(SportsRadio 610) - Trailing 13-6, the Jacksonville Jaguars made it to midfield at the two-minute warning, but the league's top-overall pick in 2021 Trevor Lawrence threw four straight incompletions.
The Jaguars forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with 41 seconds and 87 yards in front of them, but Desmond King II intercepted Lawrence’s Hail Mary attempt at the 14 to seal the Texans' (1-3-1) first win of the season.
In one of the uglier games the league has seen this season, the bend-but-don’t-break defense for the Texans made just enough plays and came up with enough stops to stifle a much improved Jaguars team.
Despite holding the Jaguars to a 1-5 start in third-down conversions in the first half, the Texans allowed four plays of at least 20 yards in the Jaguars' five first-half possessions.
Overall, the Texans allowed 15 plays that went for at least 10 or more yards, including seven that went for more than 20 yards in the game.
The Texans didn’t sack Lawrence once Sunday, but head coach Lovie Smith said the pressure his defensive line put on the second-year signal caller was impactful.
"I thought he was on the run quite a bit, and a lot of those passes that were incompletions had a little bit to do with some of the pressure," Smith said. "It’s about rush and coverage. Especially today, it’s tough duty for our defensive line because we weren’t blitzing a lot. So when the offense pretty much knows it’s a four-man rush, you can hang on up those four guys, but they fought hard."
While it hasn’t always killed them, giving up the big play has hurt the Texans all season. Yet Sunday, the Texans found a way to bounce back from allowing explosive plays to running back Travis Etienne Jr., wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. and others.
Jaguars tight end Evan Engram caught a 28-yard strike from Lawrence on their first possession of the second-half to quickly get them into Texans territory.
Seven plays later, with the game knotted at 6-6 and Jaguars driving, Derek Stingley Jr. intercepted Lawrence on a ball that a 10-year veteran couldn’t have played better.
That interception proved to be a game-changer, as the Texans overcame a rookie mistake by Stingley Jr. not kneeling it in the end zone, forcing the offense to takeover on their own two-yard line after the return.
The Texans drove the ball 49 yards on 12 plays. While the drive resulted in a punt, it took 8:10 off the game clock, which was by far longest possession by either team in the game.
With the game still tied 6-6 in the third-quarter and less than two minutes on the game clock, Lawrence found Jones Jr. deep in the middle of the field for 20 yards on a 3rd-and-8.
Four plays later, on a 3rd-and-5, Lawrence scrambled for 12 more yards to extend the drive for the Jaguars and their third straight 3rd-down conversion.
At the Texans' 44-yard line, corner Stephen Nelson and linebacker Christian Kirksey stopped Evan Engram short of a first down, setting up a 4th-and-1.
This time, it was Maliek Collins and Kirksey that came up big, stuffing the run again and slowing Lawrence and the Jags down to give the offense another shot at a drive.
Five different Jaguars had plays for more than 20 yards as they combined to contribute 422 yards of total offense behind the arm and legs of Trevor Lawrence.
It was of course the legs of Texans rookie running back Dameon Pierce that made the difference in the ballgame Sunday.
The fourth-round selection out of Florida rushed for 99 yards on 26 carries in the 13-6 victory, but the assist has to go to the bend-but-don’t-break defense.
Shaun Bijani has spent the last 16 years covering the Houston sports scene for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @ShaunBijani.
Follow SportsRadio 610 on social media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube