THIS ONE HURTS
Texans miss late field goal as Jags hold on for 24-21 win
Nov 26, 2023, 3:45 pm
THIS ONE HURTS
Trevor Lawrence threw for 364 yards and a touchdown, and the AFC South-leading Jacksonville Jaguars escaped with a 24-21 victory over the division rival Houston Texans on Sunday 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.
C.J. Stroud, the second overall pick in the draft, thew 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.
The Texans led by one after a touchdown run by Stroud midway through the third quarter. Lawrence responded with 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.
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 second 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.
Jacksonville LT Cam Robinson left with a knee injury in the first quarter. ... Houston LG Tytus Howard also injures his knee in the first quarter and didn’t return.
Jaguars: Host Cincinnati on Monday, Dec. 4.
Texans: Host Denver next Sunday.
Jose Altuve drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the 10th inning after Yordan Alvarez tied it with a two-run homer in the ninth and the Houston Astros rallied from an early six-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins 9-7 on Sunday.
YORDAN TIES IT IN THE TOP OF THE NINTH!#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/0auYzD6UjF
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 6, 2025
Altuve's single off Twins reliever Louis Varland (1-1) scored automatic runner Brendan Rogers from third base.
ALTUVE FOR THE LEAD! 8-7 ASTROS! pic.twitter.com/ks3mUYF8VE
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 6, 2025
Jake Meyers then stole home on a double steal to make it 9-7.
GETTING THE JOB DONE! 😤#BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/vyyAS4OcPJ
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 6, 2025
Josh Hader (1-0) retired all six batters he faced to earn the victory.
The Twins led 7-1 after four innings, but the Astros came all the way back by scoring twice in the ninth off Twins reliever Griffin Jax to tie it at 7. Isaac Paredes led off with his fourth single of the game and Alvarez hit Jax's next pitch for his first home run of the season.
Matt Wallner had four hits and Trevor Larnach drove in three runs for Minnesota.
The Twins scored three runs in the first, a rally keyed by Ryan Jeffers' two-out, two-run double. They added three more in the fourth, with Byron Buxton and Larnach's back-to-back doubles driving in the runs as Minnesota took a 7-1 lead.
With two on and two outs in the sixth, Alvarez sliced a sinking liner to left field off reliever Danny Coulombe. Harrison Bader charged in and made a diving catch to preserve Minnesota’s 7-5 lead.
The Astros (.565) and Twins (.551) began the day ranked 29th and 30th in the league in OPS, but combined for 24 hits in the game.
Astros: Begin a three-game series at Seattle on Monday with RHP Hayden Weseneski (0-1, 5.40) starting the opener.
Twins: Send RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-0, 4.50) to the mound Monday when they open a four-game series at Kansas City.