The Texans were nearly upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars at home as they escaped with a 43-37 win in overtime on Sunday.
Jaguars vs. Texans final score: Houston escapes in overtime 43-37
The Texans remained the class of the AFC after narrowly beating the Jaguars at home.
The Jaguars led 34-20 in the fourth quarter before the Texans' defense finally decided to show up. The Texans scored on two drives and the defense came up big, holding the Jaguars to just 14 yards on their final two drives of the fourth quarter to give Matt Schaub and the offense a chance to come up big.
The Texans' passing game responded accordingly. Schaub connected with tight end Garrett Graham for his second touchdown reception of the game to tie it at 34-34. The Texans had a chance to end the game after four quarters but Shanye Graham missed a 47-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds, which sent the game to overtime.
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.
After that, wide receiver Andre Johnson finally found paydirt when Schaub found him for a 53-yard touchdown to end the back and forth game.
Blaine Gabbert injured his elbow early in the game after throwing just two passes and the Jaguars had to turn to backup quarterback Chad Henne. Henne performed quite admirably against the tough Texans' defense, completing 16-or-28 passes for 354 yards and four touchdowns.
Winners: Andre Johnson had his best game of the year. He caught 14 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown to more than double his best yardage output of the year so far.
Losers: Jacksonville Jaguars fans everywhere thought they were getting an early Christmas present when they were leading 34-20 in the fourth quarter. But then the Texans remembered they wanted to stay on top of the AFC and cruelly delivered a lump of coal when the Jaguars choked this one away in the fourth quarter to allow the Texans to force overtime.
Stat of the game: Justin Blackmon and Andre Johnson each finished with over 200 yards, the first time in NFL history that two receivers have eclipsed that yardage mark in the same game.
Fantasy studs and duds: Anyone associated with the Texans passing game had a fantastic day. Schaub threw for over 500 yards and five touchdowns and Andre Johnson had 273 yards on 14 receptions and a touchdown. For the Jaguars, Blackmon had a great game as well, finishing with 236 yards and a touchdown. Arian Foster did no favors to fantasy managers everywhere as he gained just 77 rushing yards and was held out of the end zone all game.
Odds/gambling: The Texans didn’t quite cover the 16-point spread.
Injury info: Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert left the game with an elbow injury early in the game and was replaced by Chad Henne.
Next on tap: The Texans head on the road to take on the Detroit Tigers and the Jaguars draw the Tennessee Titans at home.
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