Through Week 13 of the 2024 NFL season, the Houston Texans sit atop the AFC South with a record of 8-5, narrowly escaping with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. The Jaguars are in last place at 2-10 with five straight losses and the Tennessee Titans are 3-9 after falling to the Washington Commanders.
The Colts, at 6-7 after beating the New England Patriots 25-24, remain in second place.
Joe Mixon shines as Texans hold on to beat Jaguars
When the Texans lost to the Titans in Week 12, they struggled to play complementary football. In their 23-20 win over the Jaguars in Week 13, the Texans learned from their mistakes and held strong, keeping the Jaguars from making a late-game comeback.
"I'm proud of the way our guys played complementary football today," head coach DeMeco Ryans said. "That's been a struggle for us in the games we've dropped, so seeing everybody step up and make a play when the other side wasn't doing so well, everybody played together. That's what's most impressive about this win."
The Texans went up 23-6 early in the fourth quarter, scoring on three straight drives after Jaguars backup quarterback Mac Jones led Jacksonville on two field goal drives to tie the game 6-6. Jones came in for Trevor Lawrence in the second quarter, when Lawrence exited the game with a concussion.
Lawrence, who had missed the last two games with a shoulder injury, scrambled left and initiated a slide after a six-yard run. As Lawrence slid, Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair came flying in and hit the defenseless quarterback. Al-Shaair was ejected for the illegal hit to the head and neck area.
"It's a play that really has no business being in our league," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said. Tight end Evan Engram called it a "dirty hit, obviously." Engram was one of the many Jaguars who took issue with the hit, prompting a chaotic tussle on the field after the hit.
Lawrence took to social media Sunday night, thanking fans for their support and saying he was feeling better.
The Texans' fourth-quarter lead became tenuous as Jones and the Jaguars scored two touchdowns and converted on both two-point conversion attempts, making the score 23-20 with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter, but it was a little bit too late for Jacksonville to fully make the comeback.
"We were there," Jones said postgame. "It was just a little too late by me. That's on me."
All the Texans had to do was run down the clock and not turn the ball over, and they did just that. Running back Joe Mixon had another standout game and was a crucial contributor on that final possession; the Texans chose to have quarterback C.J. Stroud hand the ball off to Mixon for every play, trusting the running back's ability to burn the clock and maintain possession of the ball.
After all, he'd proven himself throughout the game, as it was his touchdown in the third quarter that gave the Texans the lead they would never give up. Mixon finished the game with 101 rushing yards with 81 of those yards coming in the second half.
"Joe's an old school running back," Ryans said. "He's a guy who wants it 30 times, and he keeps getting better the more touches that he gets."
Mixon is now the only player in NFL history to record 100 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in six consecutive road games. Sunday also marked Mixon's seventh game this season with 100 or more rushing yards.
The Texans have a bye week before facing the Miami Dolphins in Week 15.
"Nothing was good enough" in Titans' loss to Commanders
Entering Week 13, the Titans were coming off a massive 23-27 win over the Texans, hoping to capitalize on that momentum going forward. Instead, they were hungover from the victory and struggled on all sides of the ball, losing to 42-19 to the Commanders on Sunday.
"We were hungover from our success last week, and that showed in the first half," defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said postgame. "We were flat, we were turning over the ball, we couldn't stop anything they were doing. From top to bottom, we had no answers."
At halftime, the Titans trailed 28-7. They had 21 total rushing yards and 96 passing yards – quarterback Will Levis was 9-of-16 – with only four first downs and 11 penalties for 85 yards. The lone bright spot was their touchdown, scored by wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in the final seconds of the second quarter.
Washington, on the other hand, had 147 rushing yards, 105 passing yards, 16 first downs and four touchdowns on four straight possessions.
The Titans tried their best to come back in the second half, but struggled in the red zone and were forced to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. Kicker Nick Folk nailed both field goal attempts and Westbrook-Ikhine scored a second touchdown (his eighth of the season), but the Titans couldn't come back from their first-half mistakes.
"We just didn't start fast enough," Westbrook-Ikhine said. "It sucks, getting beat. We started way too late, and it's not a testament to who we are as a team."
The Titans finished with 245 total yards; Levis completed 18-of-37 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns. The Commanders totaled 463 yards with 267 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
"All the way around, nothing was good enough today," head coach Brian Callahan said. "That was tough to watch, to start the game...just too many negative things, all the way around."
The Titans will host the Jaguars at Nissan Stadium this Sunday.
