HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans hadn't scored in the second half and had punted on five straight possessions Sunday when they got one last chance to avoid being upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
C.J. Stroud connected with an unlikely option to make sure the Texans came out on top.
Stroud threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns, capped by a 1-yard pass to third-string running back Dare Ogunbowale with 18 seconds left, to give the Texans the 24-20 victory.
Thrust into action with starter Joe Mixon and backup Dameon Pierce out with injuries, Ogunbowale scored a TD for the first time since 2022.
“It's obviously always good to get a win, but when you can help your team win it’s special,” he said.
Houston forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with less than three minutes to go.
Stroud then led a nine-play, 69-yard drive to give the Texans (3-1) their first points of the second half and survive a scare by the winless Jaguars (0-4).
“We were just locked in,” Stroud said. “Defense gave us another shot, and that’s all we needed.”
The Texans bounced back from a 34-7 rout at Minnesota to get the victory despite fumbling a punt return early and committing 12 penalties to give them 35 combined in their past three games.
Nico Collins helped Houston to the win with a career-high 12 receptions for 151 yards and a TD for his third 100-yard game this season. He has 489 yards receiving this season to become the first Texans to surpass 450 yards receiving in the first four games.
“I feel like there’s always room for improvement on your game,” he said. "My mindset, man, don’t get too comfortable. Continue to build, continue to take care of my body, continue to be available for the team and ... all the pieces will fall into place.”
Trevor Lawrence threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns as his streak of consecutive starts without a win stretched to nine games.
The Jaguars fell to 0-4 for the first time since opening the 2021 season with five straight losses.
Coach Doug Pederson seemed caught off-guard when he was asked if he's worried about his job status after the dismal start.
“My status? I mean, no,” he said. "That’s kind of a strange question, but OK.”
After getting blown out by the Bills on Monday, they had plenty of chances in this one. They led through much of the second half after a touchdown reception by Christian Kirk with about six minutes left in the third.
They had a chance to pad the lead after that when a 58-yard run by Tank Bigsby got them to the Houston 4. Two runs by Bigsby moved them to the 2 before an incomplete pass by Lawrence.
Jacksonville went for it, but Lawrence was stopped for no gain on the first play of the fourth quarter.
“We had a lot of opportunities, run game and throwing the ball down the field,” Lawrence said. "Didn’t capitalize on all of them unfortunately. That’s why we’re here now and didn’t win the game in my opinion is because we didn’t take advantage of some of those opportunities.”
Ogunbowale grabbed a short pass and evaded three defenders for a 31-yard gain on third-and-18 on Houston’s next drive.
But the Texans couldn’t do anything after that. They had a run for no gain, a holding penalty on left tackle Laremy Tunsil and an incomplete pass before Stroud was sacked to force a punt.
Derek Stingley knocked down Lawrence’s pass to force a punt with about six minutes left.
The Texans couldn’t get anything going on their next drive that ended with a holding penalty on Tunsil followed by two incomplete passes.
Kirk put the Jaguars up 20-17 with an 8-yard TD grab with about six minutes left in the third quarter. Brian Thomas powered that drive with a 32-yard reception and a 13-yard run.
The Texans forced a punt on Jacksonville’s opening drive, but Steven Sims fumbled it, and it was recovered by Daniel Thomas at the 2. Lawrence connected with Brian Thomas Jr. on the next play to give the Jaguars an early lead.
Houston tied it when Stefon Diggs scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 6-yard run with about 7½ minutes left in the opening quarter.
The Jaguars were up 10-7 after a field goal before a 3-yard touchdown reception by Collins put Houston on top 14-10.
Jacksonville added a 52-yard field goal with about four minutes left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14-13.
The Texans led 17-13 at halftime after a 30-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn with 3 seconds left in the second quarter.
Jaguars: DE Josh Hines-Allen left the game in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a concussion.
Texans: Mixon (ankle) and Pierce (hamstring) sat out with injuries. … Tank Dell missed the game with hand and rib injuries.
Jaguars: Host the Colts next Sunday.
Texans: Host the Bills next Sunday.
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