ROUGH DAY

Texans offense, defense non-existent in 45-7 loss to the Jaguars

Texans offense, defense non-existent in 45-7 loss to the Jaguars
The Jags defense made life hard on T.J. Yates. Jacksonvillejaguars.com

T.J. Yates couldn't deliver and the offense was largely absent as the Texans fell to the Jaguars 45-7 in a lopsided game. Jacksonville secured its first playoff berth since 2007 while Houston fell to 4-10 on the season. Deandre Hopkins was the lone bright spot for the Texans, catching four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. T.J. Yates finished 12 of 31 for 128 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The Jaguars are doing everything they can in the final weeks to work toward a potential first round playoff bye week and the Texans are just trying to win some games. These are two teams that play hard against each other every year, but it's usually the Texans fighting for playoff seeding.

The Texans pass defense was almost non-existent, allowing Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles to throw for 326 yards and three touchdowns. They failed to force any turnovers and allowed points on half of Jacksonville's drives.

It was always going to be tough sledding for the Texans, who began the game ranked 24th in points per game and had T.J. Yates starting for the first time this season. The Jaguars, who have the number one ranked scoring defense, came hard after the new quarterback and the Texans never found a rhythm. They had seven three-and-out drives in 13 chances, managed only 186 yards of total offense and allowed four sacks for -29 yards.

Jacksonville's first four drives resulted in 171 yards and three touchdowns as the Jaguars jumped out to a big 21-0 lead in the early part of the second quarter. Before halftime Jacksonville added a field goal and Blake Bortles threw his third touchdown pass of the game and the lead jumped to 31 points. 

The Texans' offense was completely shut down in the first half and without a credible run game they couldn't attack Jacksonville's only defensive weakness. They were forced to rely on a quarterback who couldn't recreate the success from his first action of the season against 49ers last week.

They have scored more than 16 points once since Deshaun Watson was lost in Week 9 so a comeback was highly unlikely.

But at least Yates still has Hopkins to throw to. He had only one catch for 10 yards in the first half with Jalen Ramsey blanketing him in coverage. But they stuck with it and he set the new Texan's franchise record with his 12th touchdown catch of the year in the third quarter.

The Jaguars added two more touchdowns on the ground and continued to chew up the clock on the way to victory. The rest of the game was a deflated effort by the Texans to get out of town and search for a way to find some offense.

This may have been what was expected against the No. 2 overall defense in the NFL but it certainly wasn't what fans want to see. It doesn't look good next week either as the Steelers come to town for a prime-time game.

 

 

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The Texans will look to get back on track this Sunday against the Colts. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are looking for answers after their passing game couldn’t get going in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Houston’s passing attack had been a strength all season, and the Texans ranked fifth in yards passing per game through their first six games. But on Sunday at Lambeau Field, Stroud was limited to a career-low 86 yards in the 24-22 loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Stroud was 10 of 21 and didn’t have a touchdown pass for the first time this season. The second-year player was under duress for much of the day and was sacked four times and hit seven other times.

“We have to go back to the drawing board and see what those issues were,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “As we watch the film, we’ll see what happened, starting for me the communication and just guys being on the details of the job.”

The Texans scored a season-high 41 points in a win over New England a week earlier in which Stroud threw a season-best three touchdown passes despite being without star receiver Nico Collins.

They were unable to replicate that success Sunday with Collins out for the second of at least four games after a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve.

Stefon Diggs led the team with five receptions against the Packers, but they only amounted to 23 yards. Tank Dell, who the Texans expected to step up with Collins out, was targeted four times but didn’t have a catch.

Stroud discussed the importance of getting Dell more involved in the offense.

“We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there,” he said. “It has to be a focus for us, not only just him, but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”

Ryans spoke about his confidence is getting Dell going.

What's working

The Texans have forced seven turnovers combined in their last two games after they hadn’t caused any in their previous three games.

Houston scored 16 points off three turnovers Sunday. The Texans had two interceptions and recovered a fumble on a punt. In their win over the Patriots, they scored 17 points off a season-high four turnovers.

What needs help

The Texans won’t get to where they want to be this season if Stroud doesn’t get back on track. Before Sunday, last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year was averaging more than 262 yards passing a game, giving the team confidence that the problems in the passing game are fixable.

Ryans knows the line must give Stroud more time to throw and said the coaching staff will focus on improving in that area this week.

Stock up

RB Joe Mixon continued to shine Sunday in his second game back after missing three games with an ankle injury. Mixon, who is in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati, had 25 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay.

Mixon is confident the Texans will rebound this week if they quit making mistakes.

“Does it look I’m worried? I’m not worried at all,” he said. “Like I said, we got a ... good football team. At the end of the day, we are our own worst enemy.”

Stock down

Dell was unable to help Stroud get the passing game going. The second-year player had a solid rookie season with 709 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg. But he hasn’t been able to build on that success this year and has just 194 yards receiving with one score in six games.

Injuries

LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), LB Henry To’oTo’o (concussion), CB Kamari Lassiter (shoulder) and S Jimmie Ward (groin) all missed Sunday’s game and it’s unclear if any of these starters can return this week.

Key number

3 — Safety Calen Bullock had his third interception Sunday to tie Dunta Robinson and Jumal Rolle for most interceptions by a rookie in franchise history through the first seven games. He leads NFL rookies in interceptions this season and is tied for third-most among all players.

Next steps

The AFC South-leading Texans (5-2) return to division play Sunday when they host the second-place Colts (4-3), who have won two in a row and four of five.

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