Houston established field position early. On their opening drive, the Texans crossed into Jaguars territory and Chad Stanley pinned the Jacksonville inside the five with a well-placed punt. Jacksonville would go three-and-out, punting the ball right back to Houston and they would start their next drive from their own 40. Eight plays later, David Carr completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Corey Bradford to give the Texans an early 7-0 lead.
Just two plays earlier, the Texans converted a controversial fourth-down conversion. David Carr took a QB sneak just past the first down marker. He reached the ball out and had it batted away. The officials said the play had been stopped at the sound of the whistle, but no whistle blew. Much to the chagrin of Jack Del Rio, Houston kept the ball and quickly scored the only seven points they would need.
The Jags would go three-and-out once again on their next drive, and Houston would go back to work. Carr completed passes of 21, 12 and 16 yards. After a few Domanick Davis runs, the Texans found themselves in the red zone with a first-and-goal situation from the one-yard line. Houston caught the Jaguars defense off guard and it appeared an end-around to Jabar Gaffney gave the Texans a two-touchdown lead. Del Rio threw the red flag to have the play reviewed which has bailed out the Cardiac Jags several times this season. The replay clearly showed that Gaffney had the ball slip out of his hands prior to crossing the goal line. His premature celebration cost the Texans seven points, resulted in a touchback, and put the Jaguars offense back in business.
Byron Leftwich then lead the team up the field making a few tough plays. Penalties killed Jacksonville all day, and killed this drive as well as the Jags would settle for a Josh Scobee field goal. They committed a season-high 11 penalties for 80 yards.
Fred Taylor would not see any more action after this drive. He was removed from the game with a hip pointer after being listed as questionable earlier in the week with a quad injury. Taylor finished the day with just three carries for nine yards. Byron Leftwich was then injured on the next drive as well. He took himself out of the game after being hit low by former Jaguar Gary Walker and David Garrard would take over for two plays.
Leftwich checked himself back into the game, and played on a sprained knee ligament which could keep him out for 4-6 weeks. However, Byron and the team have not yet ruled him out for the team's next game on November 14th vs. Detroit, and there is no current timetable for his return.
Houston tacked on a field goal at the end of the first half. Kris Brown had missed a 53-yard attempt, but Marcus Stroud was called for a 15-yard leverage penalty. Brown got another chance from 38 yards away, and connected.
No points were scored in the third quarter and the score remained 10-3. Houston struck first in the fourth quarter with another Kris Brown field goal. Josh Scobee answered with a field goal of his own. Down by seven, Jacksonville held Houston and forced a punt with just under a minute left in the game.
Here come the Cardiac Jags again!
Not so fast. After an incomplete pass on first down, Byron Leftwich threw an errant pass over the head of rookie wide receiver Ernest Wilford and DeMarcus Faggins never broke stride on his way to the game-clinching touchdown. At the time it just looked like a mistake by the youngster, but now you have to have a little sympathy for Byron who was playing on just one good knee.
Now the Jags head into a bye week, and it is perfect timing for a week off. Despite the loss, the Jags still hold a half game lead over both Indianapolis, who was thrashed by the Chiefs, and Houston. Even Tennessee, who has battled injuries and salary cap problems all year, has a chance to sneak back into the race. The AFC South appears to be one of the NFL's most competitive divisions. Halfway through the season it's still anyone's race to win.
