Jaguars vs. Texans: 5 Observations From Jacksonville’s Loss in London

The Jacksonville Jaguars dropped a pivotal AFC South game against the Houston Texans on Sunday. What takeaways can we have from their 26-3 loss?

The Jacksonville Jaguars had a chance to make a statement against the Houston Texans during their Week 9 AFC South clash. Instead, they fell 26-3 to their AFC South rivals in London and are left at 4-5 entering the team's Week 10 bye. 

Jacksonville's offense struggled to muster anything positive for much of the game and the defense could only bend and not break for so long, leading to quite a few takeaways on the team's outlook over the next seven games. 

From Gardner Minshew to Deshaun Watson and more, what are our observations from the Week 9 loss? 

1) Gardner Minshew likely made Doug Marrone's hard decision a bit easier.

Even with a Texans' secondary that was missing Lonnie Johnson, Bradley Roby and Tashaun Gipson, rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew could not get much of anything going on Sunday. It was clear early on that he may struggle when he was throwing passes high to start the game, and unfortunately for Jacksonville, his issues continued for the entirety of the game. 

He finished the game with 27-of-47 for 309 yards without any touchdowns, and also committed four turnovers in the final four possessions of the game with two interceptions and two fumbles. Minshew was trying to make a play with his team down by three possessions late, but too many times his lack of ball security came back to bite the Jaguars. 

Head coach Doug Marrone said after the game that he would not decide on a starting quarterback until around the end of the bye week, with prized free agent tradition Nick Foles becoming eligible to come off the team's reserve/injured list in Week 11 against the Indianapolis Colts. While he is unlikely to select his starter based off of one game, it is clear from Sunday that Minshew is still capable of having rookie moments. Add this into the fact that Marrone needs to win now, and Sunday may have made his decision easier than it was previously.

2) The rookie passer struggled, but so did many aspects of the offense.

Make no mistake about it, Minshew failed to do what was needed to give the Jaguars a chance on Sunday. He deserves his fair share of the blame for the offense's inability to score a touchdown for the second time in four games. But Minshew was not the only person in the offense who had a rough day. 

Offensive coordinator John DeFilippo entered the game with a strange offensive gameplan. Instead of trying to exploit a Texans defense that was missing three defensive backs and defensive lineman J.J. Watt, the Jaguars' offense was largely conservative. There were few shots down the field until the second half and too many times the offense was being driven by short, quick-hitting passes. It seemed like on second down the offense was simply trying to make third down more manageable instead of converting the first down and making a big play. 

As for the players around Minshew, the Jaguars' desperate need for a consistent No. 2 wide receiver was evident Sunday. With Dede Westbrook out with a neck/shoulder injury, Chris Conley struggled to step up, catching only two passes in his nearly 60 snaps and dropping a fourth-down pass at the Texans' five-yard line in the fourth quarter. 

3) Deshaun Watson was in the zone no matter what was thrown at him.

It didn't matter if it was Yannick Ngakoue, Calais Campbell, Josh Allen or any combination of the three. Nothing Jaguars defensive coordinator Todd Wash tried to call to slow down Most Valuable Player candidate and Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson worked.

Time after time Watson found himself in a scramble drill and forced the entire field to improvise. When it came to tracking Watson down in the backfield before he was able to find an open receiver, the Jaguars struggled mightily, especially on third downs. 

It felt a lot like watching the old Peyton Manning Indianapolis Colts teams beat up on solid Jaguars defenses. The players were getting close and unquestionably giving the maximum effort, but Watson's star power was too much to overcome, which is the case for most Texans wins. 

4) D.J. Hayden's absence was felt, but A.J. Bouye mostly shined during secondary's up and down day. 

For the first time since the 2015 season, the Jaguars had to walk into a Texans game without the benefit of Jalen Ramsey locking down DeAndre Hopkins. While Ramsey had a toxic exit from Jacksonville, it shouldn't be forgotten how much of an asset he was against the elite wide receiver.

This time around, the Jaguars asked veteran cornerback A.J. Bouye to take Ramsey's old assignment. Hopkins did well against the Jacksonville secondary on short passes later in the game, including catching a late touchdown, but ultimately he didn't do extensive damage to Jacksonville as he caught eight of his 11 targets for 48 yards. 

Bouye is the main reason Hopkins didn't terrorize the Jaguars' defense for the entirety of the game. He matched up well with him down the field on several plays early on and made a big pass breakup on a third down in the second half of the game. He didn't create any plays to change the game, but he was certainly an asset.

5) Jaguars have a few huge games still left on its schedule

Jacksonville now has half of its AFC South schedule remaining in the final seven weeks of the season, with both Indianapolis Colts games and an away game against the Tennesee Titans on hand. For Jacksonville to even go .500 in the divison, they will need to win two of those games. 

With out of division games such as home games vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San Diego Chargers also on the docket, Jacksonville will have a few prime opportunities to claw their way back into the playoff picture. But as it stands they are one game below .500 and two games behind the Texans in the division, making every game a must-win. 

For Jacksonville to have a realistic shot at the playoffs, it would be logical to think the worst they can finish over the last seven games is 5-2. This means that week in and week out, the team will have to essentially play for its season.