CJ Stroud threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns to set the stage for Ka’imi Fairbairn’s game-winning 49-yard field goal as time expired, helping the Houston Texans pull out a 34-31 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday in London.
Stroud completed 24 of 34 passes with one interception. Tight end Foster Moreau caught two passes, both touchdowns, while Jaylin Noel had a career-high 107 receiving yards and a touchdown for the Texans (2-4).
Trevor Lawrence completed 24 of 41 passes for 306 yards, four touchdowns and one pick for the Jaguars (4-2), who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Bhayshul Tuten had 39 rushing yards and four catches for 48 yards and two TD catches.
With Houston leading 31-28 late in the fourth quarter and driving toward a clinching score, Travis Hunter Jr. came away with an interception in the end zone. After he caught a touchdown pass on the prior possession, Hunter is the first NFL player since Brian Dawkins in 2002 with a TD catch and interception in the same game.
That turnover set Cam Little up for a game-tying 60-yard field goal with 1:55 left.
But Stroud found Woody Marks for a 19-yard gain to cross midfield, setting up Fairbairn’s game-winner.
Houston opened the scoring when Stroud connected with Moreau for a 6-yard score with 5:13 left in the first quarter.
After a few squandered opportunities, the Jaguars leveled the score at 7-7 with 6:47 left in the first half on Lawrence’s 27-yard connection with Tuten.
The Texans responded with a 25-yard field goal from Fairbairn with 4:16 left in the first half, setting up a frantic finish to the first half.
Lawrence found Tuten again, this time from 2 yards out, to give Jacksonville a 14-10 lead with 55 seconds left. However, a 50-yard pass from Stroud to Noel to begin the ensuing Houston drive set up a 1-yard TD catch by Moreau with eight seconds left to hand the Texans a 17-14 halftime edge.
The back-and-forth blows continued in the second half, albeit with Houston keeping Jacksonville arm’s length. A 13-yard TD catch by Noel on the opening drive out of halftime gave the Texans a 24-14 lead.
Lawrence found rookie tight end Nate Boerkircher for his first career TD to cut it to 24-21 with 2:34 left in the third.
The Texans restored their two-score lead with Jawhar Jordan’s 25-yard TD run. Jacksonville again responded with Lawrence finding Hunter for a 7-yard score to cut it to 31-28.
–Field Level Media
