The Texans (8-5) completed their 2024 season sweep of the Jaguars (2-10) in Week 13, securing a 23-20 victory in Jacksonville on Sunday after previously beating their divisional opponent 24-20 in Houston during Week 4.
What started as a sluggish, low-scoring affair became intense as halftime approached, when Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence took a dirty hit from Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair to conclude a six-yard scramble. Lawrence was carted off the field and quickly ruled out of the game with a concussion.
Al-Shaair and a pair of Jaguars, tight end Evan Engram and cornerback Jarrian Jones, received personal foul penalties for their actions after Jacksonville and Houston’s benches cleared and the teams began fighting, following the tackle. Al-Shaair and Jones were ejected from the contest.
“It’s a play that nobody wants to see in our league. You see what happens after the fact and it just escalates,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the game.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for [Texans head] coach [DeMeco] Ryans. I know he doesn’t coach his team that way and we don’t coach our team that way. It’s unfortunate, it really is. It’s unfortunate.”
Pederson said Lawrence, who returned to action Sunday after missing Jacksonville’s last two games with a non-throwing shoulder injury, will enter the NFL’s concussion protocol but is expected to be “fine.” Pederson did not offer an anticipated recovery timeline.
Without Lawrence, the Jaguars took a 6-3 deficit into the locker room at halftime, their only score being a 33-yard field goal by rookie kicker Cam Little after Lawrence got hurt.
Little then tied the game early in the third quarter with a 30-yard field goal, before the Texans scored on three consecutive drives, two touchdowns and a field goal squeezed in between. Little missed a third field goal try, from 55 yards, amid Houston’s scoring run.
Yet Jacksonville made things interesting in the fourth quarter, narrowing Houston’s lead from 23-6 to 23-20 over the Jaguars’ final two possessions.
Backup quarterback Mac Jones led the Jaguars on two extended drives, a 12-play, 72-yard possession and a 10-play, 84-yard sequence, tossed touchdowns to Jacksonville wide receivers Parker Washington and Brian Thomas Jr., and connected with Washington for a two-point conversion to get back within one score.
Jones completed 20-of-32 passes for 235 yards with two touchdowns in place of Lawrence against Houston.
Houston got the ball back with 3:31 left in regulation, and the Texans put the ball in running back Joe Mixon’s hands on five consecutive plays to try to seal the win. He converted two first downs and forced the Jaguars to burn through their remaining timeouts, effectively running the clock out.
The Jaguars will travel to Tennessee in Week 14 to face the Titans (3-9) at 1 p.m. ET next Sunday, Dec. 8.