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Week 4 Game Recap: Houston Texans 27, Jacksonville Jaguars 30
What you need to know
| Houston Texans |
The Texans used a very effective passing attack to send a close game into overtime, where they eventually lost. Houston attempted to establish the run early on, but with limited success. Ahman Green did not suit up for this game, and the running game was placed in the hands of Chris Taylor and Steve Slaton. Both players ran hard, but found very few openings at the line of scrimmage. They were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage on 30 percent of their rushing attempts.
As a result of their futile rushing game, Houston turned to their passing game, which proved very successful. Matt Schaub began by focusing on shorter passes in some part due to the pressure he faced early on and once he got into a rhythm, connected on more intermediate throws and some deeper ones. Schaub was very accurate on his short and intermediate routes, but less so when he attempted deep passes. However, he came close on a couple of long pass plays where his intended receiver Andre Davis tripped over his own feet while breaking open, and on another pass to the same player that just missed. Schaub was most successful throwing to his tight end, Owen Daniels, as well as Kevin Walter and Slaton. They all ran mostly short and intermediate routes, and Schaub made good decisions as to which one to throw to. He got them the ball in positions where they were able to gain positive yards after securing the passes.
The Texans attempted eight plays on three possessions in the red zone, and came away with two touchdowns and a field goal. They only ran twice, with Slaton and Taylor getting one carry apiece. Schaub targeted Daniels three times inside the ten yard line, but Walter came away with the touchdowns on both of his red zone targets. Slaton was the recipient of a screen pass that he took to the nine yard line before being tackled.
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
The Jaguars were unable to generate the type of dominant running game they had the previous week, and instead relied on some creativity and a very efficient short passing game to stay in this close game. Coach Del Rio showed creativity early by calling for a direct snap to backup fullback Montell Owens on a fourth and six play on their first series that caught the Texans off guard. While their punting team was scrambling around, Owens took the ball and ran 41 yards for a touchdown. Jacksonville was unable to get much going in the running game, and Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew combined for a 3.35 yards per carry average on 17 rushing attempts. They were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage on just under 30 percent of their rushing attempts, and were unable to get many yards when they managed to get through.
Garrard picked up the slack by focusing on short passes to his wide receivers, and to a lesser extent his running backs. He was very accurate, usually hitting them in stride to allow them to catch the ball and gain a few yards afterwards. Several of Garrard's passes were between six and eight yards that resulted in first downs. Although Jerry Porter made his season debut, he was only targeted once, as Garrard targeted Matt Jones, Mile Walker and Reggie Williams the most. Garrard did attempt to involve tight end Marcedes Lewis, but Lewis dropped all four of the passes thrown to him, albeit he was well defended on one of those plays. Garrard's numbers could have been enhanced further had it not been for a 25 yard catch by Williams being nullified by offsetting penalties.
The Jaguars ran eight plays on three red zone possessions, and came away with two touchdowns and the game winning field goal. Three of four running plays were by Garrard, including a designed run that resulted in a touchdown that gave Jacksonville the lead with under two minutes remaining in the game. Taylor had the other red zone carry, which set up the game winning field goal. Garrard distributed his red zone passes to four different receivers, with Matt Jones turning his target into a touchdown.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Schaub, Pass: 29 - 40 - 307 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 5 - 24 - 0 |
Schaub was very effective passing against an aggressive Jacksonville pass rush. He usually made the right decisions in terms of which passes to attempt and when to scramble, averaging just under five yards per scramble. Schaub took what the defense gave him, which was mostly short and intermediate passes, and capitalized on them. He displayed good poise in leading his team to score-tying drives several times, and as a result kept his team in the game until overtime. Schaub had good rapport with Owen Daniels, Steve Slaton and Kevin Walter, targeting them a combined 26 times out of the 40 total passes he threw.
| RB Steve Slaton, Rush: 10 - 33 - 0, Rec: 8 - 83 - 1 (8 targets) |
Slaton was unable to generate much in the running game, but showed excellent versatility by being a major contributor in the passing game. He was used on more than dump off passes, running a variety of routes very well, including a deep pass pattern when he caught a pass for a 30 yard touchdown, outrunning defensive backs in the process.
| RB Chris Taylor, Rush: 8 - 22 - 0 |
Taylor ran hard, but without much success. He left the game at one point with a leg injury, but returned shortly afterwards.
| RB Vonta Leach, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
The fullback was used almost exclusively as a blocker.
| WR Kevin Walter, Rec: 8 - 76 - 2 (9 targets) |
Walter ran mostly short and intermediate routes, and did so very crisply, routinely getting open. Even when he was not open by much, he displayed excellent hands catching passes that were thrown where only he could make a play on them. The only pass Walter did not catch was thrown too high.
| WR Andre Johnson, Rec: 3 - 38 - 0 (7 targets) |
Johnson's numbers were modest, but he was over thrown twice while open on intermediate patterns, and drew a flag on the defender covering him on another deep pattern. Although Johnson managed to get open several times throughout the game, they were on mostly intermediate and deep patterns, and Schaub did not have time to get him the ball due to Jacksonville's pass rush.
| WR Jacoby Jones, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Jones' involvement was more as a kick returner than a receiver.
| WR Andre Davis, Rec: 1 - 14 - 0 (3 targets) |
Davis was targeted deep early, but tripped over his own feet as he separated from his defender, and slightly overthrown on the other deep pass thrown to him.
| TE Owen Daniels, Rec: 7 - 87 - 0 (9 targets) |
Daniels and Schaub were in sync throughout the game, with Daniels running excellent routes, and showing good running ability after the catch several times. He ran a variety of routes, and was the primary receiving option on most of his targets. Daniels continued to prove he is more than a possession receiver by running several routes that were designed for big gains, and only excellent help by the Jaguars' secondary prevented him from having even bigger numbers.
| PK Kris Brown 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Brown made all three of his point after attempts and both of his field goal attempts, which were from 27 and 47 yards.
| HOU Rush Defense |
Houston's rush defense did a commendable job although they were not repeatedly tested. They placed eight men in the box on a lot of running downs and did a good job of bottling up Jacksonville's running backs and stopped Taylor and Jones-Drew at or behind the line of scrimmage on just under 30 percent of their rushing attempts. However, they were unable to contain Garrard on some designed quarterback runs, including one for a touchdown.
| HOU Pass Defense |
The Texans did not get to Garrard much, in large part to him utilizing a quick-strike, short passing game. They blitzed at times, but only managed to record one sack, as the Jaguars were able to pick up the blitzes successfully. Houston was unable to prevent Jacksonville's receivers from getting open on the short passes and gave up some yards after the catch. They prevented big plays in the passing game, but did not generate any turnovers.
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 23 - 32 - 236 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 7 - 41 - 1 |
Garrard was impressive in taking command of the offense with both pinpoint passing in the short game and timely running both to escape pressure and on designed running plays. He spread the ball around to whoever was open, and made good decisions in terms of who to pass to and when to scramble. Garrard would have posted even better numbers but several of his passes were dropped, most notably by Marcedes Lewis who dropped four passes. Undaunted, Garrard continued to look for ways to put his team in position to score, and had excellent all-around numbers both rushing and passing.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 10 - 25 - 0, Rec: 3 - 21 - 0 (3 targets) |
Taylor also had limited opportunities, also in large part due to the success of the short passing game. He had 13 touches, and ran with good strength on his pass receptions, turning short passes into good yards after the catch. He did not have much room to run, and as a result posted low rushing numbers.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 7 - 32 - 0, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (2 targets) |
Jones-Drew did not have many opportunities during the game. He showed flashes of his power by carrying defenders for additional yards after contact a couple of occasions, but only touched the ball nine times in the game. Part of the reason was the success of the short passing game with Garrard and Jacksonville's wide receivers.
| RB Greg Jones, Rec: 2 - 28 - 0 (2 targets) |
Jones was used mostly for his blocking, but made a big play in overtime, taking a short pass and breaking several tackles for a 22 yard run to Houston's 19 yard line in overtime. That play set up Josh Scobee's game winning field goal.
| RB Montell Owens, Rush: 1 - 41 - 1 |
The backup fullback made the most of his one opportunity, taking a direct snap on a fake punt and running 41 yards for a touchdown on the Jaguars' opening drive.
| WR Matt Jones, Rec: 5 - 71 - 1 (6 targets) |
Jones continued the good start to his season by posting his fourth consecutive game with five or more receptions. He used his size to advantage by getting between the ball and his defenders for some of his receptions. Jones also ran well after the catch on a couple other receptions, including the short pass he turned into a touchdown. He played with a lot of confidence in this game.
| WR Mike Walker, Rec: 5 - 46 - 0 (6 targets) |
Walker enjoyed being a featured part of Jacksonville's passing game. He managed to get open on short routes, and showed very good hands and feet awareness. The only pass Walker did not catch was one that was thrown too low by Garrard.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 4 - 46 - 0 (7 targets) |
Williams was very effective going over the middle and catching passes in traffic. He ran hard after the catch and gained several yards after initial contact. He had a 25 yard reception called back due to offsetting penalties that took place behind the line of scrimmage.
| WR Jerry Porter, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Porter made his season debut but was only involved in one pass play, a short pass that he caught. He was on the field for several plays, but was only targeted once.
| TE Richard Angulo, Rec: 1 - 1 - 0 (2 targets) |
Angulo caught his first pass of the season but was not much of a factor in the game.
| TE Marcedes Lewis (4 targets) |
Lewis dropped each pass thrown to him. Although he was very well covered on one of the plays, the ball hit his hands on each of his targets. Garrard continued to show faith in him and kept throwing his way if he became open.
| PK Josh Scobee 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
Scobee made all three of his point after attempts, and all three of his field goal attempts, which were from 46, 40 and the game winner from 37 yards.
| JAX Rush Defense |
Jacksonville's rush defense was effective in the limited opportunities they had. Thanks to the defensive line along with the linebackers help, they were able to stop Houston's running backs for little gains on most of their rushing attempts. They flowed quickly to the ball carriers and prevented many yards after the first tackler got to the runners.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Jaguars' pass defense was aggressive, but not very effective. In an effort to generate more pressure, they attempted more blitzes in the second half, but were unable to record a sack or get an interception. Top cornerback Rashean Mathis left the game in the first half, and his replacements did not prevent Houston's receivers from getting open. Jacksonville gave up over 300 yards in the air and three passing touchdowns, and their secondary was beaten on all three.
