Although the Jacksonville Jaguars played cleaner than they had the past two weeks, they still struggled with penalties in the 34-31 loss to the Houston Texans. In their defense, some of the calls against the Jags were against them were questionable. Three, in particular, stand out the most.
Both Jarrian Jones was flagged for holding, and Travis Hunter was slapped with a pass interference penalty. Both calls raised eyebrows because both Jones and Hunter barely made contact. However, the most egregious one of the three was the phantom flag that wiped out a Bhayshul Tuten touchdown.
A phantom holding wiped out a Bhayshul Tuten TD in the Jaguars' Week 6 loss
Early in the second quarter, the Jaguars got into the Texans' red zone. Running back Bhayshul Tuten reached the end zone, but the play was called back because tight end Brenton Strange was flagged for holding.
You can click here to see the play. Holding is an overstatement; he barely put a finger on the other player's jersey. Nevertheless, the officiating crew believed that it was more than enough contact to warrant a penalty. The Jags still had the ball, but Trevor Lawrence threw a pick in the red zone that effectively handed the ball to the Texans.
Given that Jacksonville lost by three points, it's fair to wonder how much the negated touchdown would've tipped the scale in the Jaguars' favor if they had scored a touchdown instead of turning the ball over.
The silver lining is that Tuten had a strong day regardless. Even though he only racked up 39 yards on 12 carries, he did reel in four catches for 48 yards with two receiving touchdowns.
Related: 4 winners & 5 losers from the heartbreaking loss to the Texans
The negated TD hurt the Jaguars, but they didn't need the referees to lose
Following the game, head coach Liam Coen acknowledged that the Jags played cleaner but also pointed out that they bit themselves in the butt a few times. He's right: Jacksonville finished the game with six penalties for 66 yards.
Even if you ignore the three questionable calls you got, Jacksonville was flagged for 12 men on the field early in the third quarter because Travis Hunter wasn't able to leave on time when the Texans were going to punt. And because of the flag, Houston got a fresh set of downs and eventually scored to make it. You can't blame that on the officiating.
But leaving aside the dubious officiating, the Jaguars didn't do enough to win the game. The offense was plagued with drops. Brian Thomas Jr. had two, but the usually reliable trio of Parker Washington, Brenton Strange, and Jakobi Meyers also had a few of their own. Trevor Lawrence's red-zone pick also hurt.
While the defense had a few key stops, the pass rush — a supposed strength — was non-existent. Jacksonville wasn't able to register a single sack, and C.J. Stroud had all the time to throw, going 24-of-34 for 312 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. 2
Without having to deal with Jacksonville's pass rush, Stroud had no trouble finding Jaylin Noen and Nico Collins throughout the game. And you can't blame that on penalties.
When you add it all up, there's no doubt that penalties hurt the Jaguars, but they weren't the reason they lost. Now, the Texans remain alive in the thick of the AFC South race.
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