The Texans dropped their ninth-straight game, falling to Jacksonville 13-6. Despite a blocked field goal by J.J. Watt in the third quarter and a last-minute drive to gain the lead, Houston could not break its 2013 losing streak.
"Obviously, we didn't execute worth a darn offensively," Kubiak said after the game. "Defensively, we are on the field pretty much the whole football game. We battled our tails off. We can always do things better but offensively, we just executed extremely poorly on some of the simple things that you have to go do to be successful. We didn't do them very well."
The Texans struggled to find the endzone against its 1-9 division rival, putting up just two field goals. Jacksonville took an early 7-0 lead after a one-yard touchdown run by Maurice Jones-Drew.
Randy Bullock was the lone scorer with field goals from 49 and 20 yards. Rookie Dennis Johnson rushed for 74 yards on 13 carries. Garrett Graham led the receivers with five catches for 32 yards. Case Keenum was 18-of-34 for 169 yards and one interception which came on Houston's final drive to end a chance for a last-minute win.
"I'm frustrated right now," Keenum said. "I am very disappointed in myself because not only for me, but for letting eveyrone down in that locker room. You can turn on the film and I'm going to go watch it, but we had guys open. We had the right play calls, and I didn't hit them, I didn't see them, I didn't make the plays, and I think this one is very disappointing because I was a big part of that loss."
Jones-Drew had his best game of the year for Jacksonville, with 14 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown. He was also heavily involved in the passing game, making six catches for 60 yards.
"Houston kind of played a little more zone than what we thought they were going to play and we were able to get the ball down to the back," Jones-Drew said. "We were also able to take shots as well so we can get the backs involved."
Chad Henne was 23-of-32 for 239 passing. Cecil Shorts led the receivers with 8 catches for 71 yards.
"We knew we were giving our guys one-on-one matchups at times and they're a good defensive front," Henne said. "You just have to sit in there and sometimes you're going to get hit and sometimes you're not, but overall the offensive line did a good job. For the most part we got the ball out on time and really fought through and did really well."
Houston's offensive struggles in the second-half of games became a first-half problem against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans were unable to gain momentum, punting on their first five-straight possessions and ending the first half with just four net passing yards and seven yards rushing.
On the first play of the game, Antonio Smith and Earl Mitchell sacked Chad Henne for a loss of seven yards. The Jaguars still picked up momentum with a big play to Ace Sanders, the rookie wide receiver starting for Mike Brown. On third down, Henne's pass to Sanders moved the ball 51 yards. Four plays later, on fourth-and-one, Maurice Jones-Drew scored first for the Jags who got an early lead 7-0 with 10:57 remaining in the first quarter.
It would be a dismal start for the Texans offense. On Houston's first drive, Case Keenum was sacked by Andre Branch for a loss of 19 yards. It ended Houston's drive at six plays for six yards. Houston punted on all three possessions in the first quarter.
Whitney Mercilus' back-to-back plays stopped the Jaguars' first possession in the second quarter. After a sack on Henne for a loss of six yards. Mercilus followed up with a hit on Henne that resulted in an intentional grounding call to push the Jaguars back another 13 yards.
The Jaguars extended their lead with a 30-yard Josh Scobee field goal. Jacksonville led 10-0 with 7:57 remaining in the second quarter.
Randy Bullock put the Texans on the scoreboard with 0:29 left in the first half. Houston trailed 10-3 following a nine-play, 49-yard drive ending in Bullock's 49-yard field goal.
Keenum moved the offense 83 yards on the first drive to start the second half. Tight end Jake Byrne lined up as a fullback and Andre Johnson caught his first pass of the game, a 15-yarder. The drive ended in another Bullock kick, this one a 20-yarder. Houston closed in on Jacksonville who led 10-6.
Jacksonville's next drive was kept alive with a roughing the passer penalty on third-and-ten. Antonio Smith's hit on Henne extended the drive to set up another Scobee field goal attempt. Watt blocked the 49-yarder and Shiloh Keo returned it 25 yards with 0:57 remaining in the third quarter.
Keenum and the offense took over at the Jaguars' 49-yard line but the field position would not be enough as the drive ended on a failed fourth-and-one. Houston called for a red flag challenge but the spot would stand and Jacksonville took over at its 40-yard line.
Scobee's third attempt, a 53-yarder, was successful and extended the Jaguars' lead to a touchdown. Houston trailed 13-6 with 6:44 remaining in the game.
With less than two minutes remaining, the Texans had a final chance to get their third win of the season. Keenum, in a hurry-up offense, connected with Johnson on a 21-yard catch and was able to move the ball 39 yards after seven plays. A pass intended for Keshawn Martin was intercepted by defensive end Ryan Davis with 0:34 remaining to end the drive and the game. Houston fell to 2-9 on the season, losing to Jacksonville 13-6.
"I never imagined losing 9-straight, especially with the team that we have assembled with this group of men here," Duane Brown said. "You never imagined that, but I continue to battle for them, and they're going to do the same. That's the good thing about it. We're not giving up on each other, and we're going to continue to fight. Just going to get ready for next week."
Defensive leaders for Houston included Watt who blocked his second field goal this season and logged one sack on Henne. Watt also led the defense with nine tackles.
Notes:
- Tight end Ryan Griffin caught a career-long 37-yard pass in the third quarter.
- Andre Johnson extended his streak of consecutive games played with a reception to 112 and his franchise record or games played to 149
- Rookie Dennis Johnson had career-long rush for 29 yards.
