drive to get the Texans to the Jacksonville 8. Two plays later, he found Tank Dell for a 7-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 10-7.
Jacksonville pushed the lead to 13-7 on McManus' 48-yard field goal about 2 1/2 minutes before halftime.
The Texans had a chance to cut the lead with 25 seconds left in the first half, but Ammendola’s 49-yard attempt was wide right.
There were 10 seconds left in the half when Lawrence found Christian Kirk for a 57-yard reception, but he was pushed out of bounds at the 1-yard line with 1 second left. The Jaguars went for it instead of attempting a field goal, but Travis Etienne Jr. was swarmed by multiple Texans and stopped for no gain.
“It was a real easy decision — I was going for it the whole way,” Pederson said. “You make a play like that, and you have them back on the ropes.”
INJURIES
Jacksonville LT Cam Robinson left with a knee injury in the first quarter. ... Houston LG Tytus Howard also injured his knee in the first quarter and didn’t return.
UP NEXT
Jaguars: Host Cincinnati on Monday, Dec. 4.
Texans: Host Denver next Sunday.
Updates and highlights are below.
First quarter
After the Texans' offense stalled on the opening drive, Jacksonville drove inside the Texans' 25-yard line, setting for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Second quarter
The Jags extended their lead on this Trevor Lawrence 1-yard run after the Texans were called for pass interference on the previous play.
Houston would answer on this C.J. Stroud to Tank Dell 7-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 10-7.
It was set up by this Stroud screen pass to Devin Singletary.
Jacksonville responded with a field goal on their next drive to extend the lead to 13-7.
Houston drove down, but missed a field goal, but gave Jacksonville enough time to drive down to the 1-yard line with a second left. That's when this happened.
Third quarter
Jacksonville got the ball to start the second half and drove past midfield before this Derek Stingley, Jr. interception.
Houston took advantage of the turnover to drive down the field, capped off by this Stroud touchdown run to make it 14-13 Texans.
Jacksonville took the lead right back on the following drive. The Texans were called for pass interference twice, helping to set up the Jags at 1-yard line.
Fourth quarter
After a missed field goal by Jacksonville, Houston drove down for this Stroud to Nico Collins touchdown to get the Texans to within 24-21.
Houston had a chance to tie the game with under a minute left but missed a field goal.
Game preview
It’s been two months, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are still thinking about their lopsided defeat in the first meeting with the Houston Texans this season as they prepare to play them again Sunday.
“As magnified as it gets. There’s a lot on the line,” Jacksonville receiver Christian Kirk said. “We all remember what happened when we played them early in the year. … They’re going to be ready to play, too. Just got to get ready to match their energy and execute.”
“They kicked our butt last time,” Jacksonville receiver Calvin Ridley said. “We owe them. Divisional game. We need to go in there and be the big brother that day.”
It’s been rare for the Jaguars to play the big brother role in this series for more than a decade, with the Texans winning 10 of the last 11 and 21 of the last 26 games.
The Texans certainly understand the magnitude of this game but are trying to treat it like any other one on the schedule.
“It’s the next game for us (but) they’ve put the work in to earn the right to be in this position,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “I’m proud of our guys for putting themselves in this position and now we just have to go out and play clean football. Play our style of football on Sunday and be the best team within those 3 1/2 hours.”
Houston has won three games in a row overall for the first time since 2018 thanks to the stellar play of rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. The second overall draft pick ranks second in the NFL with 2,962 yards passing and is the second rookie in NFL history to have three straight 300-yard passing games.
The Jaguars rank near the bottom of the league in pass defense by giving up 254.4 yards passing a game. Stroud threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Jaguars in Week 3 but is looking to clean up his play after throwing a season-high three interceptions last week.
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He is excited to have helped the Texans return to playoff contention after three seasons in which they were among the league’s worst teams.
“It’s been really cool to see our progress all the way from the beginning of the season to now,” Stroud said. “This is all we’ve worked for… and now it’s time to go cash in.”
ROAD WINNERS
The Jaguars are unbeaten on the road this season, having won all five games outside of Jacksonville. They won at Indianapolis, New Orleans and Pittsburgh. They also won consecutive games (home and away) against Atlanta and Buffalo in London.
The last time Jacksonville won five road games in the same season was in 2007.
SMALL BUT MIGHTY
At just 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds, rookie Tank Dell is by far Houston’s smallest receiver. But when asked what he liked best about Dell, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik had a surprising answer.
“He thinks he’s (6-4, 215-pound) Nico Collins in the run game,” Slowik said. “My man will throw himself in there with reckless abandon to the point where we have to pull him back, and I love that because he attacks everything the same way.”
The third-round pick has become one of Houston’s top receivers this season and is coming off a rookie franchise-record 149 yards receiving last week. It was his third 100-yard receiving game and he has six TD catches this season, which is also most by a rookie in team history. His second-best game this season came in the first game with the Jaguars when he had 145 yards receiving and a score. He ranks second among rookies with 659 yards receiving.
FIRST-MEETING WOES
The Jaguars would like to forget their first game against Houston this season. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence was under constant pressure. Ridley dropped three passes, including two in the end zone. Fellow receiver Jamal Agnew fumbled. Brandon McManus missed one field goal and had another blocked. Jacksonville’s defense allowed completions of 46 and 68 yards to Dell. And the Jaguars allowed a 255-pound fullback to score on an 85-yard kickoff return.
“It was a game where we just didn’t play well in all three phases,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson recalled. “I felt like they had more energy. They played faster in that game than we did. They came out and were the aggressor really from the jump. We never really responded throughout the course of the game. … Since that time, we’ve responded well and rebounded well; we got ourselves back on track.”