Jaguars vs. Texans: Thoughts and Notes at Halftime

Plays of the half

The most impactful play of the first possession of the game was, again, a penalty. After the Jaguars have allowed numerous fourth-down conversions in recent weeks due to penalties, the trend again continued on Sunday as Adam Gotsis was flagged for a hands to the face on a punt after the Jaguars forced a three-and-out. The Texans then picked up four more first downs and eventually scored on a 22-yard touchdown to Brandin Cooks, all because of a sloppy play by Gotsis.

There was also, of course, the kickoff return. After the Jaguars drove down the field for a 22-yard field goal on their first drive to make it 7-3, they had a chance to get back on defense and potentially get the ball back with just a minor deficit. The defense wouldn't hit the field, however, as Tremon Smith took a bad kickoff from Matthew Wright 98 yards for a touchdown. Wright has had issues with getting his kicks into the end zone all season and this one landed meekly at the two-yard line, making things easy for Smith.

The Jaguars did have some positive plays, too. 30-yard and 22-yard completions to James O'Shaughnessy and Laquon Treadwell helped the Jaguars create explosive plays on offense early on, while James Robinson had several big runs and a one-yard touchdown.

Where are the Jaguars winning?

The Jaguars have done a much better job so far of actually creating some separation downfield for Trevor Lawrence. A lot of it has been due to the success of their play-action, but the Jaguars have seen more open receivers at the middle of the field and past 20-yards this week than seemingly in most of the last month combined. Laquon Treadwell has especially done a good job of finding soft spots in Houston's zone coverages. 

James Robinson also once again looked like the dynamic rusher he was before his injury. He rushed 12 times for 56 . A big part of this was the Jaguars' offensive line finally got back to creating some holes in the running game, but Robinson himself looked more explosive and got to the second-level of the defense quicker than he has for much of the last month. Robinson had more yards in the first half than in three of the last four games, showing both a commitment by the Jaguars to get him involved after just 14 carries over the last two weeks. 

Where are the Jaguars losing?

Well, Davis Mills threw an incompletion on the second play of the game and then completed his next 11 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown. Mills didn't make any big throws outside of his 22-yard touchdown to Cooks, but the Jaguars didn't contest anything in coverage, allowing too many soft zones to be attacked, especially on third-down. Mills is a rookie quarterback but the Jaguars rarely made him look uneasy on Sunday.

Then the Jaguars' coaching didn't exactly inspire confidence. First they played it too conservative on the goal line by opting for a field goal on the first drive of the game. Then Darrell Bevell kept calling run plays on the final two-minute drive, even when James Robinson was hurt after second down. An odd third-down run to third-string running back Dare Ogunbowale and then a failed quarterback sneak on fourth-down -- all with the clock winding down -- was some inept offense. The Jaguars then played soft man coverage and allowed two first downs to give the Texans room for the field goal. That is simply just bad football.