Jaguars maintain AFC South lead after Texans miss game-tying field goal: How Jags slowed C.J. Stroud

Publish date: 2024-06-06

The Jacksonville Jaguars maintained their lead in the AFC South after Houston Texans kicker Matt Ammendola’s game-tying field goal attempt hit the crossbar with 34 seconds remaining on the clock, sealing a 24-21 Jaguars victory. Here’s what you need to know:

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A game of inches

The midseason surge that lifted the Texans to within a game of the AFC South lead hit a wall Sunday in a pivotal matchup with the division leader. Nine weeks after the upset victory that changed the course of their season — a 37-17 beatdown of the Jaguars in Jacksonville — the Texans couldn’t summon the same magic in a 24-21 loss.

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But that doesn’t mean Stroud didn’t nearly pull off another fourth-quarter comeback.

And in the end, this game was decided by mere inches.

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Stroud, the runaway favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year, became the first rookie in league history to record 300 passing yards in four straight games, and led the Texans on an 11-play, 45-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that set up a potential game-tying kick from Ammendola. But Ammendola’s kick from 58 yards drilled the crossbar and fell short, clinching the Jags’ seventh win in eight games.

Houston had won three straight heading in, and now drops to 6-5 on the season, trailing the Jaguars (8-4) by two games in the AFC South race with five left. The Indianapolis Colts, 27-20 winners over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, are also 6-5 and two games back. — Zak Keefer, NFL writer

The Texans were this close to tying the game on a 58-yard field goal. #JAXvsHOU pic.twitter.com/w5P2AAg2Nj

— NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2023

Stroud and Dell make history

Earlier in the contest, Houston’s dynamic rookie duo — Stroud and wide receiver Tank Dell — climbed into some impressive company, connecting for their seventh touchdown of the season. It’s just the sixth time in NFL history a rookie tandem has that many scores in a season and the first since the Colts’ Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton piled up seven touchdowns back in 2012. Stroud finished 26-for-36 for 304 yards and two touchdowns. — Keefer

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Jaguars pass rush impresses

The Jaguars’ pass rush came through to help them close out the crucial victory, and that shouldn’t be lost on Doug Pederson. They had four sacks and seven QB hits in the game, including two takedowns on the final drive and a key pressure on the last defensive snap of the game before Houston’s missed field goal. Josh Allen once again led the way with 2.5 sacks, and he was a key factor in keeping Stroud off balance just enough throughout the afternoon. (Stroud, of course, was very good again, but he couldn’t deliver another superhero performance with the game on the line.)

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Prior to the season, the primary concern with the Jags was the pass rush because they couldn’t disrupt a hobbled Patrick Mahomes in the playoff loss. They didn’t do anything to upgrade the personnel in the offseason, rather hoping for ongoing progression from Allen and a big jump from Travon Walker. It’s because of that pass rush that the Jaguars have a two-game buffer in the AFC South — rather than a division tie and another extended conversation about missed opportunities by the goal line. — Jeff Howe, NFL senior writer

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(Photo:  Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

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