Down 29-10, backup QB Davis Mills ignited a furious fourth-quarter rally, culminating in a last-minute touchdown to stun the Jaguars.
In what was a massive AFC South matchup on Sunday afternoon, the Houston Texans hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars without star quarterback C.J. Stroud and came away with one of the most improbable wins of the season.
Early on, it didn’t look promising. Houston fell behind 10-0 out of the gate, and a punt-return touchdown by Jacksonville stretched the deficit to 17-0 midway through the first half. The Texans finally got on the board with a field goal to make it 17-3, though the Jaguars immediately answered with one of their own to extend the lead to 20-3.
Just before halftime, rookie running back Woody Marks found the end zone, cutting the deficit to 20-10. The Jaguars were threatening to add more points in the final seconds of the half, but cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. made a crucial interception in field goal range, a momentum-swinging play that ultimately proved vital as the game wore on.
Jacksonville opened the second half with a field goal to go up 23-10, then added another touchdown late in the third quarter to take a commanding 29-10 lead. For all intents and purposes, the Jaguars appeared to have control. But the Texans had other ideas.
Backup quarterback Davis Mills, starting in place of Stroud, engineered one of the best comebacks of the NFL season. He threw two touchdown passes in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter — one to WR Jayden Higgins and another to TE Dalton Schultz — to trim the deficit to 29-24. Houston converted a two-point attempt on the first touchdown but failed on the second, leaving them within five.
From there, the Texans’ defense took over. With just over six minutes remaining, they forced a pivotal stop to give Mills one more chance — and he delivered. Houston orchestrated a 14-play, 93-yard drive that chewed up nearly all the remaining clock. Mills capped it off himself, scrambling for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Texans their first lead of the day, 30-29.
The two-point conversion again failed, leaving Houston clinging to a one-point advantage with under a minute left.
Jacksonville’s final possession ended like so many others in the second half, with the Texans’ defense standing tall. The stop sealed an emotional and season-saving win for Houston, who now improves to 4-5 and keep its AFC South hopes alive in what has become a wide-open conference race.
The Texans are still alive — and if Sunday was any indication, they’re not going quietly.