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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It’s 1 happening to suffer a adjacent game. It’s different to stumble similar Jacksonville did astatine Houston connected Sunday.
The Jaguars blew a 19-point pb successful the 4th quarter, were outscored 26-0 successful the last framework and ended up connected the incorrect extremity of a 36-29 stunner. It was the biggest illness successful franchise history and easy 1 of the astir embarrassing outcomes successful the team’s 31 years.
Calling it an epic debacle wouldn’t adjacent bash it justice.
The Jaguars (5-4) had a accidental to fundamentally destruct the rival Texans (4-5) from playoff contention and needed to marque 1 other play down the agelong to get it done. One much completion. One much archetypal down. One much pressure. One much sack.
But backmost Trevor Lawrence and antiaircraft Josh Hines-Allen — the team’s highest-paid players who are connected the books for a combined $70.5 cardinal successful 2025 — failed to deliver. And the longtime captains should enarthrosis the blame.
Lawrence was sacked 3 times connected six drop-backs successful the 4th quarter. He besides scrambled doubly and threw incomplete once. He made a play that looked similar it would springiness Jacksonville a accidental late, but his completion to Parker Washington was nullified by violative lineman Chuma Edoga’s penalty.
Allen, meanwhile, was ineffective successful the 4th portion going against rookie near tackle Aireontae Ersery and backup backmost Davis Mills. Allen finished with 1 backmost hit.
“I didn’t needfully deliberation we’re putting these guys successful truly atrocious positions,” first-year Jaguars manager Liam Coen said. “You’re trying to clasp onto a pb and marque them gain it. We fto up excessively galore explosive plays.”
The Jags person dropped 3 of four, with the lone triumph coming astatine Las Vegas successful overtime, and volition effort to regroup against the Los Angeles Chargers (7-3) this weekend.
“Unfortunately, this is what happened,” Lawrence said. “Can’t alteration it now. It’s implicit and done. We person to determination guardant and larn from it. I mean, fto that beryllium a spot connected our enarthrosis and a small spot of occurrence nether america for this week of practice. It should sting for a while.”
Cam Little has made 12 consecutive kicks since missing 3 of four. The second-year pro deed each 3 of field-goal attempts against the Texans, including a 53-yarder, and was getting acceptable for an adjacent longer 1 successful the waning seconds. Little deed an NFL-record 68-yarder past week astatine the Raiders.
Jacksonville is tied for past successful the NFL with 12 sacks, a season-long occupation and a head-scratching 1 considering the Jaguars person invested first-round picks successful Hines-Allen and Travon Walker. Walker should person had 2 sacks against the Texans, but helium was flagged for roughing the backmost connected 1 takedown and past whiffed trying to tackle Mills successful the backfield connected another. It was much atrocious luck for Walker, who continues to play with a wrapper connected his surgically repaired near wrist and was ejected past week for throwing a punch.
Washington recovered the extremity portion doubly successful the archetypal half. He made a toe-touching, 7-yard touchdown grab successful the archetypal 4th and past returned a punt 73 yards for a score successful the second. He could extremity up being Lawrence’s No. 1 people successful the 2nd fractional of the season, adjacent with the caller summation of seasoned Jakobi Meyers.
Left tackle Walker Little was no lucifer for Danielle Hunter, who finished with 3 1/2 sacks. Little signed a three-year, $40.5 cardinal hold past December but has struggled successful caller losses to Seattle, the Los Angeles Rams and Houston.
The Jags anticipation to get WR Brian Thomas Jr. (ankle), CB Jourdan Lewis (neck), TE Hunter Long (hip/knee) and LG Ezra Cleveland (ankle/knee) backmost this week. Look for TE Brenton Strange (hip) to beryllium activated from injured reserve.
31-30 — The people of the Chargers’ past sojourn to Jacksonville. The Jaguars rallied from a 27-0 shortage to triumph the wild-card playoff crippled successful January 2023.
Find a mode to bounce backmost from a gut-wrenching loss.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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