3 things the Jaguars did to blow out the Texans, 29-7

The Jacksonville Jaguars looked like a whole new team Sunday in a 29-7 beatdown of the Houston Texans that included a franchise-record 10 sacks and the benching of Houston starting quarterback Tom Savage.

There hasn’t been much optimism surrounding the Jaguars after preseason revealed Blake Bortles was struggling with the same problems that made 2016 such a depressing grind for the team.

While the Jaguars promised that it would be the Leonard Fournette show and that Bortles wouldn’t be asked to throw enough to tank the team with interceptions, it still looked like a disastrous season was on the way.

But Jaguars coach Doug Marrone kept his promise and leaned heavily on the rookie running back and the team’s hounding defense to smother the Texans and start the season 1-0.

Here are the three things the Jaguars did well to smash the Texans in Week 1:

Calais Campbell joined the Jaguars in the offseason on a four-year, $60 million contract, which is a lot to give a defensive lineman who turned 31 before the 2017 season began. On Sunday, he looked worth double that amount.

It didn’t matter who lined up across from the 6’8, 300-pound lineman: They were all swallowed whole.

Campbell finished with four sacks — eclipsing the Jaguars’ franchise record for sacks in an entire game by halftime. His dominance had a domino effect and the entire team finished with 10 sacks.

Six came against Savage in the first half, ultimately resulting in his benching in favor of Deshaun Watson, but Watson threw an interception and was sacked four times during the Jaguars’ dominant defensive showing.

The 10 sacks for the Jaguars were the first double-digit total for an NFL team since Washington had as many against Jacksonville in 2014.

By the time the game was over, Hopkins had seven receptions and a touchdown against the Jaguars, and that may be enough to fool you into thinking he did well against the expensive Jacksonville secondary.

He did not.

Hopkins was targeted 16 times by Savage and Watkins and finished with just 55 yards on the day. He found more success against A.J. Bouye — his former Texans teammate — than he did Jalen Ramsey, but it’s hard to argue that he won against either.

With Hopkins struggling to get going, there wasn’t another threat that stepped up to strike fear into the Jaguars secondary. No other Texans player was targeted more than five times or finished with more than 50 yards receiving.

Considering the dominance of the Jaguars’ defense and the fact that it scored a touchdown of its own, Jacksonville probably should’ve scored more than 29 points against the Texans.

There were missed opportunities — including a missed field goal and extra point — and plenty of drives that stalled prematurely. But that wasn’t the fault of Leonard Fournette, who kept the Jaguars’ offense in rhythm and away from the quick possessions that took a toll on the defense in 2016.

The rookie carried 26 times against Houston and finished with 100 yards, the kind of statline that fans should probably come to expect from the powerful rookie. Fournette is the first Jaguars rookie in team history to rush for over 100 yards in his debut, according to ESPN’s Michael DiRoccio. That is even more impressive when you consider that Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor both began their careers in Jacksonville. Fournette also added three receptions for 24 yards.

For comparison, Bortles threw just 21 passes, and Chris Ivory also added nine carries for the team.

It’s a formula that worked wonders for the Jaguars, and it’s a defense that might make the rest of the NFL a little worried about Jacksonville.