JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars won't be able to move on from this one easily.
The Jaguars had more than a few chances to make the win swing their way, but they ended up falling to the Houston Texans in a 34-31 heartbreaker in London in Week 6. So, who were the winners and stock-risers from the game, and who took steps backwards? We break it down below.
Winners
TE Nate Boerkircher
How about Nate Boerkircher? The rookie tight end caught just two passes for eight yards, but one of those was a stellar one-handed touchdown catch to help the Jaguars cut into the Texans' lead in the second-half. Boerkircher has been reliable whenever the Jaguars have thrown the ball his way, and on Sunday he showed off some of the play-making traits that made the Jaguars so interested in him with the No. 56 pick last April. The Jaguars' top pick keeps proving his worth to the Jaguars' offense, and Sunday was finally his highlight moment.
QB Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence threw four touchdowns and over 300 yards on Sunday, which you will take any week. It was the first time Lawrence has thrown 300+ yards in back-to-back weeks for the first time since 2022, and as of this writing he is the only quarterback in the NFL to throw four touchdowns in two different games. Lawrence was, once again, stellar for the Jaguars by large and large. The Jaguars were down by two scores late, but the way Lawrence played kept them in it the whole time.
CB/WR Travis Hunter
Not much has to be said about this one. Hunter is the first player with a receiving touchdown and an INT in the same game since Brian Dawkins in Week 4, 2002 also vs the Texans. Hunter did not have his best game snap-to-snap, but he made some of the biggest and most important plays of the game on both sides of the ball. It feels like we are just scratching the surface of the kind of player Hunter can be and the impact he can have.
OT Walker Little
Well-done, Walker Little. The Jaguars' veteran offensive tackle had plenty of eyes on him entering the week considering the matchup with Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, but that duo combined for one quarterback hit, zero sacks, and zero tackles for loss. Little needed to step up for the Jaguars considering Anton Harrison's injury, and Little did exactly that. Count this as a strong performance from Little.
Losers
WR Brian Thomas Jr.
It ... it just feels over for Brian Thomas Jr. with the Jaguars. It never felt right at the start of last year, it got worse before he became an afterthought, and then he had a stellar offseason this past summer and spring. But none of that mattered, as Thomas simply proved to be a poor fit with the Jaguars' offensive scheme by the start of the regular-season once again. Thomas was seemingly benched with zero snaps in the second-half after two costly drops that may have cost points: a drop on the first drive on second down that would have put the Jaguars in field goal range, and then a drop at the end of the half near the sideline that would have given Cam Little a chance. It just feels like it is time for both sides to move on.
DEs Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker
I think you do have to take the field conditions into account when you look at the lack of pass-rush, because the Texans' elite pass-rush didn't register any sacks or many quarterback hits either. With that said, Hines-Allen and Walker have not gotten home very much since Week 1, and they were blanked by a bad Texans' offensive line on Sunday. The Jaguars can not have the opposing quarterback dropback 34 times and barely get touched, but that is exactly what happened to them against the Texans on Sunday.
CB Jarrian Jones
I am a big fan of Jarrian Jones' game, and I also believe he has played better than he has been given credit for throughout the season. With that in mind, it felt like Jones had his worst game of the season on Sunday, giving up several big completions, two critical penalties, and a missed tackle on the Texans' 25-yard touchdown run. The Jaguars badly need Jones to elevate his game, which he was doing earlier in the season.
If Jones does not bounce back soon, the Jaguars might need to take a look at the trade deadline and the cornerback rooms. Montaric Brown's hamstring injury has hampered the Jaguars' cornerback depth over the last few weeks, which means the Jaguars already needed Jones to step up his game. The performance he put forth on Sunday is not what they needed to see to inspire confidence.
DC Anthony Campanile
On one hand, I do think Anthony Campanile but a victim of his circumstances on Sunday. The defense had been stellar for five weeks and wasn't letting anyone put up points on them in doses, but the bend-don't-break defense finally broke against Houston. Part of this is because C.J. Stroud is the best quarterback the Jaguars hace faced this season, which is why I expected Stroud to have a big day. I did not expect the Jaguars to blow coverages at the rate they did on Sunday.
When that happens, there is no real place to look other than at how the defense is structured and called. Nick Caley beat Campanile in the coordinator battle this week, which is just the second time this year I think one could say that. He will need to find some answers during the bye week to keep the pass defense from sinking the Jaguars down the road.
WR Parker Washington
It was the rare off game for Parker Washington, who has otherwise been stellar for the Jaguars all season long. Washington finished the game with four catches for 64 yards and he did help the Jaguars set up a scoring drive with some big catches in the first-half, but he also had 11 targets. Of those six targets to him that didn't end up in a completion, it felt like at least a few were catches he normally makes.
Washington is clearly the Jaguars' No. 1 wide receiver, and very likely will be a $30 million player sooner rather than later. But for Washington to continue to prove that he is worth that investment, he will have to come up big for them in the big games and moments like when they play their AFC South rivals ... especially the Texans.
The London Experience
This can't be proven in any real way, but I will say it anyways: I think the Jaguars win this game if it is played in Jacksonville. The fact the Jaguars ever had an AFC South game, let alone a game vs. the Texans, moved to London was always a travesty. Now, you see why. I said it a week ago, and I will say it again: the London games are a disadvantage. A wet, insufficient field that made it tough for anyone to get great footing instead of the sunshine and a home crowd in Florida. Are you having fun yet, London?
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