Texans survive a scare from Jaguars

Adam Stites of SB Nation’s Jacksonville Jaguars blog, Big Cat Country, took the heartbreaking loss in the best fashion possible--with optimism looking towards the future.

Also, this GIF of a profane Mike Mularkey.

Houston came back from a 14-point deficit to top the Jaguars in a wild finish and improve to 9-1.

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There isn’t much that hurts more than blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter against a team that nobody gave you any chance of beating and then losing on a 48-yard touchdown pass in overtime.

You know what they say: If you can’t beat ‘em, doink ‘em!

Jacksonville was up 34-20 with under six minutes remaining in regulation, but quarterback Matt Shaub would not be denied. Shaub threw two touchdown passes in the closing minutes to tie the game at 34, and led the Texans into overtime.

In the extra period, the Texans scored first with a 25 yard field goal, but the Jaguars answered with a 33 yarder of their own.

Houston won the coin toss to start the extra period and the offense picked up right where it left of. The Texans drove the length of the field, but had to settle for a field goal to take a 37-34 lead. The Jaguars’ offense finally found their legs again and drove all the way into the red zone, but also had to settle for a field goal to make it 37-37. Then Schaub made one of the few mistakes he made all day and threw an interception on the subsequent drive. Houston’s defense bailed him out though and forced the Jaguars to turn it over on downs.

So why is Henne laughing to himself, enjoying a beverage? Because Chad Henne laughs in the face of kickers!

“Take that, stupid kicker,” he quietly quips to himself.

Stay tuned for more GIF-worthy Phillips moments and updates on what could be the upset of the year.

The backup to Jones-Drew, Jennings is running for just a hair under 3.00 yards per carry this season. He has scored one touchdown on the year and has seen his carries go down each week for the 1-8 Jaguars.

Fantasy Take: It was a nice idea to start Jennings in your fantasy league when MJD went down. After all, it’s only natural to assume that the player that takes the place of a successful player could also have some success. Now we see a bit more insight into how amazing it was for MJD to lead the league in rushing last year by this offensive line.

The full inactive lists for Jacksonville and Houston are included below.

Jacksonville Jaguars

It’s probably more fair though, to give the credit to the defense for the success of the team in 2012. The unit that has yet to allow a rushing touchdown has given up the second fewest yards and third fewest points. In the last three games, the Texans defense has allowed a combined 28 points. Leading the charge is Watt, the league leader in sacks with 10.5 and the leader among defensive lineman in passes defensed.

TexansDC from Battle Red Blog says that there is very little for the Texans to worry about and that they should handle business on Sunday:

As good as the Texans have been on defense, the Jaguars have been just as bad on offense. Jacksonville ranks dead last in total offense and scoring, averaging 263.6 yards and 14.1 points per game. The Jags haven’t been much better on the defensive side of the ball. They’ve given up 389.1 yards and 27.3 points per game. Those numbers rank 27th and 26th in the NFL, respectively.

Sunday, Nov. 18, 1 p.m. ET

Unsurprisingly, Las Vegas doesn’t expect a close game when these two teams meet Sunday. The line at Oddsshark has the Texans as the big favorite in this AFC South matchup, with Houston favored by 16 points over the lowly Jaguars.

The over/under is set at 42.5. Overall, Jacksonville is 4-5 against the spread, and Houston is 7-2. The Jaguars have, oddly enough, been able to beat the spread all four times they’ve played on the road, though Houston is a solid 4-1 against the spread at home.

Mike Silver, Jason Cole and Les Carpenter at Yahoo! Sports all picked the Texans to win, and so do Yahoo! users. The same choice goes to the NFL.com writers, as five of their experts also choose Houston to do what it needs to do at home.

If we need some explanations for why everyone is with the Texans to win, look no further than SB Nation’s Joel Thorman. He’s rated Houston as the best team in the league and the Jaguars as the worst, and he’s very surprised that the spread is only 15.5 in the Texans’ favor. Thorman is calling it a 42-10 Texans victory.