The Jacksonville Jaguars almost had the kind of win that would at least put a nice tint on an otherwise disappointing season. The 1-8 Jags took on the 8-1 Houston Texans on Sunday with nothing but pride on the line, and put forth an offensive performance against the league's best defense that they could indeed be proud of. The Jags were up 34-20 early in the fourth quarter when Chad Henne hit Justin Blackmon for an 81-yard touchdown with 12:33 left in regulation.
That was Henne's fourth touchdown pass of the game, and he wasn't even the starter. He came into the game in the first quarter after Blaine Gabbert suffered an elbow injury on Jacksonville's first drive.
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However, the Texans scored 14 unanswered points after the Blackmon touchdown, forcing an overtime period that Jags head coach Mike Mularkey didn't seem quite prepared for. The two teams traded field goals, and Jags cornerback Derek Cox intercepted a Matt Schaub throw with 3:44 left in the extra frame, and Jacksonville had the ball at the Houston 47-yard line.
That's when the Texans' defense shored up, and Mularkey chose to go for it on fourth-and-10. Henne threw an incompletion to Blackmon, and Houston got the ball back with 2:30 remaining. After a five-yard pass to Kevin Walter, Schaub hit Andre Johnson for a 48-yard touchdown -- the winning score in Houston's 43-37 victory.
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It was a momentous day for both offenses. Schaub tied Warren Moon for the second-most passing yards in a single game with 527, behind only Norm Van Brocklin's 554 yards in 1951. The Texans also became the first team in NFL history to score twice in an overtime period. Johnson had a career-high 273 yards on 14 catches.
For the Jags, it was Blackmon's time to finally shine after what had been a disappointing rookie campaign. He caught seven passes for 236 yards after amassing just 250 receiving yards through the Jags' first eight games.
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