After a disappointing Week 2 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Jacksonville Jaguars bounced back in Week 3 against the Houston Texans with a win.
The big difference in this week’s outcome vs. last? The Jaguars made key plays down the stretch.
Against the Bengals, a fourth-down drop that would have had the Jaguars’ offense on the cusp of putting the game away gave the ball back to Cincinnati. The Jaguars’ defense then failed to get off the field with the Bengals scoring a last-season touchdown.
This week, however, the Jaguars came through late on both sides of the ball.
In a 10-10 game late, with the Texans in field goal range, Tyson Campbell forced a fumble, giving the ball back to the Jaguars offense, along with taking points off the board for Houston.
Then, despite the offensive struggles for much of the game, Trevor Lawrence connected with Brian Thomas Jr. for a 46-yard catch and run that set up the go-ahead touchdown.
To close out the game, the Jaguars’ defense forced another takeaway, with Antonio Johnson making a diving interception.
“Being in that situation was just like, ‘We got to take it, we got to get it,”’ Josh Hines-Allen said, via Jaguars.com.
“No matter the situation, they weren’t going to score. That was our mentality: ‘They’re not scoring. They can drive the field, whatever they want to do, they’re not scoring.’ We just made a play and Antonio was in the right spot, being where he’s supposed to be and took advantage of the opportunity.”
Losses are going to happen–it’s the NFL. The key is not letting one loss turn into two because of unfixed mistakes.
The Jaguars still have plenty of areas of growth, but as they navigate the learning curve that comes with two new schemes and a number of new players on the roster, they’re finding ways to win early in the season.
Being able to win a game by overcoming the issues that led to defeat just a week ago says a lot about the 2025 Jaguars under Liam Coen.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars bounce back in Week 3 by making big plays late vs. Texans
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire / Jaguars Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
