LONDON — Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 49-yard field goal as time expired on Sunday to give the Houston Texans a 34-31 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium, their second straight victory after an 0-4 start. Houston moves to 2-4. Jacksonville drops to 4-2.
The Jaguars had been to this ending before. Kicker Cam Little tied the game at 31-31 with a 60-yard field goal with 1:55 left, a week after his last-second winner against the Philadelphia Eagles at Tottenham. It was his third career kick from 60 yards or longer, CBS Sports noted. Houston simply had time left to answer.
What had kept the Texans from closing it out earlier was Travis Hunter. With Houston up 31-28 and driving, the Jaguars’ two-way star intercepted C.J. Stroud in the end zone with four minutes left, ending a 12-play drive, according to Sky Sports. It was Stroud’s first interception of the season. On the previous Jacksonville possession, Hunter had caught a seven-yard touchdown pass.
The question was whether the Texans could respond in under two minutes. Stroud led a game-winning drive that included a 19-yard completion to Woody Marks on third-and-two, Sky Sports reported, and Fairbairn finished it. In Sky’s numbers, Stroud finished with 312 yards and three touchdowns, and Trevor Lawrence went 24 of 41 for 306 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Hunter’s afternoon, a receiving touchdown plus an interception, drew a rarity claim, and the counts differ in form. Sky Sports called him the first player to score a touchdown and record an interception in the same game since Brian Dawkins in 2002. CBS Sports counted him as the fourth player to do it since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger, playoffs included.
A call went Houston’s way in the first half. Officials wiped out a three-yard Bhayshul Tuten touchdown run for holding on tight end Brenton Strange, and Lawrence was intercepted by Calen Bullock two plays later. CBS Sports wrote that the replay “didn’t show anything close to a clear definition of holding.” Tuten scored twice as a receiver anyway, on a 27-yard catch-and-run and a two-yard floater, and Houston led 17-14 at halftime.
Marvin Harrison Jr., acquired after Week 5, caught his first pass as a Texan in the first half, a 14-yard gain on a crossing route, CBS Sports’ live coverage showed, and had another 14-yard gain on the first play after a Jaguars penalty.
The game also cost people. Referee Larry Smith was carted off with a non-contact injury in the opening seconds, Sky Sports reported. Texans safety Reed Blankenship was carted to the locker room in the first half, CBS Sports’ live blog noted. No report reviewed gave a prognosis for either.
