Slumping Texans face the woeful Jags in an AFC South series that's been mostly one-sided lately
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Having lost three of four, the Houston Texans could use a break. They might get it before their actual bye week.
Houston (7-5) plays at Jacksonville (2-9) on Sunday, the last of 13 consecutive games for the AFC South leader.
Given how well the Texans have played against the Jaguars in recent years, this could be the ideal matchup to get coach DeMeco Ryans’ team pointed in the right direction to start December.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We haven’t had any time to kind of like breathe. But that’s the NFL; that’s our job. We’ve really got to come back with another week of just hard work, a lot of just grinding because we’re right around the corner from our bye and I think that’ll be a good thing for all of this team."
The Texans have won 11 of the past 13 meetings and 17 of 21 in the series — including five in a row in Jacksonville — since getting swept in 2013. It’s an eye-popping stretch of one-sidedness between longtime division rivals.
No one would be surprised to see the streak extended Sunday. The Jaguars have lost four in a row, with the last three being the worst three-game stretch of football in franchise history.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence (sprained non-throwing shoulder), however, is expected back after missing the last two games, and coach Doug Pederson said other changes could be afoot following the team’s bye.
But he declined to say whether tweaks included personnel and/or assistant coaching duties.
“We’re going to implement some things and really kind of get back to some things that I think were successful, have been successful for us," Pederson said. "Whether it’s rhythm, tempo, whatever, to try to get things going."
Jacksonville likely needs to win out to keep alive its slim hopes of making the playoffs. The Jags have four division games remaining, plus the New York Jets (3-8) and Las Vegas (2-9).
“I feel the best I’ve felt in the past few weeks, so I’m excited about it,” Lawrence said.
Joe Mixon had a season-low 22 yards on 14 carries last week after running for 109 yards and three touchdowns the week before.
Ryans attributed the issues to poor blocking.
“We’ve just got to finish our blocks, especially when we’re on the second level,” Ryans said.
Mixon ranks third in the NFL, averaging 87.3 yards rushing and now faces a defense that ranks 26th in the league against the run.
Many expected Jaguars owner Shad Khan to fire Pederson — and maybe general manager Trent Baalke — following the team’s 52-6 loss at Detroit two weeks ago. Khan kept them in place, probably because Jacksonville has not been eliminated from playoff contention.
Nonetheless, the Jaguars have lost 14 of 17 and are guaranteed a losing record for the 11th time in Khan’s 13 seasons.
Every previous coach in Jaguars history — Tom Coughlin, Jack Del Rio, Mike Mularkey, Gus Bradley, Doug Marrone and Urban Meyer — have seen their tenures end following a loss to an AFC South opponent. Del Rio, Bradley and Meyer were fired late in the year; Coughlin, Mularkey and Marrone were let go after losing seasons.
The Texans tied a franchise record with eight sacks against Tennessee. Danielle Hunter had a season-high three and Will Anderson Jr. added two in his return after missing two games with an ankle injury.
"Our rushing duo really raises havoc," Ryans said. "I think it is really hard on opposing quarterbacks, and we see that in how teams try to protect against us with the chips and trying to slow our guys down."
Houston ranks second in the NFL with 42 sacks. Hunter is second in the league with 10½ sacks, and Anderson is fifth with 9½.
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