Week 12 Game Report: Jaguars vs. Texans

HOUSTON, Texas – This was tough, grinding November football with a postseason feel.

For the Jaguars, it couldn’t have felt better.

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence ran for a touchdown and passed for another as the Jaguars lost a halftime lead then regained it – and held it – with a gutty second half en route to a critical 24-21 AFC South victory over the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium Sunday afternoon.

“This was a great road win for us to come in here and do what we did today,” Head Coach Doug Pederson said, with Lawrence adding: “This was a huge division game.

Texans kicker Matt Ammendola’s 58-yard field goal attempt bounced off the crossbar with :29 remaining, securing the Jaguars’ seventh victory in eight games.

Lawrence said he watched Ammendola’s kick, calling it “stressful.”

“It was a huge game,” Lawrence said. “We did a great job finding a way to win. That’s a really good team. We anticipated it being a four-quarter game. Those types of games are important, because that’s the way games get at the end of the year. You’re going to get everbody’s best every week.

“You have to be able to win those games even though it’s not pretty. It takes a lot of perseverance to go finish those games.”

Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus converted field goals of 40, 48 and 53 yards.

The victory gave the defending AFC South champion Jaguars (8-3) a two-game lead over Houston (6-5) in the division. The Texans had beaten the Jaguars, 37-17, in Jacksonville in Week 3.

Pederson called it “a great win for our team.”

“You take every win and every loss humbly,” Pederson said. “That’s what we have to do. It puts us a few games up and that was our goal this week. Our guys battled for 60 minutes. We knew it was going to be a tough football game. It’s a really good football team over there in Houston that plays tough, plays hard, and plays to the end.

“Our guys have learned how to learn how to finish. I’m really proud of our guys for the way they hung in there today.”