Unfortunately, the result was the same.
Josh Scobee’s 37-yard field goal in overtime gave the Jacksonville Jaguars a 30-27 victory, leaving the Texans winless after three tries and as they get ready for the home opener against Indianapolis next Sunday in hurricane-damaged Reliant Stadium.
“It stings a lot, it hurts a lot, anytime you lose in this business,” said Texans quarterback Matt Schaub. “We played a much better game across the board. Falling one play short, that hurts.”
Schaub rebounded from two poor performances - and calls that he be benched for backup Sage Rosenfels - for one of his best games with Houston. He directed touchdown drives of 91, 80 and 85 yards, and maybe more importantly, had his first turnover-free game of the season. Schaub threw five interceptions and was sacked eight times in the lopsided losses to the Steelers and Titans.
But his latest performance did little to soothe the sting of another loss. The Texans are now 0-6 all-time in overtime games.
“It’s the nature of this game,” Schaub said. “You go to overtime, you flip a coin and you hope you get the ball first. If not, you hope your defense goes out there and makes a play.”
Scobee has now carried the Jaguars to consecutive wins. He kicked a 51-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining to beat Indianapolis last week.
In both games, however, his heroics had a lot to do with Jaguars quarterback David Garrard, who put Jacksonville in position for the winner against the Colts and did the same against the Texans. He completed a 24-yard pass to Matt Jones on third down to get to the Houston 41, then found Greg Jones in the flat for 22 more yards.
Scobee lined up two plays later and put it through the uprights.
Houston looked like it might get its first win after scoring on its final five possessions. Schaub threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Kevin Walter. His last one was an 8-yard strike that put the Texans ahead 24-20 with 7:06 remaining.
But Garrard brought the Jaguars (2-2) right back, mostly with his legs. He scrambled for two first downs, then broke a tackle and scored from 5 yards out with 1:48 to play. He gained 13 yards on third-and-10, then picked up 9 more a few plays later on fourth-and-8.
“Thank God we have a quarterback like David who can do it with his arms and legs,” running back Fred Taylor said.
The Texans (0-3) could have said the same thing about Schaub, who avoided several sacks by running five times for 24 yards.
Schaub drove the Texans 53 yards in the final minute and set up Kris Brown’s 47-yard field goal with a second to play that sent the game into overtime.
The Jaguars won the toss, then Garrard and Scobee did the rest.
Garrard was 23-of-32 for 236 yards. He also ran seven times for 41 yards, 31 of them coming on Jacksonville’s TD drive in the fourth.
“The big thing is when he did run, he broke some tackles,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “He’s a presence.”
Taylor (25 yards) and Maurice Jones-Drew (32 yards) were virtually shut down for the third time in four games. But the Jaguars got a boost from fullback Montell Owens, who had a 41-yard TD run on the first carry of his career. It came on a trick play.
Coach Jack Del Rio looked like he was sending his punt team onto the field on fourth-and-4. But the Jaguars surprised the Texans by lining up and going for it. Owens got the direct snap, cut right, broke two tackles and rambled to the end zone.
“It was a gutsy call on his part, and it worked out,” Kubiak said.
The Texans, who had won three of the previous four meetings between the AFC South rivals, had more yards, more first downs and were better on third down. The difference may have been Jacksonville’s two fourth-down conversions - the runs by Garrard and Owens - and the coin toss in overtime.
Houston’s home opener next week will be the latest an NFL team has had its first home game since Detroit, New Orleans, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh had theirs on the weekend of Oct. 7-8, 2001. Those games were delayed because of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
