Jaguars-Texans report card shows failing grade for a leaky defense

Offense: B

Trevor Lawrence shook off red-zone issues in the second half and led a comeback with his second 300-yard passing game in a row. He was 9 of 19 at one point, then completed 15 of his last 22. In the fourth quarter, when the Jags got within one score, Lawrence was 7 of 10 for 62 yards. He completed at least two passes to six receivers and was betrayed by drops from Brian Thomas Jr. and, of all people, Parker Washington.

Chris Rodriguez had a nice game running the ball (5 yards per carry), but and Bhayshul Tuten overcame a nullified touchdown run to score two TDs receiving. One nagging thought is that the Jaguars were unable to get rookie WR ,Josh Cameron involved in the offense. He didn't have a target.

High marks go to the offensive line, especially left tackle Walker Little, for shutting out Houston edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter, who entered the game combining for 10.5 sacks this season. Anderson led the NFL with 7.5 sacks. Lawrence was hit only three times and not sacked.

The drops and early red-zone issues dropped this grade down a bit. But 28 points should have been enough to beat Houston, except for ....

Defense: F

A lot of soul-searching and perhaps roster moves need to happen during the bye week after this performance, in which the Texans had 426 total yards; the second game in the last three in which the Jaguars have yielded more than 400 yards of offense. They have also given up 73 points in their last two games vs. Houston.

C.J. Stroud was 24 of 34 for 312 yards and three touchdowns and while WR Nico Collins didn't have another career day as he has in the past vs. the Jags, Jaylin Noel came out of nowhere to snare four balls for 107 yards and the Jags defense went back to its old habits of failing to cover the tight end in crucial situations.

The pass rush was nonexistent, save for a blitz or two, and Stroud was hit only twice. Edge rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker were MIA, with four tackles between them. Hines-Allen and Walker have been getting a pass for combining for only 3.5 sacks this season because "they affect the quarterback." They didn't affect anything against the Texans, as Stroud hardly felt a breeze.

The Jags defense gave up a season-high 114 yards rushing and while Woody Marks (56 yards) and Jawhar Jordan (43 yards) didn't dominate, they came through with key first-down conversion runs and Marks had five consecutive touches for 36 yards on the final drive to set up Ka'imi Fairbairn's game-winning field goal. The Texans' average scoring drive was nearly 64 yards, and they converted five of eight third downs in the second half.

Despite the offense coming away empty on two early possessions, it still scored 28 points, 17 on the last three possessions. The fact that it wasn't good enough is on the defense.

Special teams: D

Cam Little's 60-yard field goal tied the game and punter Logan Cooke was needed only twice. But the 12 men on the field penalty against Travis Hunter was inexcusable and coach Liam Coen said so in his postgame radio show.

Coen said the team called a "punt safe" formation, which calls for the defense to stay on the field when the offense has fourth-and-short, to guard against a fake punt. For some reason, Hunter entered the game, then got off the field too late. The penalty gave the Texans a third-down conversion and they went on to score a touchdown to open the second half, following a score on their last possession of the first half.

There were a lot of swing moments in the game and this might have been the biggest.

Intangibles: C

Two gambles by Coen didn't go his way. He went for it on fourth-and-three from the Texans' 37 on the Jaguars' second possession, with Lawrence throwing incomplete. It would have been a 54-yard field goal attempt by Little, into the same end zone as his 60-yarder.

While Little came through with his long field goal with 1:55 left, the Jags had fourth-and-four at the Houston 42 and the defense hadn't shown it was able to stop Stroud. The Texans still took the kickoff and went the 36 yards they needed to set up Fairbairn's winning field goal.

The Jaguars didn't have a turnover and cut the penalties down from 100 or more yards in the past two weeks to 66 yards. Yeah, a couple of them were bogus (how does Brenton Strange hold someone when he's been knocked to the ground?) but the Jags should have been able to overcome them. And they almost did.

The good news is that the Jaguars are 4-2 and still in the AFC South lead. When they went into the bye week last year off a loss in London and with a 4-3 record, they came back to go 9-1 the rest of the season.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars-Texans report card shows failing grade for a leaky defense