Jacksonville Jaguars dominate the Houston Texans: Quick Notes

In shocking fashion, the Jacksonville Jaguars marched into Houston and put a beating on the Texans on both sides of the ball.

Well that was different.

As fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars, we are not accustomed to seeing our team win on the opening weekend of the regular season. It appeared the odds were stacked against the Jaguars as they walked into a Houston stadium filled to the brim with emotion.

Things could have easily gone south immediately for the Jaguars but instead they kept their heads and unleashed an absolutely terrifying defense on an overwhelmed Texans offense en route to a 29-7 victory.

Here are some quick notes from today’s game:

• If we were giving out game balls in this article, it would go to the defense. Top to bottom, coaching staff to players, this was a dominant effort. Calais Campbell was better than anyone could have ever imagined when the Jaguars signed him this offseason. His 4 sacks were a single game franchise record and he was close to nabbing a few more. Yannick Ngakoue picked up where he left off after his rookie season, forcing a fumble and recovering another one. Despite a few penalties (most of which were questionable), A.J.. Bouye looked like a terrific number two corner. Heck, even Dante Fowler Jr. looked better in his second full season, pressuring the quarterback and showing some awareness to pick up a Tom Savage fumble for a scoop and score.
• Before the season started, I was hoping the Jaguars would get a big bump in productivity from the fact that they were no longer under the direction of the worst coach in the history of football. Gus Bradley was a nice guy but objectively an awful head coach. Doug Marrone came and steered the Jaguars to a big opening day win and did things we haven’t seen in Jacksonville for years. The Texans brought Deshaun Watson in to begin the second half and he immediately led a relatively undeserved (see: questionable calls) touchdown drive. The Jaguars would normally have folded there, gone three and out, and subsequently blown the game. Instead they marched down the field and answered with their own touchdown pass. That’s the sign of a culture change.
• We’ll end with the quarterback, because he’s pretty damn important. Blake wasn’t great by any means today but he let the rest of the guys around him lead the way. Leonard Fournette as good as advertised and the defense was elite. If Blake can find a way to make a play or two every game, he’ll be doing enough.