Halftime Thoughts: Jaguars vs. Texans
The Jacksonville Jaguars are on their heels.
The Jaguars are trailing the Houston Texans 17-0 entering halftime, but what did we see during the first two quarters at EverBank Field?
Jaguars continue to get in their own way at the start of games
The Jaguars started Sunday's game like a team in their own heads. After a dominant forced three-and-out from the defense to start the game, the Jaguars' offense completely wasted great field position. A four-play sequence then saw a failed first-down run for one yard, a dropped touchdown from Calvin Ridley, a third-down catch that Tim Jones couldn't stay in bounds for, and a missed 48-yard field goal from Brandon McManus.
A few plays later, C.J. Stroud and Tank Dell burned the defense for a nearly 50-yard gain to help get Houston into the end-zone. Then, on the following drive, Travis Etienne's feet got tripped up by Trevor Lawrence on 3rd-and-2, causing a punt.
This all doesn't even factor in the rest of the mistakes: a Brandon Scherff penalty on fourth-down to negate a conversion, two Calvin Ridley false starts, a second Ridley drop, and a fumble by Jamal Agnew.
The Jaguars had Houston exactly where they wanted them, but they failed to take the game from them. Mistakes like the ones they made at the start of this game add up. For the third week in a row, the Jaguars looked like a team sleepwalking and going through the motions at the start of the game, and it led to negative results.
The special teams were very unspecial
The Jaguars' special teams had a 13-point swing in a game that began 14-0. That is absolutely bonkers, especially since the Jaguars have a veteran kicker who they added to the team in place of an efficient Riley Patterson. McManus was wide-right on a 48-yard attempt, and those are supposed to be the kicks he is automatic on. He was brought in for his big leg, so missing a long-range kick at the very start of the game is something that simply can't happen.
Then, the Jaguars had another potential three points come off the board as they allowed Will Anderson to blow through the middle of their protection and block a McManus field goal. The Texans took the great field position and easily drove down the field for a touchdown to take a 14-0 lead, in large part because the Jaguars' field goal unit was dreadful.
Jaguars have failed to impact C.J. Stroud
With four starting offensive linemen out and a rookie quarterback under center, the Jaguars' pass defense had no excuse to not put together a strong performance on Sunday. Instead, C.J. Stroud picked the defense apart like a grizzled veteran, rarely looking under duress or like a quarterback whose process was being impacted by the defense.
Stroud was 14-of-21 for 163 yards in the first half, with the Jaguars recording zero sacks. The only four quarterback hits came from Josh Allen (three) and K'Lavon Chaisson. In a game where the offense is clearly not going to take things over, the Jaguars needed their defense to make more of a tangible impact against a young quarterback. So far, they haven't
