Texans @ Jaguars
The Jaguars started rookie Jake Luton on Sunday and the rookie got off to a fast start, finding D.J. Chark for a 73-yard touchdown early. Houston answered right back though, with Brandin Cooks taking a short pass 57 yards to the house. The game was pretty slow after that, with both offenses mostly stalling out and some of the highlight plays being the Jacksonville special teams downing punts inside the 5-yard line. Will Fuller scored a 77-yard touchdown on a play where the cornerback completely misplayed the ball. Aside from that brief injection of excitement the game was what you’d expect from two one-win teams. Jacksonville missed an extra point that came back to bite them after Luton ran in what could have been the game-tying touchdown. Jacksonville ended up needing a two-point conversion to tie the game, and their attempt fell short as Luton completely missed his receiver. The Texans held on to win 27-25 and improved to a two-win team.
Houston Texans
Quarterback
Deshaun Watson: 19/32, 281 yards, 2 TDs, 1 sack | 10 carries, 50 yards
Deshaun Watson was fine today and did enough to win. His stat line is a bit inflated by two long touchdowns, one where Brandin Cooks made a defender miss on a short pass and then outran everyone to the endzone, and one to Will Fuller where the corner made a terrible attempt at the ball. Aside from those throws, Watson had a perfectly average day. He had a nice play where he avoided a collapsing pocket with his footwork and generally did a good job of taking the running lanes that opened up when the pass rush became too aggressive, including one run where he was tackled just short of the endzone. It’s a testament to how exciting Watson usually is to watch that today’s game wasn’t anything special, but with how the season has gone thus far for the Texans he’s probably very happy to take a boring win.
Running Backs
David Johnson: 2 carries, 16 yards | 1 target
Duke Johnson: 16 carries, 41 yards, 1 TD | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 32 yards
David Johnson started the game off with a nice run, but unfortunately, an errant pass from Watson led to Johnson getting absolutely drilled by a defender. David Johnson left the game with a concussion, paving the way for Duke Johnson to take over the backfield. Duke looked a little more agile and was able to punch in a short touchdown, but he wasn’t impressive enough to present much of a threat to taking over the job full time.
Add on a few more!
Duke Johnson gets it done in the Red Zone.
📺: CBS
📱: https://t.co/Nm64mQkAPf pic.twitter.com/T0VeT6CCUh— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 8, 2020
He didn’t break any big plays, and he lost a fumble, but he was solid enough that he’d be an easy start going forward if David Johnson were to miss any time.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Brandin Cooks: 9 targets, 3 receptions, 83 yards, 1 TD
Will Fuller: 5 targets, 5 receptions, 100 yards, 1 TD
Randall Cobb: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 21 yards
Darren Fells: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 26 yards
Jordan Akins: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 19 yards
Brandin Cooks took a short target to the sideline before turning it upfield and outrunning the defense for a long score.
THERE GOES THAT MAN!
Brandin Cooks takes it to the house!
📺: CBS
📱: https://t.co/Nm64mQkAPf pic.twitter.com/69oaNXYuOs— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 8, 2020
After that, Watson was looking his way a lot but they weren’t able to connect much. He had the easier defensive matchup today which probably led to the target increase, but it also looked like he was Watson’s first read when he was under pressure. Will Fuller also caught a long touchdown, making a catch down the sideline and then running uncontested into the endzone.
Will Fuller V
Will score VI
📺: CBS
📱: https://t.co/Nm64mQkAPf pic.twitter.com/UtcUQN3vGU— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 8, 2020
Jordan Akins returned from injury to split tight end duties with Darren Fells. They combined to pick up a few first downs but it’s hard to trust either while both are healthy.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Quarterback
Jake Luton: 26/38, 304 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 2 sacks | 1 carry, 13 yards, 1 TD
Jake Luton announced his arrival as a starter in the NFL in a big way, connecting with D.J. Chark for a long touchdown.
👀 6 goes for 6 👀@JakeLuton6 connects with @DJChark82 for a 73-yard TD on his first career pass. pic.twitter.com/F53Vr9VveW
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 8, 2020
That’s a wide-open receiver so I don’t want to get too excited, but it was a pretty perfect throw to hit him in stride and allow his receiver to run after the catch. That was his best throw of the day though, as Luton looked more like a sixth-round rookie for much of the game. He misread coverages, missed throws he’ll need to make to succeed going forward, and showed some hesitancy to pull the trigger when he had guys open. He stayed competitive and showed some toughness, and had an especially awesome touchdown run to set up an attempt at a game-tying two-point conversion.
That spin move 👀@JakeLuton6 runs it in for the TD!
📺: CBS | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/AAn0j3fI67— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 8, 2020
A stiff-arm to get some space and then a spin move to cap off the run with a touchdown. Luton may not be the most athletic quarterback but he’ll always have this run to look back on. On the two-point try, he just missed his receiver with a bad throw. I’m not sure that he’s an upgrade from Gardner Minshew, but Luton at least seems good enough to keep the Jaguars offense moving about as well as can be expected.
Running Backs
James Robinson: 25 carries, 99 yards, 1 TD | 2 targets
Chris Thompson: 1 carry, 3 yards | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 35 yards
James Robinson continues to be the best part of this Jacksonville offense. He runs hard, hitting the hole quickly and falling forward through contact consistently. Watching him run, he looks very comfortable for a rookie at finding the running lanes and not getting caught trying to do too much. He did lose some snaps to Chris Thompson in the two-minute drill, but otherwise, Robinson was the focal point of the offense.
Capping off the drive with a 1-yard @Robinson_jamess TD.
He has surpassed Phillip Lindsay for the most scrimmage yards by an undrafted rookie through the first 9 weeks of a season in NFL history.
📺:CBS | #DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/yDzaqDVmxr
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 8, 2020
Robinson couldn’t catch either of his two targets but he just missed making a slick one-handed catch on a poorly thrown ball by Luton. Robinson is one of the few true workhorses left and should be valued by fantasy managers as such.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
D.J. Chark: 12 targets, 7 receptions, 146 yards, 1 TD
Chris Conley: 8 targets, 7 receptions, 52 yards
Keelan Cole: 2 targets, 1 reception, 6 yards
Tyler Eifert: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 48 yards
D.J. Chark caught the aforementioned long touchdown and was Luton’s go-to option. Luton mistimed a few of the throws, and Chark himself had a pretty awful drop, but their connection already looks strong and should only improve going forward. Chris Conley got involved with some short passes and looked to be open on some longer routes as well, but Luton didn’t pull the trigger on those deeper throws. Keelan Cole couldn’t get anything going and seemed like a distant third option among the receivers.
— Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter)