C.J. Stroud has the Houston Texans believing again. Their win over the Jaguars shows why it's real.

LONDON - They talked about it in meetings all week and through text messages. 

The play the Houston Texans ran on third-and-2 from their own 40 yard-line with 1:04 remaining was one they had run a few times before, but it hadn't quite worked to their liking. 

So they made an adjustment during the week.

Texans running back Woody Marks, who was running a crossing route, took a jab step toward the left side before changing directions. He got his defender, Branson Combs, on his back foot, delaying the Jaguars linebacker's pursuit as he tried to wade through traffic. 

That simple adjustment - to have Marks quickly fake as if he was going left - allowed the running back to become wide open, and quarterback C.J. Stroud delivered him a perfect pass in stride that he took up the right sideline for a 19-yard gain and first down in Jaguars territory. 

"Nope," Marks said, when asked if he was surprised to be so open. "(The play) is always open. Shoutout to C.J. for making that correction."

REPORT CARD:How we graded Texans' win

Four plays later, kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn was being carried off the field in celebration after nailing a 49-yard field goal as time expired to defeat the Jaguars 34-31 at Wembley Stadium.

It is moments like these that has made Stroud's season special through six games despite the 2-4 start. It's moments like these that has the Texans feeling themselves again, and believing that they can come back from the dead - just as they did in 2025. 

"We're a good team," said Marks, who also finished with 56 yards rushing. "Y'all see it. We're going to keep coming. We're going to keep striving to be good."

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Before Sunday's game, the Texans were 0-3 in one score games, with all three of those losses coming because their defense had either given up the lead or of their offense and coaching staff had made a critical error down the stretch. 

But this was different. 

Not only did Stroud and the offense march downfield to score the game-winning points, but on the drive before, the defense got a critical stop on third down. 

The stop limited the Jaguars to just three points and gave the Texans' offense more than enough time to win it at the end. 

Stroud was outstanding for most of Sunday's game. He finished 24-of-34 for 312 yards and three touchdowns, one interception and a 116.3 passer rating.  

The interception was nearly a fatal mistake, though. The Texans had the ball at the Jacksonville 4-yard line with 3:59 remaining and a three-point lead when Stroud tried to hit Xavier Hutchinson in the corner of the end zone. 

Jaguars cornerback Travis Hunter undercut Hutchinson's route and picked off Stroud, which gave Jacksonville a chance to tie it. 

But even after the pick, coach DeMeco Ryans said Stroud remained calm. He walked over to the head coach who was pacing the sideline and told him "I got you, Coach. Don't worry about it."

"When a player tells me that, it just gives me the confidence that I need, that ‘hey we're right back in this thing,' " Ryans said. "He understands the mistakes that were made. He didn't want it to happen, but look at how he responded. He responded in an outstanding way."

That he did. 

TEXANS 34, JAGUARS 31

First Quarter

Hou_Moreau 6 pass from Stroud (Fairbairn kick), 5:13. Drive: 5 plays, 62 yards, 3:01. Key Play: Stroud 42 pass to Collins. Houston 7, Jacksonville 0.

Second Quarter

Jac_Tuten 27 pass from Lawrence (C.Little kick), 6:47. Drive: 8 plays, 79 yards, 4:26. Key Plays: Lawrence 19 pass to Washington; Lawrence 27 pass to Washington on 3rd-and-4. Houston 7, Jacksonville 7.

Hou_FG Fairbairn 25, 4:16. Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 2:31. Key Plays: Hutchinson kick return to Houston 31; Stroud 34 pass to Noel; Stroud 14 pass to M.Harrison; Stroud 7 pass to Schultz on 3rd-and-8. Houston 10, Jacksonville 7.

Jac_Tuten 2 pass from Lawrence (C.Little kick), :55. Drive: 10 plays, 48 yards, 3:21. Key Plays: Cameron kick return to Houston 48; Lawrence 9 pass to Meyers on 3rd-and-8; Lawrence 19 pass to T.Hunter. Jacksonville 14, Houston 10.

Hou_Moreau 1 pass from Stroud (Fairbairn kick), :08. Drive: 4 plays, 63 yards, 00:47. Key Plays: Noel kick return to Houston 37; Stroud 50 pass to Noel. Houston 17, Jacksonville 14.

Third Quarter

Hou_Noel 13 pass from Stroud (Fairbairn kick), 9:21. Drive: 12 plays, 65 yards, 5:39. Key Plays: Stroud 9 pass to Schultz on 3rd-and-10; Stroud 14 pass to M.Harrison; Stroud 10 pass to Noel; Stroud 6 pass to M.Harrison on 3rd-and-2. Houston 24, Jacksonville 14.

Jac_Boerkircher 1 pass from Lawrence (C.Little kick), 2:34. Drive: 6 plays, 69 yards, 2:57. Key Plays: Lawrence 22 pass to Meyers; Lawrence 28 pass to Meyers; Lawrence 11 pass to Tuten on 3rd-and-3. Houston 24, Jacksonville 21.

Hou_J.Jordan 25 run (Fairbairn kick), :50. Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 1:44. Key Play: Stroud 16 pass to Schultz. Houston 31, Jacksonville 21.

Fourth Quarter

Jac_T.Hunter 7 pass from Lawrence (C.Little kick), 11:26. Drive: 9 plays, 61 yards, 4:18. Key Plays: Lawrence 26 pass to T.Hunter; Lawrence 10 pass to Washington; Rodriguez 3 run on 3rd-and-1. Houston 31, Jacksonville 28.

Jac_FG C.Little 60, 1:55. Drive: 7 plays, 38 yards, 1:58. Key Plays: T.Hunter 0 interception return to Jacksonville 20; Lawrence 15 pass to Meyers; Lawrence 6 pass to Strange on 3rd-and-10. Houston 31, Jacksonville 31.

Hou_FG Fairbairn 49, :00. Drive: 8 plays, 36 yards, 1:55. Key Plays: Hutchinson kick return to Houston 32; Stroud 19 pass to Marks on 3rd-and-2. Houston 34, Jacksonville 31.

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Houston, Marks 15-56, J.Jordan 6-43, Stroud 1-5, Collins 1-5, Stover 2-5. Jacksonville, Rodriguez 11-55, Tuten 12-39, Lawrence 3-11, Allen 1-1.

PASSING_Houston, Stroud 24-34-1-312. Jacksonville, Lawrence 24-41-1-306.

RECEIVING_Houston, Noel 4-107, Schultz 4-33, Collins 3-74, Harrison 3-34, Marks 2-25, Boutte 2-16, Hutchinson 2-10, Moreau 2-7, J.Jordan 1-7, B.Jordan 1-(minus 1). Jacksonville, Meyers 5-83, Strange 5-44, Washington 4-64, Hunter 4-59, Tuten 4-48, Boerkircher 2-8.

PUNT RETURNS_Houston, Noel 1-2. Jacksonville, Washington 1-7.

KICKOFF RETURNS_Houston, Noel 2-65, Hutchinson 2-52. Jacksonville, Abdullah 4-118, Cameron 1-46.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS_Houston, Lassiter 6-2-0, Stingley 5-1-0, To'oTo'o 3-3-0, Togiai 3-3-0, Blankenship 3-2-0, Bullock 3-2-0, Stewart 3-0-0, Al-Shaair 2-5-0, T.Smith 2-1-0, Hunter 1-2-0, L.Hall 1-1-0, Rankins 1-0-0, Anderson 0-1-0, Crumedy 0-1-0, McDonald 0-1-0, Ramsey 0-1-0. Jacksonville, Johnson 5-1-0, Oluokun 4-4-0, Merriweather 4-3-0, Jar.Jones 4-2-0, Combs 3-1-0, Lewis 3-0-0, Murray 2-1-0, Miller 1-5-0, Hunter 1-2-0, Walker 1-2-0, Hamilton 1-1-0, Gardeck 1-0-0, Hines-Allen 1-0-0, Armstead 0-2-0, Dickerson 0-1-0, Orhorhoro 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS_Houston, Bullock 1-0. Jacksonville, Hunter 1-0.

MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.

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OFFICIALS_Referee Shawn Hochuli, Ump Larry Smith, HL Patrick Holt, LJ Carl Johnson, FJ Jason Ledet, SJ Dave Hawkshaw, BJ Jimmy Russell, Replay Tyler Cerimeli.

Stroud only needed 36 yards, but he did that by connecting on two clutch passes, including that one to Marks on third down. Stroud outdueled his Jaguars counterpart Trevor Lawrence, who completed 24-of-41 passes for 306 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. 

But it was Stroud who delivered when his team needed it most.

"Tie game, let's go win the game," Stroud said of his thought process on the final drive. "I thought the play calls were great. Woody gets that big-time play and then we had the 7-yard gain with Jawhar. 

"Those moments I try my best to stay calm, even-keeled and try to put my team in a position to win." 

There are not more than a handful of players who are playing better than Stroud right now. Through six games now, he has nine touchdowns and one interception, and is currently in the top five in the NFL in passing yards. 

It felt like Stroud and the Texans' offense had an answer for everything the Jaguars threw at them.  

When the Jaguars took a 14-10 lead with less than a minute left in the second quarter, the Texans answered with a three-play, 63-yard touchdown drive in 47 seconds. 

It included a 50-yard pass play from Stroud to Jaylin Noel while the quarterback was being hit on the arm. 

When the Jaguars cut the Texans' lead to 24-21 with 2:34 left in the third quarter, the Texans responded with a six-play, 65-yard touchdown drive. 

And when the Jaguars tied the game with two minutes remaining, Stroud led his team downfield again to win the game. 

Noel led all receivers with 107 yards receiving on four catches and also had a touchdown. Nico Collins added three catches for 74 yards. Marvin Harrison Jr., who has only been with the team for a week, had three catches for 34 yards. 

Even the running backs saw some success against the NFL's No. 1 rush defense.

Jawhar Jordan, making his season debut after being called up from the practice squad, had a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter. 

The Texans looked calm and composed late, a completely different team than the one we saw in the first four weeks. The offense has now scored 30 points in three games this season. 

Ryans said he likes where his team is at currently, having won two consecutive games after an 0-4 start to the season. 

Not everything was perfect. The Texans still gave up 412 yards of total offense and struggled to get off the field on third down. The Jaguars were 7 of 12 on third down conversions.

But the Texans can take solace in the fact that their quarterback and their offense is clicking.  

That glimmer of hope the Texans were holding onto when they were 0-4, expanded even further Sunday in the U.K. 

Ryans said he likes how his team has responded to adversity this year. Stroud said the same. 

"You look at some of the games we lost that are close games, you're one or two plays away from winning the game," Stroud said. "I always believe you can't just start creating a bunch of new things and just lose your mind. 

"You keep the same process. You focus on your process more, and then that coin started to flip a little more on your side when it hasn't in the past. 

"I'm excited for the rest of the year."

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This article originally published at C.J. Stroud has the Houston Texans believing again. Their win over the Jaguars shows why it's real..